Tulare County man with lung cancer about to have dying wish granted

TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- A South Valley community is pulling together to give a man his dying wish. Darrell Tedford has always dreamed of driving a 1940 Ford Coupe.

Vinny Carlos loves restoring cars. It's something he grew up doing.

"You put your love and all your time and effort and money into something," said Carlos.

Now he's taking that love and putting it into this car: a 1940 Ford Coupe. It's the dream car for one of his dear friends, Darrell Tedford. Tedford was diagnosed with lung cancer in late 2014. He may not have much time, and driving this car is his dying wish.

"Somebody needed to do something for him," said Carlos.

Carlos says Tedford spent his life caring for others, including his grandson Tyler Hester. The car was his last priority.

"This is what he's wanted, forever, this is gonna make me cry," said Hester.

Now with Johnny Cash cranked in the background, they're working day and night to get it done. To get the car to this point, they had to take it all apart, piece by piece, and now they're putting it back together, and it's crunch time.

"We're basically doing two years' worth of work in two months," said Carlos.

They plan to give Tedford the finished Coupe in Bakersfield at a meet on Saturday. Hester says it's amazing to see people working for his grandpa's dream.

"This is all he wants. We're gonna do it," said Hester.

The community has also donated more than $15,000 to make it happen. The labor is all being done for free.

With the engine running again, they're getting closer to making a dying wish come true.