05/23/2026
He Sold His Dream Car to Buy a Home, His Son Spent Decades Finding It Again
For Albert Bertagnolli, the legendary “Baby Blue Bomb” was never just an old hot rod; it was a piece of his father’s soul.
Back in 1956, Albert’s father, Jack Bertagnolli, was a young mechanical engineering student at Colorado A&M University with a passion for speed and innovation. Hidden away in his garage for months, Jack built the car of his dreams: a baby blue 1934 Ford 5-window coupe powered by a potent 331 Hemi V8. The hot rod featured a six-inch dropped axle, a Columbia two-speed rear end from a Lincoln Zephyr, a hand-built intake manifold with four Stromberg carburetors, and a long list of custom touches that were considered futuristic at the time.
The local newspaper even featured the car, nicknaming it the “Baby Blue Bomb.” Jack proudly predicted the coupe would produce 250 horsepower and reach 130 mph “if it doesn’t blow up,” he joked.
The car became his pride and joy. He drove it daily around Fort Collins, turning heads everywhere it went. But in 1958, life changed. After marrying Albert’s mother, Jack made the difficult decision to sell the beloved hot rod for $1500 to help make a down payment on the family’s first home.
Although the car was gone, Jack never stopped talking about it.
Growing up, Albert listened to countless stories about the Baby Blue Bomb, how his father reversed the rear wheels to tuck the tires closer to the fenders, how he built parts by hand, and how proud he was of every inch of the coupe. Often, those stories were told while holding an old black-and-white photo of the car.
Years later, Albert became determined to find the Ford and bring it home.
For decades, the trail went cold. Then, in 2015, while browsing a local Wyoming history page online, Albert suddenly saw a photo of a young man standing beside a familiar baby blue ’34 Ford. His heart nearly stopped.
After several messages and phone calls, he confirmed the unbelievable truth: it was his father’s car.
Even more incredible, the coupe was still owned by Gus Hernandez, the same man who had purchased it from Jack back in 1958. Over the years, Gus had carefully stored the hot rod in sheds while moving around the western states, preserving it and making only minor changes.
Albert tried repeatedly to buy the car, but Gus refused every offer, convinced he would someday restore it himself.
Finally, after three years of persistence, Gus relented in 2018. Sixty years after Jack Bertagnolli sold the Baby Blue Bomb to start a family, the coupe finally returned home to a Bertagnolli once again.
Though partially disassembled, the car remained remarkably intact. Albert immediately began restoring it while carefully preserving the spirit of his father’s original craftsmanship. During the restoration, he uncovered an emotional surprise hidden beneath the old headliner: several Colorado A&M fraternity decals his father had tucked away inside the car more than half a century earlier.
It was like hearing his father’s voice again.
Today, Albert and his wife Angie travel to car shows across the western United States in the Baby Blue Bomb, proudly sharing the hot rod Jack built as a young dreamer in a small garage decades ago.
More than just a custom Ford coupe, the Baby Blue Bomb became proof that some dreams never truly disappear.
Sometimes, they simply wait for their way back home.
