Classic car to be auctioned for fallen intelligence officer fund

By Thomas Nelson, tnelson@charlescitypress.com

Every car has a story, but some cars are built around a story.

Classic Cars by Lloyd has helped work on a car that will be auctioned off to support the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation, which provides educational support for the children and spouses of CIA officers killed in the line of duty.

The car is called the Donovan, after Bill Donovan, one of the original founders of the Central Intelligence Agency.

The car is a 1950 Ford, chosen because it was built around the same time the CIA was founded.

The car is entirely pearl white, and the front bumper has a black star to symbolize the CIA’s memorial wall in Langley, Virginia. The car also will have a recreation of that wall in the trunk.

“This is the Donovan,” said Lloyd Pierson, owner of Classic Cars by Lloyd.

The Donovan is intentionally designed to look like the memorial wall, and Pierson considers it a tribute to fallen service members and intelligence operatives.

Pierson will be taking the Donovan to a car show in Scottsdale, Arizona, to shown it off. The Donovan is heading out today, with Pierson and his wife, in their trailer.

About two weeks ago Pierson and his wife, Linda Pierson, took the car to an undisclosed location in Viriginia where it was shown and a guitar signed by guitarist Billy Gibbons, of the band ZZ Top, was added.

Pierson didn’t find out where the location was until 12 hours prior to the event. The event was called Spookstock, and featured classic cars and a performance by ZZ Top.

“We had no idea where we were going,” Pierson said.

Both the car and the guitar will be auctioned and the funds from that auction will go to the CIA Officers Memorial Fund. The auction will be in January by the Barrett-Jackson Auction Co. in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Donovan was built over the course of four months, and was originally put together in Juarez, Mexico.

“This car, after being built, never got to be drove,” Pierson said.

After Pierson had the car, he and his team were able to transport it to Charles City and fix the carburetor and shake the bugs out at Lloyd’s shop.

The creation of the car isn’t what strikes Pierson. He thinks what the car stands for is most important.

“I really salute them (the people in armed services). I have a lot of respect for them,” Pierson said. “The whole car just gives me chills when I think about it.”

Classic Cars by Lloyd is a car dealership that offers classic vehicles in Charles City and surrounding areas.