HAYDEN — It sounded like thunder rolling up the prairie on north Huetter Road late Wednesday morning.

Then two sleek cars purred into sight — a 1966 Nova Super Sport driven by LaRoy Dowd and, following close behind, a 1955 Chevy Bel Air driven by LaRoy's dad, LeRoy.

These aren't just any cars. These are the vehicles that served as the chariots of youth for the Dowds, who have restored them to immaculate condition.

LeRoy, 72, drove a '55 Bel Air in high school, when he worked at a service station in the early '60s in Bonners Ferry.

"It takes you clear back to the old days when you're running up and down the street," he said, chuckling as his eyes smiled behind his sunglasses. "I pumped gas. My girlfriend and her buddy, they drove it around while I worked and then they'd come for more gas so I'd put another five gallons in it."

While the copper and ivory beauty he drives now is not his original high school ride, he was able to find the same year, make and model and restore it to its former glory.

"It’s what I had in high school," he said. "Not the same car, I don't know where it is now."

LeRoy, who ran an auto body shop in Bonners for more than 30 years, purchased the fixer-upper Bel Air six years ago and finished it Father's Day 2015.

"It wasn’t very good," he said. “It was old blue and white and sat out on a ranch for several years. None of the interior was in there, mainly just a shell. The motor was in there, and the tranny I put in there for speed."

For LaRoy, 46, of Rathdrum, the Nova has been with him all along.

"This is my high school car," he said. "I’ve had this car since 1988."

LaRoy took his date to prom in the gleaming, tangerine-go-mango-colored muscle car, although back then, it was a different color.

"I painted it in high school because my dad owned a shop," he said with a laugh. "I painted it bright yellow."

LaRoy just finished restoring the Nova a few days ago after the car sat idle for several years.

"It’s been in storage for a long time, but I drove this to college in Bend, Ore. in 1989. Then I got T-boned my second year of school, then I put it away," he said. "So really, it’s been an ongoing project for a lot of years, but the last five is when we kind of started to finish the full ground-up restoration."

The duo will cruise in style at Lost in the '50s in Sandpoint this weekend, where they planned to drive in the classic car parade Friday night starting at Sandpoint High School. It's their first time participating in the '50s festival, which is celebrating its 31st year.

"We have an RV spot right by the beach in Sandpoint," LaRoy said. "So yeah, we’re totally stoked."

It's also the maiden voyage for the reborn Nova, which LaRoy said might make an appearance at Car d'Lane June 17 and 18 in downtown Coeur d'Alene.

"It’s a little surreal, especially everything’s so modern on it now," LaRoy said of driving the Nova again. "We put air conditioning, the whole shebang through it. It drives like a new car."