SANDPOINT — The Sandpoint High School junior was walking past a neighbor's house when she fell in love — with his 1972 Dodge truck.

That truck — which has undergone a two-year transformation by Daisy Butts, her grandfather and neighbor Mike Kauffman — was one of several hundred cars taking part in the 2026 iteration of Lost in the '50s.

The dark green classic was sitting in Mike Kauffman's yard when Daisy Butts walked past one day a few years ago.

"I fell in love with this truck," said Butts, who had turned 16 a month before she spotted the truck. "I was like, 'I gotta have it.'"

She approached Kauffman, who made her a deal. Get a job so she could afford the truck, which both said barely ran and needed a lot of work.

Within a few months, Butts had a job and saved up the money to buy the truck. Since then, with her granddad and Kauffman's help, the teen has been working on the truck — rebuilding the carburetor, adding power steering, installing a radio, adding valve covers, a brake booster, and replacing the master cylinder.

Butts and her granddad found a "donor truck" for $500 to $600 and have been able to use some of the parts on her '72 Dodge.

"My grandpa and I have done a lot of work on this truck," Butts said. "When I first bought this truck, it barely ran."

When she first saw the truck, Butts said she just knew she loved it.

"I didn't know that it was a Dodge really until I went to look at it," she added. "I didn't know much about the truck; I just knew I wanted it because it was an old truck and it looked cool."

Butts used to hang out in her grandpa's shop where the longtime mechanic would hand her tools and tell her to "go over there and work on something." Butts did just that and grew up loving cars and playing with Matchbox cars.

The teen said she's always loved cars — especially Dodge trucks; a point made clear when her granddad reached into the truck's cab and pulled out a Matchbox car that was a miniature of Butts' 1972 Dodge.

"Cars have always interested me, and I love to know how they work," Butts said. "Like, I love to know how a carburetor works and everything else that goes into the motor and how it runs."

The Dodge truck isn't the only classic ride that Butts owns; she also owns a 1973 VFW Super Beetle and plans to buy a 1988 Jeep Comanche from her granddad.

"I'm going to have a collection," the teen added before laughing. "That's my plan."

Butts hadn't planned to take part in the parade but decided to join the fun at Kauffman's urging, as well as that of her granddad. When she told Kauffman she couldn't afford to be in the show, her neighbor told her that yes, she was going to be in the show; he'd already taken care of it.

"'I want to pay for it,'" Butts recalled Kauffman telling her. "'I'm very proud of you and what you've done.' So here I am."

Taking part in the parade and the show has been a lot of fun, with many people coming up to her to compliment her on the truck and her hard work.

"It makes me feel very proud because normally when you talk to somebody and they're like, 'Women can't do that,' I'm going to show them up and I'm going to do it."

Butts encouraged everyone to at least learn the basics — including checking spark plugs, changing the oil or changing a tire.

"People need to know how to do these things," she added.

While a lot has been done on the truck, a few things remain — such as adding window seals and rebuilding the front end at some point.

"This is going to be in my life forever," she said with a wide smile as she looked over at the Dodge truck. "I know that it's never going anywhere."

Kauffman, who helped Butts drive the truck in the parade, spent much of his time at Saturday's car show exploring options to work on his own classic, a 1985 Toyota Land Cruiser.

He's had the car a while and used it as his main vehicle for many years. Then, like now, Kauffman worked on the car on his own — the difference then versus now is that work then was a necessity, while the work now is fun because he does it as he has time or interest.

"Originally, it was my daily driver," he said of the car. "It's been parked for a few years while I've been working on it, and it'll be a fun weekend, nice-weather, get-it-out rig. It's not going to just sit in the garage like a lot of these do. It'll get out and get driven, but yeah, it's just something I do in my spare time."

While he works in an office, Kauffman said he enjoys working on cars, figuring out what is wrong, how to make it run better and working out potential solutions. He likes the tactile nature of fixing or rebuilding a car.

"There's something satisfying about seeing the end result and knowing that you did it yourself," Kauffman said. "Part of it's figuring out the puzzle of what's wrong or what to change or how to change it, especially on the old stuff of, you know, you got rusted bolts and other things. It's like, 'How am I going to get this off, and how am I going to get a new one on?' And 'What do I do with the part that I can't buy anymore, and I got to put something else in its place?'"

Kauffman said he likes the "immediate feedback" aspect of working with cars — if you got the right solution, the car works; if you don't, the car doesn't.

"You know if you did it right or you didn't do it right because it runs or it doesn't," he added.

While there has been a fair amount of trial and error involved in his journey, the Laclede resident credits mentors and friends over the years who have helped him develop his skills.

Like Butts, Kauffman encouraged anyone interested in cars to find a car they like and jump into the fun.

"It doesn't matter the make, it doesn't matter the model," he said. "Whatever it is, just get one that you enjoy and take pride in it. Come to car shows, and if you see something similar, talk to the people."

Car owners — especially those with classic or vintage vehicles — love to share their knowledge and take great pride in helping the next generation on their journey.

"Kids just need to go and express some interest and the help's there," Kauffman said.

For Chris Lore, Saturday's Lost in the '50s car show was his first visit to the iconic Sandpoint show, and he said he couldn't have had more fun. The eye-catching, purple-and-white 1941 Chevy pickup has been chopped three inches, with a frame that has been stretched six inches and houses a 383 V8, 430-horsepower engine and a polished aluminum radiator.

The 2026 car show is his first Sandpoint show, and the retired mechanic said he was excited to be a part of the fun. He figures he built 1,500 engines for the military during his career and loves working on cars, inspired by his grandfather, who was a mechanic for Chevrolet back in the day.

Lore discovered what was likely an old farm truck in a field in 2014 and bought it. He got it running and has been slowly working on the truck since then to transform it into something that grabs the eye and is fun to drive.

Not many Chevy trucks built between 1941 and 1946 survive because their steel frames made them attractive targets to be scrapped during the war years, Lore said.

"They were scrapping all these trucks for the war," he said. "They needed steel; they'd scrap so much of it that there's just, you know, nothing left. And if they — if you found one, chances are it was probably painted green for the military."

Since he began rebuilding and customizing the truck in 2014, Lore figures he's touched every nut and bolt — and wouldn't have it any other way. He loves working on the truck, or on his wife's 1957 Chevy that was passed down from her father.

Being able to share his love of classic cars with others at shows like Lost in the '50s is both fun and a chance to connect with others who share that passion.

"You meet people from everywhere. Everybody wants to talk cars and have fun," Lore said.

    Chris Lore cleans his 1941 Chevy pickup during the 2026 Lost in the '50s car show on Saturday.
  

    Artist Tyler Gilbert works to capture the lines of a classic car at Saturday's Lost in the '50s car show.
  

    A classic car fan captures at photo at the 2026 Lost in the '50s car show on Saturday.
  

    A few of the many people attending the Lost in the '50s car show on Saturday.
  

    Lost in the '50s attendees can be seen reflected in the rim of a classic car at the annual car show on Saturday.