One dad to another: Father restoring car that is link to man's beloved son

Jim Harris was watching TV one evening at his home in Howards Grove when he saw something that would change his life and the life of a father he'd never met.

The show was "The First 48" on A&E network, and the true-crime program highlighted the murder of 21-year-old Taylor Bradford, a student at the University of Memphis.

Bradford was shot in his car as he drove near his dorm in September 2007. As he tried to drive away, he crashed into a tree and died of his injuries.

The program included a three-minute segment on Jimmie Bradford, Taylor's father, who couldn't bear to part with the 1979 Lincoln Continental and instead brought the mangled car home after authorities were finished with it.

"I miss my son," said Bradford, 65, a retired principal in Antioch, Tenn., near Nashville. "To see the car, and look on the inside and see the blood stains, see the windshield cracked, see where his head hit, there was skin fragments still in the glass, see where the officer had put yellow chalk marks on passenger side where the guy had stuck the gun in and shot him ... I think about it all the time."

Paying it forward

Harris, the owner of Midwest Custom in Howards Grove, was capivated by the story of the car, which symbolized the connection between Taylor Bradford and his father.

"(Taylor) was really attached to the car with his dad and I felt that connection," said Harris, 40. "I was like, I can fix that car and make it brand new again, and he and his wife can go out and enjoy it and still have the car in their family. It's a part of Taylor they'll have back."

Harris called Bradford out of the blue and offered to drive down and get the car, bring it back to his Howards Grove shop and restore it.

"I just called him up told him I saw the show, I really felt like I needed to do this for him," Harris said. "This is me paying it forward to him."

Bradford, who receives plenty of calls every time a show about his son's death airs on television, wasn't especially surprised to hear from Harris, although the offer was unusual.

"Most of the time after they show those episodes we'll either get calls or letters from people all over the U.S.," said Bradford, 65. "He's a good man. It's a good family and they just want to do something that they feel will help. It's beyond me, but it's something like — I can't find the words to say."

Taylor's car, more or less

Jimmie Bradford bought the car in about 2000, and as his son grew up he drove it more and more, until it became, more or less, Taylor's.

Bradford promised to buy his son a new car when he graduated from college, but until then Taylor was happy driving the big luxury auto, Bradford said.

One day after driving the car the roughly 250 miles to the university, he called his mother, Marva Bradford, to tell her he'd been pulled over.

"He called and said, 'Mom, a state trooper stopped me,'" his dad said, remembering the trooper scolded his son not for driving too fast, but too slow. "He said, 'Son you need to pick it up a little bit.' He was going kind of slow. He was a good kid."

The car also got attention from someone who was looking to use vehicles like that as movie props, an idea that excited Taylor a lot, Bradford said.

The last time Bradford saw his son was Labor Day of 2007. Bradford had driven down to campus to visit Taylor, and they spent part of their time together washing and detailing the Lincoln.

"The last time I really actually saw him, he was in his car," Bradford said. "I pulled up beside him and he was turning and going into football practice and I was headed out to get gas and hit the Interstate."

'These guys plotted'

Four men were subsequently convicted of Taylor's murder.

Two are found guilty at trial and are serving life terms and two were sentenced to 15 and 12 years in prison on plea deals for facilitation of first-degree and second-degree murder.

Bradford never missed a court date, driving the nearly 500-mile round trip to Memphis dozens of times for hearings and trials.

"When it happened, and then they finally caught the guys, I pledged every time they were in court, I was in court," Bradford said.

According to published reports from trial coverage, the four men targeted Taylor because they knew he'd won thousands of dollars at a local casino and because there was bad blood between Taylor and the mastermind over a former girlfriend.

"Just to think about, he was on his way — he'd had back and forth communication with a young lady — he was going to meet her at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner," Bradford said. "And these guys plotted. They flagged him down."

Taylor's whole family, 16 in all, made the trip to Memphis for what would have been his college graduation in the spring of 2008. His siblings — younger brother Vincent and older siblings Gregory and Monica — crossed the stage to receive Taylor's diploma.

Bradford's life is filled with reminders of his son, but none looms larger than his car.

"It'll never be closure for me when it comes to the death of my son," Bradford said. "But this is doing its part of the healing. I feel like when I get the car back and I can reminisce, drive it down (Highway) 40 west, and (remember the) state trooper stopping him, cruising around … just a big smile."

Unapologetic car guy

The connection between father, son and car touched Harris, who is the father of three girls and an unapologetic car guy.

"When I met him myself, we felt a connection that it was the right thing to do," Harris said. "I saw it, and I knew I could do it."

The car now sits in Harris' shop, still covered with the tarp until he finishes a couple of other projects. He's already purchased a nearly identical 1979 Lincoln Continental, which he will use for parts to replace those destroyed on Taylor's car.

The finished auto will be exactly like the one Taylor drove, right down to the red pinstripe, with a few special exceptions: Taylor's University of Memphis jersey number, 93, as well as his initials and nicknames for his father and his younger brother, Vincent, will be embroidered on the headrests.

"Vinyl top, new paint, it's going to look like he just bought it brand new from the dealership," Harris said. "We're going to leave a lot of things the same on it so it looks just like his."

Bradford has gotten to know Harris over the past year through phone calls, and the two men have struck up an unlikely friendship through their shared love of the car.

"Taylor's spirit touched him," Bradford said. "He was genuine in his conversation … we hugged, we did, we teared up a little bit. It was fate. His genuine conversation and the way he felt about me, about my son, about the situation ... I knew he was taking it on faith."

Harris cherishes the funeral program and other items about Taylor that Bradford gave him, and he said he feels as if he knows Taylor a little from getting to know his father.

"Seeing his dad out there, he was never going to get rid of the car, washing the car when it was smashed up," Harris said. "This is what I'm supposed to do."

Reach Janet Weyandt at 920-453-5121

Watch "After the First 48: The Last Ride"

You can watch the episode on Taylor Bradford's case online at www.aetv.com/the-first-48/video/after-the-first-48-the-last-ride.