Gary Brigham's pride and joy was a 1929 Ford Roadster pickup, a former work truck that he lovingly restored into a modern-day hot rod.

Beneath several coats of a shimmering shade of blue called Lamborghini Ice beat a 650-horsepower heart in the form of a 502-cubic-inch Chevy engine.

Family photo (ENLARGE)

Gary Brigham won awards for his 1929 Ford Roadster, which evolved from work truck to hot rod.

Its custom leather interior mimicked the original, with Mercedes carpet and faux alligator accents. A multiple award-winning thing of beauty, the blazing blue ragtop wasn't just a cool ride. It symbolized Mr. Brigham's quest for the best.

"Anything he did, he had to be better than everybody else," said his friend Tim Speer of Woodstock. "There was never a second place with Gary. If he could not be in first place, he would find something else where he could be."

Sure, he appreciated the oohs and ahhs the truck drew from admirers, said his wife of 33 years, Janis Brigham, of Kennesaw.

"But I'm not sure it was about the attention because he was a very private person," she said. "It was just his competitive spirit. That was an innate thing with him."

From childhood, Mr. Brigham was obsessed with planes, hot rods and anything that got him from point A to point B ahead of the pack.

"He was a speed freak," his wife said. "He was into anything that involved speed — motorcycles, motorboat racing, car racing — and then after he started to slow down a little bit, he got into antique cars."

Gary Gene Brigham of Kennesaw died of complications from lung cancer June 26 at WellStar Kennestone Hospital. The body was cremated. A private memorial service is planned. Cremation Society of the South is in charge of arrangements.

Mr. Brigham had a need for speed that coursed through his whole life.

Born in Kansas City, Mo., on Nov. 25, 1941, the former drag car racer earned a business administration degree from William Jewell College, served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and worked in the marketing department of Beech Aircraft in Wichita, Kan.

A pilot since he was 16, he moved to Atlanta in 1983 and took a position with General Electric, where he sold and leased aircraft.

His personality wasn't just Type A, his wife said. "It was A-plus, and he was the same way in his job. He worked hard and he played hard."

Mr. Brigham started racing cars in the 1950s, then switched to boats in 1965. He raced flat-bottomed boats before he moved up to full-blown fuel hydroplanes, which allowed him to reach speeds of up to 187 mph.

In drag boat racing, "he was extremely focused and he didn't want to lose," Mr. Speer said. "He just had a great love of motor sports. If it had to do with an engine, that's where he was."

Once Mr. Brigham focused on restoring and showing antique cars, he could occasionally be "a major pain," said Mr. Speer, who worked on the 1929 Roadster.

"He was extremely rigid at times," Mr. Speer said, "but once you gained his trust and he knew you could accomplish what you needed, he would do anything for you."

Mr. Brigham enjoyed going to dinner with friends or spending time at home with his wife and their three cats. But usually, "he was either working on cars or showing them," she said.

"Obsessive compulsive" and "control freak," Janis Brigham jokingly described her husband. But at the heart of it all, she said, was a passionate pursuit of perfection.

"He just had a great zest and vigor for life," his wife said. "A lot of people wait until they get older to do things or put things off, but Gary never did that. From the time he was young all the way through his adult life, he lived it to the fullest."

There are no other survivors.