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STREET RODS
Page 1 of 2
Well, that should really say HOT RODS, but as we'd class most, if not all, of our other featured cars, bikes, and trucks as hot rods too, we will settle for 'Street Rods' as a heading for this gallery. We are using the traditional 1948 year-of-manufacture cut-off point, with the usual exceptions of some European cars - after all, we were still building cars like 'sit-up-and-beg' Ford Populars and Anglias up until the Swinging Sixties!
The first car comes from a picture taken at the 1999 NSRA Fun Run at Billing, near Northampton. It is a red '28/'29 Model 'A' Ford on '32 rails, with a '32 grille shell. The curved chassis rails from a 1932 Ford have to be slightly 'tweaked' in places to fit the comparatively straight body of a Model 'A', but the finished job is much better than stock. While '32 chassis are designed to be visible between the body and running boards, original 'A' chassis run under the body, out of sight. Fibreglass replica early Ford bodies are available from a number of sources, as are both pressed and fabricated chassis rails. The painted steel wheels and early Ford hub caps give it a nostalgic 40's - 50's look.
This one is a '40 Ford coupe: the dull (original?) blue paint job, with Moon discs, suggesting Bonneville salt flats racing in the forties or fifties. The multitude of classes in dry lakes racing allows original cars from decades ago to still run competitively. The comparatively low-buck nature - there is little in the way of sponsorship or prize money - makes it popular with hot rodders. Photographed at Gary's Picnic, at Santa Pod, in 1987, this car has probably never been anywhere near a dry lake bed - certainly not on this side of the Atlantic! It may have had a new coat of paint by now, though.
Simon Lane's A-Roadster was also built in the early eighties, and created quite a stir when it appeared. The car shared garage space with the blue '40 Ford coupe above - lucky garage or what? The Ford Model A Roadster body sat on '32 chassis rails, and was powered along by a supercharged flathead V8, seen as a brave move in view of the somewhat delicate reputation of that engine. Of course, if the right parts are used, and put together correctly, reliability should not be a problem: scarcity of parts often results in less than perfect stuff being used, with predictable results.
Three 'old-timers' in a row? Including two Model 'A' Fords? A pattern forming? Yes, probably! Billet aluminium won't be taking a high priority here: older styles of bikes and cars are current favourites. We will try not to be too biased towards early Fords . . . .
Oops!
OK, it's another Ford, a fully fendered 1932 Model B 3-window coupe to be precise. Bright red, un-chopped, with polished American Racing mag wheels, and a louvred hood (bonnet!): a classic look that will never go out of fashion.
While we are in early Ford mode (again!), this pair of coupes were also seen at Billing in 1999. The baby-blue coupe is a chopped '32 three-window, with a small block Chevy power-plant. The black beast in the background is a Chrysler hemi-powered '34 3-window. Both are fenderless, and run steel wheels with hubcaps, and just ooze nostalia. The interior of the black coupe sports silver metalflake vinyl tuck'n'roll, with an early sixties' Ford dash and steering wheel.
Ah! A non-Ford! This is another 'fat-fendered' coupe: a '41 Willys built by Duncan Pursell in the early eighties. The coupe was previously a B/Gas Supercharged car, but was imported into the UK minus its blown hemi Chrysler V8. Not obvious from the picture is the big-block Chevy engine with TH400 transmission, filling the hole under the Cal Automotive fibreglass front end, before the steel body and the 5-piece front were painted yellow. What is obvious is the big'n'little Halibrand wheel combination. It was probably the only Willys on the road this side of the pond at the time, but the availability of replica bodies nowadays means that if you really want one, there should be nothing to stop you.
And does this Willys also look just right? Of course it does. With a straight steel body, and original trim, set off by a subtle blue metallic paintjob, and rolling on early un-polished Halibrands, it couldn't help but look great. And a little familiar. Those wheels could have given us a clue, but it wasn't until someone pointed it out, that we found out it is the same car!
The new (?) owner took his time to rebuild the ex-Gasser exactly how he wanted it: started in the late 80's, it wasn't seen outside of Bristol for ten years or more! The 'glass front end and trunk lid have been replaced with steel panels, and a new chassis and suspension have obviously brought the ride height down to speed hump level. The big-block and auto are long gone, replaced by a now-stick-shifted smallblock Chevy. Operation is monitored by the instruments in the stock dash, while corners are now navigated by way of the metalflake blue steering wheel - given the chance we would get in and just drive until we ran out of roads to drive on.
UFO's? . . . recently, the remains of a spool of 8mm home-movie film were discovered at the site of an old airfield in England, at map co-ordinates 52o 8' North by 1o 45' West. This was the site of reports of unexplained occurrences, including the disappearance of a gang of youths who had been racing each other in their cars at the disused aerodrome. The film was in poor condition, but some of it was salvageable and was duly developed. This picture is from one of the frames - to see the few seconds that were saved, click HERE (this file is over 400K and may take a couple of minutes to load).
Just a quick picture of Santa Pod Raceway's 'greasy spoon' cafe, as it was in the eighties. Known for excellent breakfasts, and long queues to get them, it has now been redeveloped. Well, rebuilt anyway, in a fetching red brick, and they still do breakfasts!
The cool green Model A coupe was last seen in black, with flames, and the '40 coupe is the one in our second picture above.
As this site is based in the UK, it is a little surprising that we haven't seen any Ford Pops yet. So, to remedy that - stand by for a brace of Britain's most popular (ouch!) hot rod.
This blue pro-streeter was built by the author between 1984 and 1989. Then changed from a four-speed manual to automatic transmission, behind a 355ci small block Chevy, before selling it in 1992. This picture was taken just before it went to its new owner - there are more pictures, including of its build-up, in our Local Traffic report.
Many hot rods never get finished. Not abandoned, although all too many fall to that fate, but living a life of constant change. This is Al Stevens version of a salt-flat racer styled Pop. Re-built in this style over the winter of 1981, it was unique at the time. There were Pops around with the front wings removed, but most were of the Viva i.f.s./Jaguar i.r.s. style. The simple lines, and clean red and white tuck'n'roll interior help the fifties look, while the Ford 2.0ltr Pinto and four-speed made for trouble free cruising. This shot was taken at Gary's Picnic, at Santa Pod in 1982. Later it was seen with a bright green paint-job, but where is it now - rumour has it that it was eventually broken up?
Mel Chave put this replica '34 Ford 3-window coupe together in Yeovil, Somerset, in the eighties. The fibreglass body sits on home-built chassis rails, and a smallblock Chevy engine and TH350 transmission turn the rear wheels with the aid of an 8-3/4" Chrysler axle. The longer-than-stock wheelbase and laid back grille necessitated custom bonnet side panels, and with the big'n'little American Racing mag wheels, give a cartoon-like quality to the rod. Take a look at a few Dave Bell cartoons in Street Rodder Magazine and you'll get the picture. Seen here in its original straight black finish, it later gained a set of flames.
Everyone hates getting stuck behind a caravan, but it might not be quite so unbearable being behind this one, towed behind a '37 Chevy. Of course, the black and silver coupe could be more than capable of keeping its matching trailer ahead of the traffic. The owner makes the most of his (her?) home-from-home, as the Belgian-registered combo was spotted at Knebworth house in 1999, at the NSRA Fun Run at Billing in June 2000, and at many other UK events since.
HOT ROD is probably all we need to say to describe this chopped and channeled '34 Ford five-window coupe. The pictures here (courtesy of Baz) are from the '84 Hot Rod Super Nationals in Indianapolis, where the coupe was as cool then as it would be now. Imagine cruising the fairgrounds in this tri-carbed flathead missile, rockin' to the sounds of Carl Perkins? A young(er) Baz - see Episode Five of the Local Traffic report - did just that while on holiday in the US, when owner/builder John Stimac took him for a spin in the black'n'flamed bomber at Indy. Apparently started in the early 'Fifties, the coupe's build-up took the owner through into the 'Seventies - with any luck it is still cruising the roads of Wisconsin today!
Our very first picture was of a Model A roadster, and we've only featured one other flathead-powered A-roadster since, so it's about time we had another one. This little hot rod was from the Bristol area, snapped at the NSRA Hot Rod Drags in September '92.
Oh, we have just realised that they are all hiboys running on '32 chassis rails, so we had better make sure that the next one has a full set of fenders!
This beautiful chopped and channeled '32 Ford 3-window was one of the hits of '98 in plain (?) metallic violet rolling on chrome smoothie wheels. The later addition of scallops, pinstripes, and five-spoke mags are the icing on the cake: it is probably now one of the best hot rods in Europe. The underside of the floor is painted white, matching the interior trim: this is not the kind of car you would enjoy cleaning after a drive in the country on a rainy English summer's day. If you did spend a day cleaning it, you would get a chance to see the perfect fit and finish of each part, something the owner probably does regularly, as this is no trailer queen.
This is (almost) what many thousands of Ford Populars looked like as they left the factory. The stock-looking shade of Dove Grey covering the exterior, including the filled roof panel (a welded steel panel doesn't leak and rust out like the original wood-and-fabric insert), tastefully complements the cream-painted steel wheels, while the four-pot motor should be economical enough to use everyday - just as Ford originally intended.
This is most definitely not what Populars looked like as they left the factory. Chopped roof . . shaved gutters . . fibreglass flip-front . . tube chassis . . monster rear tyres . . big rear wing . . yellow, flamed paint job . . none of these were part of Ford's design, and no one in 1940's Dagenham could have imagined their little family car could be transformed into a 9.2 second hot rod. Yes, this street legal Pop can run the quarter mile in 9.2 seconds with full exhausts and treaded tyres, and still be driven down to the shops. Probably not every day though.
Unfortunately, we weren't around to witness gatherings of hot rods racing out on the dry lake-beds of California in the 'Forties. Of course, if we had been there then, we would now be quickly running out of time to finish all those projects scattered around the garage and driveway (no offense to those who were there, and are still planning to finish their projects). Here we have an imaginary get-together, centred around a nicely-chopped '32 Ford coupe proudly displaying its mildly tuned 21-stud flathead V8. Behind that we can see the front of a '29 Model A, a '35 coupe, and the rear of another Model A, this time a hiboy roadster. Note that they are all Fords - although other makes were around then, Henry Ford's products were by far the transport of choice for hot rodders.
Of course, the main reason for going out to the wide open spaces of the lake beds was to see how fast your hot rod ran. Still on our imaginary trip back in time, the driver of this Model A roadster, a triple-carbed flathead V8 for power, is kicking up the dust with wide white-wall tyres mounted on baby-blue painted wires. The flat black body and Deuce-chassised hiboy may or may not be destined to receive a coat of gloss paint someday, although the grille insert already matches the wheels.
Uh-oh, that was yet another hiboy 'A' on '32 chassis rails!
Andy Przybyl's Popular was first on the road, powered by smallblock Ford, by the end of the 'Eighties. Then, within a couple of years, the Outlaw Anglias had begun to develop into a competitive race series, and Andy was bitten by the bug. The car was stripped of its running gear, with really only the shell left wrapped around a trick tube chassis, and now motivated by a big block Chevy! The beautifully finished Pop ran down into the nines, before unfortunately succumbing to a big top-end roll that totalled the car.
We are pretty sure this is a '48 Ford, although it could have originally left the factory any time between 1946 and 1948. The easiest way to tell the difference is by the location of the front side lights - in the front edge of the bonnet (hood) for '46-'47, and down below the headlamps in '48. Unfortunately the builder of this tasty ride has filled the side lights, so we are going by the grille: the bars were smooth in '48, but had a full-width groove in them for the earlier ones. It's not that important, as whatever year it was made, it was nowhere near as slick as it is now.
Oh, please don't go making any big bets based on this information as we could be wrong! And we have no idea how to tell a '46 from a '47!
Car Gallery Menu - Top of Page
The first car comes from a picture taken at the 1999 NSRA Fun Run at Billing, near Northampton. It is a red '28/'29 Model 'A' Ford on '32 rails, with a '32 grille shell. The curved chassis rails from a 1932 Ford have to be slightly 'tweaked' in places to fit the comparatively straight body of a Model 'A', but the finished job is much better than stock. While '32 chassis are designed to be visible between the body and running boards, original 'A' chassis run under the body, out of sight. Fibreglass replica early Ford bodies are available from a number of sources, as are both pressed and fabricated chassis rails. The painted steel wheels and early Ford hub caps give it a nostalgic 40's - 50's look.
