Table of contents for September/October 2020 in Rodding USA

Why a ’36 Ford 3-window? Because, though all rods are cool, to my eye, the lines of the last true Ford 3-window coupe are exceptional. It has a look, a purpose, and an elegant nastiness when rodded with a killer stance. That is what this build is all about and what has driven it from the mind’s eye to completion. Every step from planning to execution was meticulously thought through and, by no means, happened overnight. There was continuous collaboration about the look of the car and the direction the build would take. Some ideas were kept, and others scrapped. Body modifications, color, engine, interior were all on the table. But first a little history. In 2012 I was at the Goodguys Nationals in Columbus, OH, and I came across…

While on our recent trip to the Yellow Brick Road Show in Liberal, Kansas, I ran into longtime friend Greg Morris of nearby Hugoton. We featured his car collection and shop in Issue 15 of Rodding USA. I asked him if it would be okay if I stopped by and photographed his stock bodied ’32 with my Brookville Roadster rpu to see the differences in the two cars. The Brookville Roadster rpu is a spin-off of their ’32 roadster body. They used the ’32 roadster body cowl and doors and developed an extended cab rpu which provides more legroom than the original rpu. While the body bead lines are different than the original, the extra room and elegant lines make for a beautiful and classy body. You will also notice…

We featured Red Greth’s first Speed Sport Roadster in the last issue of Rodding USA. While speaking with Red about the car, he showed me several display boards, with newspaper and magazine stories along with some 1950s photographs. It is extraordinary that this memorabilia has survived for over sixty years, and Red was gracious enough to allow me to photograph and share these with our readers.…

Ford roadsters of 1932 vintage have been snagged by hot rodders since the 1930s, way before the term “hot rod” was even coined. Its good looks and V8 powerplant made it an instant success with rodders. Hence countless companies have manufactured fiberglass or steel replicas for well over half a century. Visit any rod show today, and you’ll see plenty of Deuce roadsters roaming around; so much so that we forget how few Ford originally produced – about 15,000 compared to a staggering half-million 1928-31 Model A roadsters. Building a brand-new project car using a genuine Deuce can be extremely challenging, let alone a money pit. But there is hope as will attest Eric Justus, the owner of the Ford-made example seen here. The Ontario, California resident describes himself as…

Several years ago, John Breslow of Scottsdale, Arizona, commissioned Roy Brizio to build him a 1949 Cadillac. This magnificent classic is stunning and features late model power and ride while retaining the beauty of the original body lines. John, who is no stranger to classic cars, decided he was in the market for a Deuce street rod and who better to build it than Brizio Street Rods. In preliminary conversations, he mentioned he wanted something special, which led to the Victoria of which Ford produced approximately 8,500 in 1932. John was keen on the idea of the car which falls in-between a coupe and a sedan. He also liked the fact that the Victoria has the presence of a coach-built car. Roy now had the task of locating the car…

Classic Instruments / NSRA Appreciation Day Classic Instruments had great success at their 20th annual NSRA Appreciation Day open house on Saturday, August 1st. Overcoming the current need to have the event 100% outdoors, the team welcomed more than 100 cars from all over the area and had a successful participation in the added Fund-Police Poker Run. The poker run was set up to keep people spread out while still enjoying the thrill of the drive and festivities of the event. The winning hand received a 700R4 Automatic Transmission and convertor, donated by poker run sponsor Bowler Performance Transmissions and a 6-gauge set of Classic Instruments. The poker run was kicked off with police escort, led by Assistant Police Chief Dan Mercer, to the first card stop at Boyne Mountain…

For as long as I can remember, I have had a passion for the ’20s and 30’s cars. They are the quintessential hot rod, and they always make me smile when I see them on the road. After asking numerous friends why they didn’t drive their hot rods, I was informed that it was because they didn’t enjoy driving them. While their reasons differed, it seemed to come back to the suspension. Most of them had traditional I-beams and didn’t want to lose that look but did want the advantages of an IFS. Years before these conversations, I had an idea to build an independent I-beam. Multiple people had attempted IFS but either lost the traditional look or had modeled the twin I-beam which Ford used on their trucks. Fast…

Rodding USA was committed to participating in the 2020 Street Rod Nationals from the get-go, but the six weeks leading up to the show had us on pins and needles. As each week went by, more and more shows across the country were being canceled, and we kept our fingers crossed that the Nats wouldn’t be swallowed up by the Coronavirus. Within two weeks of our August 4th flight, the city of Louisville reduced seating capacity in restaurants to 25 percent. They told their residents they would have to quarantine if they traveled to any of the “hot spot” states, of which Arizona was one of them. I made some phone calls on August 3rd, and everything had been cleared for the show by NSRA with the Kentucky health department.…

Greg Wilson, a Louisville native, began attending Carl Casper custom auto shows at an early age, and in 1978, he displayed his 1957 Chevy at the show. In 1989 he married Gail, and they sold the ‘57 and purchased a 1941 Plymouth sedan. After the long process of restoring the Plymouth, they entered it in the 1997 Carl Casper show. While attending the local NSRA Street Rod Nats in 1999, they met Cecil Taylor, whose Hercules Motor Cars built the give-away car, which was a Model A woody. They liked the woody, and in 2000, they took a trip to Florida and stopped by to visit Cecil and his wife Fern in Tampa. Before heading home, they ordered one of his 1933 Ford woodies and a long term friendship began,…

It’s not often that three guys who are long time friends all have ’32 Ford 5-W coupes. The cool part is that each one is a product of the imagination of its owner. For many moons, the ’32 Ford has been a canvas for hot rodders to take an iconic design and modify it to their personal tastes. All three of these cars have a history that is unique to each one, yet, they are still recognizable as ’32 Fords. John Ziegler In 1971, John Ziegler was driving a home built 1923 Ford T RPU. Finding that was not too practical for a girlfriend about to become his wife, he started looking around for a new ride. In the classified section, he found a ’37 Chevy tudor Town Sedan for…

David Jacobs Jr. was out in Bonneville with a good friend EJ Kowalski. Shortly upon returning to Pennsylvania, David mentioned wanting to build a roadster pickup to add to his growing fleet. EJ shared he had some parts and pieces lying around that could provide a good start for the project. EJ saved parts from other completed builds, from any deal too good to pass up, and discarded parts nobody wanted This 1930 Ford pickup project began with a cowl, stock Model A frame, and sedan doors with a plan to make everything else! The hard part will be making it all look nice, which is fun to them. With the pieces gathered in EJ’s garage, the roadster was roughed together over the following winter. EJ did the hard fab…

ISSUE 7 (Feb-Mar, 2014) We switched from a monthly publication to a bi-monthly after Issue 3, which effectively makes Issue 7 the beginning of Year 2. I took an October trip to Peculiar, Missouri to meet up with Jerry, Jason and Tina Slover, owners of Pete & Jake’s Hot Rod Parts and two of the most recognized hot rods in the world. I found out when the Slover’s purchased Pete & Jake’s in 1986, the “California Kid” was part of the package, but Jake’s coupe wasn’t. They mentioned to Jake they would like “first rights” to his yellow coupe if he ever decided to sell it and Jerry received the call he had been waiting for. Fourteen years later and the two iconic 1934 Ford coupes were reunited once again.…