The original "American Graffiti" coupe had Ansen pedals. It took me two years of calls to get Ansen Industries to find enough parts to build me a set of their original swing pedals, but I really wanted that look. Combined with the Chevy truck master cylinder on the firewall, they just scream '60s hot rod to me. I found a restored Sun Green Line tachometer on eBay, and Classic Instruments made me a set of gauges that have the '60s look with modern electronic convenience, reliability, and accuracy. I looked through a ton of old Rod & Custom magazines to get the upholstery design and look that would fit. I used a Custom Autosound Hidden Audio head unit with an amp, sub woofer, and speakers from Kicker. I tested several different shifters trying for the right look, and at the 2005 Street Rod Nationals, I saw Lokar's new line of shift handles. I think they look like the original GTO type, and the angle was perfect.
We "finished" the car just in time to drive it to the All Deuce Reunion in my hometown of New Braunfels. We had a couple of minor bugs to work out, but all in all, the coupe worked well. The next week we headed to Fort Worth for the Goodguys event and it made the 700-mile roundtrip without incident.
One of my favorite things about this car is that, with the exception of the interior, it was basically built in my garage and Danny's home shop. A lot of the parts on it were obtained through friends or were parts I had been collecting for a long time. It is an example of what goes on throughout our hobby-a bunch of good friends getting together to help on a hot rod. Whenever I drive the car, I look at a collection of parts and think about the good times we had making them all fit together. I think it is a fairly good interpretation of a mid-'60s hot rod, although I did give in to radial tires, and of course, air conditioning. I'm thrilled with the way it looks, and best of all, it is a blast to drive.
Rick LoveNew Braunfels, Texas1932 Ford Five-Window Coupe