Derick SamsonMarshall, Missouri'62 Chevrolet Roadster
ChassisDerick gave the original '62 framerails the show car treatment, grinding and smoothing all welds and shooting the whole thing with several coats of green paint to match the body. He custom built a tubular frontend, and added 2-inch drop spindles and a '60s-era steering box. Suspension is provided by the CoolRide airbag system from Air Ride Technologies (sorry kids, no hydraulics). The four-corner disc brakes are unique, one-off pieces designed and fabricated by Derick.
DrivetrainThe engine compartment was done up high-tech-style with custom-built inner fenders, firewall, and radiator shroud. In between sits the Chevy small-block dressed up with a handmade air cleaner and custom valve covers. The 0.030-over 350 was machined by Rick Darling Performance and built by Derick's father, Ken Samson, using 11:1 TRW pistons and rings. A polished Edelbrock intake and Holley carb deliver fuel and air. A stock column shifter operates the Turbo 350 with a B&M 2,800-rpm stall converter. A '62 Chevy rearend with 3.73:1 gears gets things going.
Wheels & TiresIt's hard to imagine a custom '62 Chevy rolling on anything but five-spokes. Americans would look good on a street machine, but Derick's progressive design called for something a little more contemporary, like these Vintec series wheels from Billet Specialties. The front and rear proportions are balanced by 20x8 1/2 rear rims and 18x7s in the front. The low-profile Falken radial tires are sized at P215/40R18 and P255/35R20.
Body & PaintLopping the roof off of a hardtop may seem radical, but even the severest body modifications look super subtle. Derick didn't want to make it obvious where he had made cuts and changes. "I really tried to make it look like a factory piece instead of like a custom car," he says. The eliminated hardtop, the custom side glass, the shaved panels, and the unique emblems are easy to spot. Not so obvious is where he widened the doors half an inch and the quarter-panels a full inch to reduce the boxiness of the body and perfect the proportions from every angle. He did his best to keep all the extensive bodywork undetectable. "Most people walk past the car and have no clue." Once it was complete, he finished everything in DuPont Galapagos Green. Emblems by McGraw Design are the final touch.
InteriorThe extra clean '50 Chevy dash was lengthened 8 inches and widened 5, and is the centerpiece of the interior. The gauges were built from modified '49 and '50 Chevy components behind new faces created by McGraw Design. Derick designed and rebuilt the Pontiac Sunfire buckets used for front and rear seating, separated by a handformed tubular console, and recessed into hand-shaped sheetmetal. Custom One covered the seats and door panels in dark green Naugahyde. The centerpiece from a '36 Chevy steering wheel was added to the stock wheel. A Sony CD sound system pipes music through a set of Sony Xplode speakers.