It’s not unusual for hot rodders to have an affinity for a particular make and model of base vehicle on which to focus their creative talents. That is certainly the case with Bob Booth. His previous two projects have been Model A Fords. Build number one was a ’50s-style ’31 closed-cab pickup, completed over a five-year period. Following a fair few miles racked up with Bob at the wheel, it was exported to Italy, with ownership passing to superbike racer Loris Capirossi. The money from the sale funded the start of Model A number two, this time a ’30 coupe. The completed project was out on the road in 2005. Its fenderless body, metallic gold paintwork, and whitewall-shod Radirs gave it a distinctive look. Add a white diamond-pleated interior and tri-power small-block, and the whole package placed the car firmly in the ’60s era.

These days, any pre-war Ford tin is highly cherished hot rod material. No matter if it’s a prized roadster, Fordor sedan, or even a closed-cab pickup—if it’s real steel, it’s the genuine deal. But that hasn’t always been the case, has it?

As long as people chop tops they’ll always brag about how much they lowered a lid on a car. But when was the last time you heard anyone even mention how much they raised a roof?

One thing I’ve never really considered myself to be is a “truck” guy. However, the majority of daily drivers carrying my name on their pink slips have been trucks; a number of past hot rod/mild custom projects were trucks; and for five years I was the editor of Classic Trucks magazine. Still, while I love trucks of all shapes, sizes, and guises, I’m not real truck guy, per se—more like a car guy with a finicky fondness for pickups. There’s just something very alluring about having a cool-looking vehicle that you can haul stuff in.

When Justin Hartman first called Star Kustom Shop, I had no clue what to expect. As I best know how to put it, you could say that after tallying the notes of that phone call, an episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians had more direction! Yet when Justin and I first sat down face-to-face to discuss his ’55 Chevy he had a plan … sort of. Ten years before our meeting he had an artist pen a rendering of what would best be described as a turn-of-the-millennium mini-truck! Not exactly what either of us was after! But his initial rendering did have a few ideas that suited our likes—a molded tailgate, custom tonneau, frenched headlights, and everything shaved. From there I intertwined my thoughts with Justin’s styling cues and came up with a design that could only be described as a Star Kustom Shop original.

The “Grand Daddy Of Them All”, as the Grand National Roadster Show is billed, has seen plenty of venue changes in its 63-year history. And though now firmly established at the Fairplex in Pomona, California, as of last year we saw some changes to the judging process—at least for the contenders for America’s Most Beautiful Roadster, which is probably what the show is best known for.

John Bailey grew up in and around his father’s GM restoration parts business, spending his early years hustling parts at shows and working in the shop. With a father who was strictly a Chevrolet guy, it’s perhaps not surprising that John would go on to build Chevys for himself as he grew older.

Tom Pekel has owned hot rods since high school, when he drove a Model A, and 40 years ago became an original member of Cincy Street Rods in Ohio. A while back he ran a ’glass ’33 roadster, had a blast in it for about nine years, but decided to sell it, telling himself he and his wife, Barb, were tired of being cold, or hot, or getting rained on. They bought a nice ’33 Tudor and drove the heck out of it, but started to miss the roadster. For 27 years a very good friend, Ken Reynolds, had owned a ’33 roadster, just what Tom was after. They worked out a deal, and home it came.

To me, there’s nothing that screams Americana more than a ’49-52 Chevy. Stock, dropped, or fully modified, this era Chevrolet crosses over more hobby niches than probably any other make/model that I can think of—from restorers to lowriders and everyone in-between (and yes, that between would comprise mostly us hot rodders and custom folk). While my personal preference lies with the traditionally customized variety, I will say that a distant second would be somewhere along the lines of what Jonathan Ward has accomplished with his ’52 Styline DeLuxe Coupe: classic original on the outside, cleverly disguised modern technology underneath. However, that last part is something that’s quite difficult to incorporate into a vehicle without adversely affecting its true traditional values.

Doug Grande
Edmonds, Washington
1930 Ford Roadster

Attending car shows, specifically in the western hemisphere, one tends to see a bit of everything custom; or should we say “kustom” for the sake of this article? Having gone to more than a thousand shows since the late ’70s, I’ve seen my share of cool stuff and mediocre crap. Trends and traditions can fluctuate just like the stock market.

While the Detroit Autorama and the Ridler Award it encompasses are one of the premier events showcasing the very best of hot rodding, over the past several years, there’s another show-within-a-show that takes place at the Autorama down in the basement. If you’re a traditionalist, this is undoubtedly where you’ll gravitate toward, and if you were there last year, you’ll know this ’ere Model A coupe took top honors on the lower floor of Cobo Hall. Owner/builder Rob Paul says, “It made its debut and won Best of Show in the basement, and the SO-CAL Speed Shop Pick. I was honored when Pete Chapouris gave the award to me on stage, and then stopped by the car to shoot the breeze for a while.” But we’ve come into the story at the end, so let’s rewind five years and let Rob start from the beginning.

Rod & Custom Feature Car
Roger Jetter
Aurora, Colorado
1955 Cadillac Coupe De Ville

Rod & Custom Feature Car
Steve Andersen
Minneapolis, Minnesota
1927 Ford Model T Modified

Back when Rick Dore first teamed up with Metallica front man James Hetfield on their first build, the resulting finished product—a dream car–inspired ’53 Buick Skylark—wasn’t the only thing on their minds. Seems James was looking a bit further down the road, like six years and nearly as many collaborated customs (Rick Dore Kustoms, that is).

It’s impossible to talk about Modifieds without delving into the background of this style of hot rod. Though nowadays we refer to roadsters such as this ’27 T belonging to Bill Strecky as a Modified, that classification historically refers to a single-seat, one-man roadster with a narrowed body, abbreviated in the rear. Such roadsters were popular amongst the dry lakes and Bonneville racers before World War II, as evidenced by the number of them shown in books, such as Don Montgomery’s invaluable series.

Sure, we’re bringing you the quintessential hot rod, a red ’32, but this five-window definitely isn’t “just another red ’32”. When we ran into Ray Williams and his coupe at the NSRA Nats in Louisville last summer, the combination of the abundance of louvers and the artillery wheels drew us in closer; our journalistic curiosity piqued.

Many of us dream of taking a once-in-a-lifetime journey across the country in a cool hot rod or custom. Bob and Maggie Klessig are living that dream—mile after mile after scenic, winding, and expansive mile.

We all like a rare early car, and some of the rarest are the ’32 Ford B400 and sedan delivery. Compared to the panel delivery, of which just over 6,000 were produced, only 406 sedan deliveries rolled out of Henry’s factories, based on a regular Tudor sedan body but with a rear door and paneled-in rear side windows, at an extra cost of $90 over a stock sedan. A very limited number of “flower cars” were also built, retaining the rear side glass.

It never ceases to amaze me how many times coincidences play a part in either this lifestyle of ours or, more specifically, my profession. A chance conversation can trigger a chain of events when it comes to resurrecting old cars, or buying parts to build new ones, while publishing a long-lost photograph can fill in huge blanks in a car’s history. We can go for months writing features on new builds or restored hot rods, yet rarely do we get to feature cars that have some form of family history.

What comes to mind when you hear the word “Gasser”? For many, visions of a nose-high Tri-Five come to mind, and naturally so. While ’55-57 Chevys only comprise a fraction of actual Gasser material, next to a ’30s-40s Willys, they just seem to best fit the mold for a good number of street-driven versions we’re mostly all familiar with. But, all Gassers are not created equal—not by a long shot. Some, as you’re about to see, are just as suited on today’s highways and byways as they are on a quarter-mile strip.

Much like a majority of us, Troy Howard’s a second-generation “car guy”. No ethanol or synthetic—pure-leaded fuel and petroleum-based oil run through the Bakersfield, California, hot rodder’s veins. “My dad got me interested 40 years ago, taking me to the drag races and talking about the cars he’d had throughout life. He always had me handing him tools or turning a wrench with him,” Troy recalls.

It’s not too often that you will find yourself reading a feature story written in the first person. So, take this rare opportunity to hear an owner’s story firsthand, grab yourself a cold one, and sit back and enjoy the tale of Mike Alexander’s very first finished ride!

Hand-me-downs usually come in the form of high-water jeans with worn-out knees or sweaters with mustard stains, right? Not always. At least not in this case, as Mike Carlson couldn’t quite wear what his father eventually passed down to him. But it almost didn’t come to be, as Mike is about to tell—a case of teenage temptation that initially netted a lengthy grounding, but fortunately, led to a happy ending.

Many projects these days start out, or even stay as, barn finds. While Dave and Patti Hochevar’s ’42 Dodge had been a farmer’s truck all its life, and had been stored indoors for the majority of that time, it wasn’t really a barn “find”, as Dave had known about it literally all his life (his grandfather bought it new in 1942!).