Hot Rods
Whether you’re in the driver’s seat or looking underneath the hood, it’s the first place enthusiasts come to find out what a car is all about. After all, without the right engine package, everything we long for in our cars would be nothing more than static displays of creative artistry.
The goal of many builders in today’s high-class, high-dollar world of rodding is to develop new trends to help keep the hobby fresh with new ideas. For some time, the focus has been on the bigger picture—the external appearance of a vehicle. Now builders are focusing a lot more on the details and areas such as the engine compartment, as they become a canvas on which to display the latest and slickest art form.
When a good portion of your life has been immersed in Pro Mod, Pro Stock, Top Sportsman and other forms of drag racing, it’s likely those interests will carry over to other, similar interests. And so it is that many legendary racers end up building what often turns out to be milder versions of the vehicles and engines that were so instrumental in their lives. Just imagine the knowledge they could apply.
“There’s no better sound than the high-winding pitch you get from a Kenne Bell supercharged 5.0L engine,” said Kevin Popp, a computer programmer and systems support specialist from Aurora, Colorado. And he should know; he owns one. We couldn’t agree more. The package makes very good sense, and we’re sure that once Popp gets to see his purple-flamed ’95 Mustang GT ragtop featured here, he’ll forgive the corny play on words for the sake of our article.
It’s often said that perception is reality, and yet our perception varies greatly depending on our vantage point. As children, our hopes and dreams often seem so far off, almost beyond reach. As parents, it seems as if our children and the dreams we have for them come overnight, passing as if in fast-forward, and yet there is middle ground.
Back in the ’60s, a youthful Barry Wallner was well known in and around Illinois for his modified ’57 sedan delivery. It was a tough competitor at the local dragstrips, but time took its toll, and most of the dragstrips have disappeared, giving way to housing and shopping-center developments and industrial complexes. But this hasn’t stopped Wallner, who was an adept restorer. So, from the late-’60s through the mid-’90s, he has gone on with other ’57 Chevys to win top show awards.
After one look at Jim Taylor’s Chevelle, we all tucked our shirts in, stood up straight and talked like we were members of the local country club. This silver gem is one stand-up, top-notch, upscale Chevrolet!
Once a West Coast gasser, this ’55 Chevy made its way to Lebanon, Ohio, thanks to longtime Chevy enthusiast Freddie Green. That was back in 1978, when his son Jason was just four years old. Fast forward a few years, and Jason, professing to be a Chevy man since birth, took ownership of the car from his father at the age of 10.
At first, it appeared as though the bright red Mustang didn’t have an engine in it, but once the seller, Eric Rizner, opened the hood, Holden and Wunsch could plainly see that the engine had been set back in the chassis. Was this the elusive Mustang “racecar” that Holden had been looking for?
With fenders or not, an early-’30s roadster is easy to build, and there are a great number of parts available for them.
