custom chassis
It’s a simple concept really. You see, when you build six-figure cars for one person, many others stand by and wish they, too, could have such a fine piece of work. Of course, all that one-off bodywork, tube frame construction and sculpted interior is just too pricey for most street rodders, and that doesn’t even consider the price of an artist concept study and subsequent drawings.
However, after spending all that time, money and effort to produce an aesthetically pleasing and award-winning design based on the venerable ’32 Ford, why not mass produce the car in fiberglass with the same great chassis and super smooth lines? That thought crossed Boyd Coddington’s mind when he did the original Boydster, a fenderless highboy roadster. The next progression was to add fenders to the car and so, being a sequential kind of guy and is good with numbers, Boyd decided to call this one the Boydster II. The car embodied all the great style of the first car, but now with fenders.
Subtle is a term that doesn’t describe many hot rods, as most of them use bright paint and loud engines to stand out in the crowd. The new wave of high-end hot rods, however, often use softer colors and more elegant themes to make an outstanding statement. Doug Hoppe’s ’35 Ford coupe is a fine example of a subtle yet radical rod, and the crew at Lakeside Rods and Rides did an amazing job with the extensive metalwork, paint and final assembly. Lakeside Rods and Rides is notorious for elegant street rods, including this year’s America’s Most Beautiful Roadster, and the guys in the shop know exactly what it takes to build a jaw-dropping car.
If you’re into the kind of machinery that makes your heart beat faster and your palms sweat, then Dan Webb’s reimagining of the 1926 Panhard Razor is something you need to see. The original was a marvel of interwar-era aerodynamics—a sleek, teardrop-shaped racing car designed for top-speed competition by Panhard et Levassor. Now, Webb, the man who blends old-school craftsmanship with modern engineering, is breathing new life into this legendary machine with a chassis that’s as much a work of art as it is a feat of engineering.
Upon its introduction, the ’55 Chevy became an instant success, and over the years, it has remained a favorite of Chevy enthusiasts, with the ’55 Bel Air hardtop being one of the most popular.
Say what you will, but function is back! We find more high-profile cars built to be driven, and driven hard. Everywhere you look, car owners and builders are searching out new ways to put the fun back into driving the wheels off the rides they build, and they’re looking to the past for their inspiration as they recreate older brands to kick the snot out of new, overpriced super cars. It’s an old technique, as aged as the hobby itself.
Long before the automotive world was familiar with the name Chip Foose, he had already honed his skills working with his father, custom car builder Sam Foose, at Sam’s Goleta, California, shop since he was a mere seven years old. Armed with this hands-on knowledge of the mechanics of hot rods, Chip enrolled at the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.
It’s often been said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder—and when you consider the total transformation of this ’51 Nash Rambler, this old saying proves to be true once again. After all, the starting point was anything but beautiful, and more to the point, some people remember these Nash wagons as downright ugly. But now the right mixture of elements has transformed this unusual and outstanding example, giving it an all-new character that’s easy to appreciate.
“I started building this car a little over 15 years ago after completing a Pro Street ’70 Camaro RS for my then-16-year-old son, Brad,” says overhead door installation specialist Jim Meltzer of Ventura, California. “I always had the urge to build a ’59 Pro Street Chevrolet El Camino (hence the nickname “U.S. Pro-1”), having owned one of those cars when I was just 21 years old,” he says. “Forty years later, the ’60 came along, and I figured that was close enough. The El Camino project was a joint collaboration with my sons Brad and Rod, and it got off to a great start. We made plans for a big motor and even built a full rollcage for that huge hunk of steel with the intentions of actually racing it.”
Not your ordinary Hemi Challenger, this low-slung, force-fed, Hemi-powered G-Machine has more going for it than meets the eye, although what you see initially ain’t all that bad. The R/T hood and subtle R/T markings don’t begin to tell the whole story. Designed by Jason Rushforth, this E-body Mopar has some serious long and fat legs.
