custom suspension
For the most part, street rodding is viewed as part of our American heritage, every bit as much as the blues and jazz, hot dogs and apple pie. It incorporates many of the traits we Yanks are known for,
combining ingenuity and individuality, plus a large dose of style gleaned from the numerous vehicles of our past. If you have any doubts, just look at the enthusiasts throughout Europe, Australia and other rodding hotbeds around the globe. They love American rodding.
The 75th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Grand National Roadster Show, presented by Meguiar’s, went full throttle this year, bringing out some of the most insane custom cars the hot rod world has ever seen. Sure, the AMBR award gets all the press, but the real hardcore builders know that the Al Slonaker Memorial Award is where true engineering battles happen. This isn’t just about looking pretty—this is about pushing the limits of fabrication, design, and flat-out mechanical genius.
Keith Shuley is a genuine hot rodder and a bona fide car nut. In that respect, he’s no different from any of you reading this article, but what makes him a little different is how he spends his days. Shuley is a Catholic priest and a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy, serving as the Command Chaplain aboard the amphibious assault carrier U.S.S. Peleliu, the LHA-5. He spends his days filling the spiritual needs of those sailors, aviators and Marines who help keep our country free. But during his personal time, he fills his own need for speed. What a concept!
Maurice and Lynne Hoover were already the veterans of two wild project car builds—a ’67 El Camino and a ’67 Camaro—when Maurice decided he wanted to build yet another. He says, though, that when he brought up the subject of another project, his wife, Lynne, was not particularly pleased. Maurice went ahead and brought home a ’67 Nova anyway. While in some situations such a move could have worked out for the worse, before long Lynne came to like the car, and the two dove into the project.
The Lexus IS300 is not only stylish in its outside appearance, but because of its acceptance as a true sports sedan by most tuner enthusiasts, it’s a desirable starting base for creating a potent street performer. This RWD Lexus is factory-fitted with the rugged 2JZ-GE 3.0L DOHC inline V-6 engine, as used in Toyota Supra models in past years and updated with VVT-i Variable Valve Timing. It also features double wishbone front and rear suspension systems, as equipped from the Toyota factory. A limited-slip differential option helps put the power to the ground, and the edgy Lexus body produces an impressive 0.29 coefficient of drag. This is definitely a slippery package with both good looks and ample performance.
Gil Palmer just loves cars, trucks, and motorcycles. He’s owned more than 100 miscellaneous cars, ranging from ’40 Fords to ’55 Chevys to a ’70 Monte Carlo. He’s owned a few pickups, too, and this one originally came to him as the bonus gift, so to speak, in a trade of his ’32 Ford Cobo Hall winner for a motorcycle at the Detroit Autorama. The ’57 Cameo that he received in the trade had an entire ’55 front end on it, and because of that, everyone thinks it’s a ’55. But this truck was in pretty sad shape when it arrived at Palmer’s Southern California home. Just picture this one item in your mind for a minute, and you’ll get the gist of the kind of shape the truck was in: There was a hand-painted (we’re talking 4-inch-wide brush, here) Chevy Bow Tie on the tailgate. The 10:1 compression supercharged engine would overheat in a matter of a few blocks.
Bully Dog Technologies, located in Aberdeen, Idaho, was established in 1999 with the intent of designing and building diesel performance parts that both improved performance and truck reliability. In the past eight years, Bully Dog has hit its target and never looked back in the diesel world, and now has expanded its business with the same quality parts for both cars and trucks.
Some decades ago, Louis Jackson was a lucky 15-year-old boy. He had his first car, and it was a ’55 Chevy, a car that was already a classic at the time. He was not lucky enough to have the funds or the skills to finish the car the way he really wanted—he was after a Pro Street-style car, but building a car like that is a tall order for someone still in high school. Though he couldn’t create his dream car that early in his life, he vowed that someday he’d have that Pro Street ’55.
To baseball fans, Reggie Jackson is one of the all-time greats, earning the nickname “Mr. October” with his stellar performance in the 1977 World Series. And yet, beyond his passion for baseball, Jackson has always enjoyed a strong appreciation for special cars, as evidenced by the extensive Chevy collection he’s explored throughout most of his life.
Ever since Honda released the Prelude back in the late ’70s, they’ve never enjoyed the following of the Civic or Accord. Always placed in the shadows of Honda’s two more popular models, the Prelude has managed to become known as Honda’s black sheep…except, of course, to those who dared to be different.
