restoration
Around 1993, Bob Marion purchased a ’40 Ford cabover cab, but at the time he didn’t have anything he could do with it. He didn’t worry about it; he just thought of plans here and there, and after a full decade of on-and-off planning he finally decided it was time to do something with the old cab. He took it to Rich Brandl Sr. at Superior Custom Classics Inc.
Mark Turner is an avid hot rodder—he eats, sleeps and breathes hot rods and muscle cars, and he jumps at any opportunity to add another car to his collection. On one of Turner’s many trips to check on the progress of a Camaro he had being built at G&S Custom Fabrication & Suspension in Athens, Alabama, owner Greg Blaydes told him about a ’67 Camaro RS/SS convertible being built whose owner had lost interest and was looking to get out from under the car.
If you’re like many of us, vacillating between the car you’ve always dreamed of owning and what you really can afford, be sure you know what you need before you shell out more money than sense. Check around, ask your friends, read magazines on the subject, surf the Internet, get connected, and you’re likely to find your dream car, even if it is not everything you think it is.
Eyes wide open, with faces up against the glass, kids on a passing school bus wondered what it could be. Amazed by the size of this land yacht, some must have wondered what it was like to pilot such a gas-guzzler, while a few couldn’t help but smile at the resounding roar of the mighty L72 427 underneath it all.
Poison Spyder has a reputation for building some of the most extreme crawler rigs out there, and when it comes to advice, Clifton is usually at the top of our list of guys to ask. We were looking for a bumper that would be able to hold up to any rock we could slide into, as well as a well placed winch mount. A good looking bumper would be an added bonus, but we were willing to compromise on that last option. As it turned out, Poison Spyder had recently released their Brawler Bumper for XJ Cherokee’s. Not only did it have everything we were looking for, it’s a lot easier on the eyes than you would think for a hardcore bumper.
Although there is no set list or solid criteria we look for when choosing a feature car, we typically know the instant we’ve found one. Sometimes it’s a flawless paint job and subtle body mods that draw us in; other times, it’s a fully built motor loping angrily. Other times, though, we come across a car that is just plain cool—not the fastest, or even highly modified, but the kind of car you just look at and say, “Wow, check out that…” So it was at Goodguys Charlotte this year: sitting proudly in the mist and drizzle was Doug Wayne’s ’66 Galaxie convertible. At Auto Builder, we have a soft spot for large vehicles, and, realistically, Ford is not known for making many great small cars. Even small Fords are big, and if you don’t believe us, stick an early Falcon next to a Scion. But few companies do big as well as Ford, and even from a distance, we knew this Galaxie was as cool as it is long.
When starting any project that requires bodywork, rebuilding or even repainting, the first question is always, “What could possibly be lurking under the old paint that could come back and haunt us later?”
Mustangs are usually not candidates for sleepers, because everyone knows Mustangs have plenty of power from the factory for their lightweight bodies. This example, owned by Mike Skiles, looks like an original ’69 Mustang, but as soon as the engine is fired, that logic is thrown out the window.
Jack Fuller has been at this hot rod game for a long time, and while he builds hot rods for a living, make no mistake—this is a man who loves his work. As a matter of fact, the mantra of the garage is, “When the fun stops, the doors close for good.” It’s pretty simple stuff, and oddly enough, that seems to be the specialty of the house—basic hot rods that look cool and work well. Jump in a Jack Fuller hot rod, and you’ll know it was designed to be driven. Jack’s own ’32 cabriolet has seen untold miles over the years, as have most of the other hot rods he has built.
There are many reasons why the icon cars have achieved the lofty status they now enjoy, but one of the more obvious reasons is the simple fact that they were finished. Their existence and subsequent high-level exposure have inspired many a young lad to undertake similar projects, and for every famous car built in the early years, probably two others were started in an attempt to either copy or outdo it, but they never saw the light of day.
