Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2023 i NZ Hot Rod

THIS story starts with the passion of a very talented craftsman by the name of Dale McIntyre, who had always liked the look of an unchopped, unmolested 3-window coupe. Dale imported this 1933 Ford 3-window coupe from the USA in 2007 as a project. It was originally an Arizona car, still showing the remains of the factory paint on tops of the hood and fenders. The main body was very original and came with good grille, windshield frame and all the window frames (garnish mouldings). The rolling shell sat on its original chassis that, at one stage, had been a hot rod in Portland, Oregon. The coupe was acid-dipped, before restoration began. The idea was to build the rare coupe to resemble how the original car would have looked when…

Last year’s Swap Meet came just after the Covid Depression, and now with life pretty much as normal as we will get, the Palmerston Noth Hot Rod Club held the 2023 Swap Meet & Hot Rod Display on Saturday, 5th August, Manfield Park, Feilding. What was a unique addition to this year’s Swap Meet was Celebrating 100 Years of the 23 T. With over 60 T-buckets attending, it was in the Main Arena that around 30 of the buckets were displayed in one specific area, and the public could see them close up. You could not be more impressed by such a display of some of the finest buckets all in one location under one roof and outside in an area with other hot rods & classic cars. Around lunchtime,…

The History Once upon a time, the hot rod subject wasn’t so divided or defined as it is today. Looking back on New Zealand’s automotive history, hot rodding was the catalyst for many motorsport genres. Take the late Garth Souness, for example, the Auckland car salesman who raced stock cars in the fifties based around old pre-war Ford coupes and sedans at Gloucester Park and Epsom showgrounds. As you delve into the history of Garth, all kinds of names pop up, from the Ferabend Brothers to Johnny Riley and Red Dawson, not to mention the late Louie Antonievich. These guys were all hot rodders in the purest sense, taking cars and stripping them of their weight, hopping up engines and seeing how fast it would all go. Simpler times and…

AN all-new industrial building in the Kumeu/Riverhead area of West Auckland has been a long overdue move for the progression of GMS Hot Rods. Founded by Greg Stokes in early 2018, the initial concept was to work on the projects of Greg’s dad Mark, to help him along. “I worked on dad’s stuff for about a month, and then people learnt I was doing my own thing, and it kinda snowballed from there”, says Greg. With a marketing background, Greg took the business to shows, had a print and online presence, and had a following for building cars with good stance and a “look”. Things started in a very small two-car garage and then expanded to a larger shed on rural residential properties, but it was all too restrictive for…

Chris Harris LIKE many of us, Chris Harris’s introduction to hot rodding came through magazines, and even as a teenager, he devoured the content and was inspired by what he read and saw. An early acquisition was a 1932 3-window coupe project which was channelled and set up with a 272 Y-block. Chris reached out to local hot rodder Noel Usherwood about being eligible to join Hawkes Bay Rod & Custom, and he was welcomed into the club and became a very active member, including serving on the committee. Being a club member had other spin-offs for Chris too – his first date with Lesley was taking her to the club’s 1971 Christmas party, which ultimately led to 50 years of marriage. As a sidebar to that, Chris must have…

IN 2010 Gary Kendall, previously of Rocket Speed Shop (Hamilton), purchased a complete 1934 Ford phaeton (tub) from Bobby Green at Old Crow speed shop in Burbank, California. When the ’34 arrived back in Hamilton, the “tub” was stripped down, and all the running gear, including front and rear ends, were sold off. Work began on rodding the ’34, which included a smallblock Chevrolet, auto transmission, a dropped axle and a quick change, all fitted to the original frame. Following Gary’s decision to move to Australia in 2014, the project was offered to Graeme McNeil at Mac’s speed shop and eventually was onsold to Wayne Gibbens. End of story? No. For various reasons, Wayne sold the ‘tub’, and it passed through a few hands ending up with Jim Goulding in…

Slice and Dice DAVE Best, owner of Gravel Motor Garage in Tauranga, often slices sections out of the roof of a vehicle to improve the flow lines. Dave recently did just that to his own 1948 Chrysler Coupe. Many coupes from the 1940s had a “bulge” in the roof to accommodate rear seat passengers wearing a hat. Think of Ford’s 1946-48 Club Coupe as another example. Dave thought that by removing the bulge and laying the rear window on more of an angle would greatly improve the look of the car. We think he is right; maybe that’s how they should have left the factory. From Bruce Taylor Rags to Riches THIS ‘49 Merc has a captivating history. It rolled off the assembly line as a four-door sedan and was…

In January 1989, D & D Specialty Cars, based out of Van Buren, Arkansas, USA, finished building this 1933 Ford 3-Window Coupe for an Indian Chief. D&D Specialty Cars is a wellrespected hot rod & custom car business, and one of the most famous clients they have built a hot rod for is American rock musician Billy Gibbons, guitarist and primary vocalist of ZZ Top. Gibbons has a collection of over ten hot rods & customs and is well known as the owner of the 1933 Ford Coupe “Eliminator”, which featured in music clips and on the cover of the band’s LPs. That Coupe now resides at the Cleveland Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. Gibbons has used several hot rod builders for the building and overseeing of his projects…

AS most of you know, Howard Bond has built some amazing cars over the years, the last one being his multi-award-winning chopped candy burgundy 1936 Ford 3-window coupe. After selling the coupe to the USA, Howard decided to cross off a long-time dream from his “bucket” list. This one was to be a chopped ’49 - ’51 Mercury coupe, and as you can see, he has “nailed” it. The one-owner 1951 Mercury was located and purchased in Long Beach, California, in 2013. The car was immediately shipped to nearby Riverside to be chopped by talented builder Matt Townsend who has gained quite a reputation from chopping Mercs and seems to get all the proportions perfect. All the body lines just flow. He also did many body modifications before the car…

IN the mid-’70s, Christchurch hot rodder Kevin Lamb purchased a 1934 Ford 4-door Sedan body off Neil English, intending to build a hot rod for his wife, Sandra. Laying around in Kevin’s shed was a Ford C59A flathead and running gear, plus all the parts needed to assemble a running hot rod. Kevin soon had alloy wheels from another project to make it look the part, and he even fitted hydraulic brakes. The body was in excellent condition and right up to the ready-to-paint stage. With the white base sprayed, Kevin recalled that there was an issue finding the White Pearl. That problem was solved while on holiday to Australia, where he sourced some White Pearl and “smuggled” it into New Zealand, stashed away in his hand luggage. He did…

Bite Me BING has always been an animal lover. When I first met Bing and Jenni, they had an Old English Sheepdog called Charlie. And while Bing was working at Car Craft with Tich Findlay, Colin Chapman and Rick Murray, Colin, who Bing affectionately calls Chappers, had a German Shepherd named Rebel. Bing once lost Rebel, who returned to Car Craft a week later, looking a bit dishevelled but otherwise fine. One day in 1977, Chappers asked Bing to return a customer’s Mk4 Zodiac back to a wrecking yard around the corner, run by a person we’ll call Boris. (Not his real name). Bing remembers it all too well. “I pulled up in Boris’s forecourt, jumped out, and the next minute I’m lying on the ground being eaten alive by…