When is a door not a door?
This week I came to a realisation that my long term project road-racing '37 Ford is dead.
In 1993 when I sold my GT40 replica and started building the ultimate hot rod (one that could lap my local Goodwood race track faster than the GT40) all 1937 Ford's looked like the one shown to the right.
To be frank, fugly.
So I spent a long time modifying the bodywork; stretching the wheelbase, lowering the fenders, adding a brand new coupe-style roof, etc, etc.
The problem is that over these last 10 years when the car was in mothballs everyone else and their neighbors has started producing bodies that out-of-the-mold have these same modifications.
No longer will it cost $200k to create a machine that looks like this:
So, it simply isn't worth me spending the time and money finishing my existing body style. I could buy a new body for the same money and save myself a ton of time and heartache.
Which leaves me in a quandry, because over the last 10 years things have changed. There are far too many quarter-million $ cars (especially 37 fords) that have changed my impression of the car. '37's are a rich-kid stereotypical car now; like beemers are for yuppies and mercedes with 22's are for rappers.
No offense if you own a beemer. (haha, pussy!)
Really all the fun stuff in the '37 is in the chassis; the dry-sumped 383 V8 built for 8000rpm. The round-tube chassis with multi-link independant suspension, the air jacks (yeah I'm getting hot thinking about it, lol).
So why not re-use the chassis with another body? Well done, great idea!
Funny you should mention this, because my sheetrock guy told me about a hot rod calendar called ragtops and runningboards which I just got in the mail and at the back there was an advert for a fiberglass 1955 chevy body. Fate huh? I love 55's (ever seen Two Lane Blacktop?)
But can a 37 chassis fit a shoebox chevy? No way you say? Luckily I had strecthed my wheelbase to 116" - the tri-fives are 115". The track is 67" - mine is 65". Close enough to take a tape measure to the next local rod run and take some detailed measurements. Watch this space...
For those interested, here are the three 'glass 55's I could find:
Bohannon 55 SS (chopped, shown here)
Corbin Rods
Fastglass55
*bonus: When is a door not a door? When it's ajar. 
Like, when is a '37 not a '37? When it's a '55.
ASP.NET 3.5 Web Hosting: 3 Months FREE + FREE Setup - CLICK HERE!