The all-new Rodder’s Journal #77 has shipped to subscribers and is making its way to newsstands as you read this—and we figured we would start the New Year off right with a look behind the scenes. From Fuel Coupes for the street to flathead-powered A-V8s, the issue is loaded with a colorful mix of hot rods and custom cars from coast to coast.
Whenever we publish an issue, we routinely realize we have way too much content to fit within the confines of our pages. With that in mind, we’ve collected some outtakes from the cutting room floor to share with you today.
Several of our extras were submitted by readers eager to add their piece to the story. Keep on sending them in—we love hearing from you.
Happy New Year!
Your Friends at The Rodder’s Journal
"Blue Velvet" The Gas Monkey Garage '34 Ford
Building a Fuel Coupe for the street is no easy task, but Richard Rawlings of Gas Monkey Garage and Brian Bass joined forces to do just that with this ’34 Ford. Heavily influenced by the Mooneyham & Sharp “554,” the five-window features an aggressive chop, blown and injected early Hemi and a wealth of handmade details throughout. Here’s a little bit of X-ray vision for ya, which unfortunately did not make the article.
"A Roadster Reunited" The Eddie Dye Model A
The Eddie Dye roadster has lived a whole lot of life in the past half century, and we’re excited to see it return to its Ayala Brothers form (above). In “A Roadster Reunited,” we share the winding tale of both Eddie Dye and the historic Model A that bares his name. By the mid-’60s, the car was updated into a 409-powered showstopper by San Diego hot rodder Roger Brousseau (below). With the exception of the wheels and a few small details, this is how the A looked in the 1964 movie “The Lively Set.”
"The Petersen Photo Archive"
The building at 5959 Hollywood Boulevard (above) was instated as the Trend Inc. headquarters in 1952 and then became the Petersen Publishing office four years later. During those days, you never knew what type of machinery you’d find out front—like this clean ’34 Ford five-window and Oldsmobile fastback. Anybody know who owned these two?
In our “Petersen Photo Archive” article, we ran a shot of Leo Lyons’ experimental Hemi-headed smallblock Chevy on Isky’s dyno (below). As soon as he saw the photo, TRJ reader Tom Shorett of San Bernardino, California, identified the man on the lower right as his childhood neighbor Mike Snively. Not only was Mike a standout Top Fuel driver during the ’60s, he also was a devout hot rodder who had a mild custom ’56 Chevy and a ’34 Ford Tudor with Cragars that appeared in the May ’68 installment of Rod & Custom's “Rods & Customs at Random.”
"Restoration Redux" Vern Tardel builds an A-V8
Over the summer, we took a trip north to Vern Tardel’s shop in Windsor, California, to get the inside scoop on this ’29 Model A Tudor he recently put together. Building traditional A-V8s like this is nothing new to Vern—but this time he documented the entire process from start to finish for his latest book, Hot Rod Your Model A. Even though these shots didn’t make the article, they showcase both the car and Tardel’s world-famous prune orchard.
"Customs Revisited" The Jim Walker Collection
TRJ publisher Steve Coonan swung by Jim Walker’s Dayton, Ohio, garage more than a quarter century ago to shoot a handful of his traditional customs for an American Rodder feature. In “Customs Revisited,” we weren’t able to fit Jim’s ’42 Merc, so we present you with a picture of it here (above). The same can be said for his unbelievable early custom scrapbook, which includes cars like the chopped and DeSoto bumpered '36 Ford shown below—but we’ll have more in an upcoming issue.
"Get Your Pictures!" Joe Stevens' Autorama Portfolio
“Get Your Pictures” gave a glimpse into Joe Stevens’ Detroit Autorama portfolio from 1964-’66. On page 107, we ran this photo of customizer Ron Gerstner’s Buffalo, New York-based ’34 Ford on display at Cobo Hall. The Candy Green coupe was a poster child for the “show’n go” look with its blown and injected Hemi and flip-top body. According to Ron, the car placed second in the country on the ISCA show circuit two years in a row. He sent us some color shots the other day, and we figured this one (below) was too good not to share.
"Wheels are Everything" Atomic Age Mild Customs
“Wheels Are Everything” explores graphic artist Mark Kawano’s portfolio of mild customs based on mid-century automobile advertisements. He approaches subjects from the Big Three and beyond; here’s a particularly tasty ’60 DeSoto (above) and a Bellflower-style ’63 Oldsmobile (below) that we're sad to say didn’t make the article.
The first in Vern Tardel’s “Big Book Series,” Hot Rod Your Model A is a comprehensive guide to building an A-V8 out of an older restoration. Laid out like a shop manual and spiral bound in a binder, the 300+ page book measures 10x11-1/2 inches and is printed in full color, making it a valuable resource for anyone considering a Model A project as well as those who currently have one in the works.
