MOST people getting started in street rodding start at the bottom ? something relatively simple and achievable ? and work their way up.
Peter and Cheryl Swallow, from Auckland, might have started out that way.
They bought a 1939 Chev coupe from Otaki and Pete and son Bruce started working on it.
After
taking the job as far as they could, including buying another chassis to replace the rotted-out original, they handed the car over to the experts, Magoos Street Rods in Masterton.
That was a year ago. Today the Chev is totally transformed, a picture of aesthetic and mechanical excellence that rates it among the top in the country. Nearly every body element is subtly changed without losing the attractive original lines.
A Magoos team headed by Don Hargood threw away much of the chrome, replaced the split windscreen with a one-piece job, binned the quarter-light windows and door handles (a solenoid switch now opens the doors), extended the running boards, converted the original clamshell bonnet to a one-piece rear-hinged unit and re-arched the front fenders.
At the rear is a number plate that folds away when the power is off, scratch-built lights that started life on a Commodore, a dechromed decklid and a custom high stop light.
Under the bonnet went a fuel-injected LT1 Chev motor, as used in the Corvette, coupled to an L4 60 transmission driving through a 9in Ford diff. Hargood fabricated highly-polished injector covers, adding huge eye appeal under the bonnet. The front suspension is from Rods by Reid.
Inside, the eye is taken by luxurious leather seats (by B & M Upholstery), electric windows and a rebuilt dashboard designed to accommodate the Vintage Air air conditioning (installed by O'Briens).
The oval aircon control panel echoes an oval theme that recurs through the car, including the 1937 Ford headlamp fittings, the Canadian rear vision mirrors and Billet Specialities steering wheel.
Reon Madden, of Supreme Paints, applied the deep purple paint that helps make the coupe a visual standout...
