Hot Rods are Meant to be Driven!
We love it when a dude hops in an old car and drives it across the country. That’s exactly what John Gilbert is doing with this crazy chopped Model A coupe. John works for a guy that buys and sells cars, and caught wind that he had purchased this Model A on eBay. The car lived in Saint Augustine, Florida and John happens to live in Southern California. Instead of paying $1,500 to ship the car across the country, John elected himself to drive it the whole way!
He made a pit stop here in Chattanooga to have a new set of Excelsior Stahl Sport Radial tires installed, and we heard him rumbling through town early Tuesday morning. The car has a 331ci Hemi engine with slightly baffled headers, so it definitely makes some noise. The Hemi has six carbs, and its backed by a Muncie 4-speed transmission, so this thing hauls the mail! Combine that with a Pete & Jakes Deuce chassis and you have a wicked hot rod. And with a 7-inch chop, we hope John has a chiropractor on speed dial, but he really seemed to be enjoying himself on this trip. Who can blame him….he’s driving a crazy car across the country and he’s stopping at all the cool places along the way…including the Honest Charley Speed Shop!
I know what you mean by wanting to drive the car. I still have my ’34 Ford 5-window coupe with a Chrysler hemi in it and I loved to drive it. I have had the car for 53 years now and it looks a lot like the one you have as it is channeled and dropped. It is currently apart now as it’s on the 3rd rebuild and I’ll want to finish it up by next summer again. It really needs to be taken out on the road as it is an excellent road car. The engine has dual 4’s and a wild cam and balanced assembly and I still get 16 MPG when the rear end is in high range.
It has a 2/sp. Columbia rear end with a ’39 Ford trans. and Zephyr gears. Nice machine and I’m proud of it.
That sounds like an awesome car Gus! We’d love to see it…feel free to post a picture of it on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/honestcharleyspeed!
tell that ole coot settin on the wheel he needs to stand up the picture like every one else..;>)
That’s funny… Yeah, I would have stood up, but Corky told me to sit on the tire, and who’s gonna argue with Corky.
Besides what’s wrong with getting a little rest before embarking on a 4000 mile journey?
I agree. Cars are made to drive. I have a 1939 Pontiac and I drive it everywhere. To coffee in the morning or across country. It’s just a lot of fun. The journey is the most fun. Not just the destination.
my wife and i did that also.we bought a stock 29 phaeton in LA and drove it back to florida. camped along the way, 27 days, 17 days driving and one engine change in sedona az. would do it again, fun trip.