Double Down Deuce by Bryan Fuller at SEMA Show

Bryan Fuller’s 32 Ford Roadster – Double Down Deuce

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We’ve always been a fan of the work and craftsmanship that Bryan Fuller demonstrates.  Last year at SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) he dragged out the ultra-long “Thundertaker“.  Now this year at  SEMA  we were once again impressed by his “Double Down Deuce” Ford.  And we weren’t the only ones – Hot Rod Magazine did not just one but two entries on the deuce.

Fuller – All Wheel Drive

After all when’s the last time you saw a quick change gear set – in the FRONT end??  Yep this is an all wheel drive beast!  This metal roadster is powered by a Ford Boss 429 producing 600 cubic inches and huge horsepower with a GMC Denali transfer case and a clutchless five speed. from G Force.

Slick is Sick

The “Slickest” item might be the Goodyear 28.5—14.50-16 Goodyear Eagle slicks to provide the traction to the asphalt or even the salt flats. This roadster will be at home on the auto cross, with pro tourers or at Bonneville.

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While still “a work in progress” this “Double Down Deuce” in bare metal is still awesome.  Plus we had the chance to see it again in November at the Jet Hot display at the Goodguy’s Southwest Nationals show in Scottsdale, AZ.

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COPO Camaro, Gas Monkey Garage and Build Your Own

The COPO Camaro is what legends are made of.  And if you watch Fast N’ Loud, the Gas Monkey franchise on Discovery, you’ll learn more about them soon.  They recently sold a Gas Monkey decaled COPO Camaro in Reno, through Barrett-Jackson Auctions.  And are doing some more  by way of Chevy’s “Build Your Own” program.

COPO Camaro

Back in the 60’s, slick dealers could order cars made by Chevrolet in unique configurations using a Central Office Production Order (COPO).  A dealer, Fred Gibb in Illinois, thought making a 69 Camaro with an aluminum 427 ZL1 power plant making 425 horsepower was a great idea.  So ultimately he ordered 69 of these fabled cars, with Chevrolet requiring a minimum of fifty to make a COPO.  With a price tag of over $7,200 (twice what a stocker cost), Gibb could only sell thirteen at his dealership and he sent the others out through a network of dealers.

These cars were intended for racing on the strip and they are rather rare and pricey.  I first saw one owned by Reggie Jackson back in the 90’s.  One sold at Barrett-Jackson in 2012 for $451,000

2012

copo-2012-drivers-side

In 2012 the COPO name and concept was revived by Chevrolet at the SEMA show and was introduced with a white paint job.  Only 69 ( a recurring number you see) were produced.  It sold starting at $89,000 and was strictly for the NHRA’s strips with no VIN being issued and lacking a bunch of NHTSA mandated stuff.  You had a choice of three engines; a 427 V8 or a 327 V8 with a either a 2.9L supercharger or a 4.0L supercharger

2013

copo-2013-convertible

In 2013 it again premiered in SEMA, this time in a unique convertible (which most tracks wouldn’t allow)!  It started at $86,000 and offered again three engine options.  a 352 horsepower V8, a 375 Horsepower 6.5L V8 or a massive 7L V8 making again the 425 horsepower.  Plus along with the racer’s standard Powerglide it came in a 4 speed manual.  The convertible was later sold at auction with only one other convertible made in 2013.

2014

copo-2014-drivers-side

Yet again for 2014, Chevrolet trotted out their COPO at SEMA in a light blue color.  This year, lucky winners can choose from a 427 V8, a 350 V8 with a 2.9L supercharger, or mere V8’s with either a 350 or 396 cubic inch displacement.  For 2014 a solid rear axle appears in place of the independent rear end.

Build Your Own

Each year only 69 COPO’s are offered by way of a lottery system.  But that is not the only way to get a COPO.  Chevrolet has offered a “Build Your Own” program were you can open a parts book and build up from a rolling chassis.  Again these are designed for the strip and lack a VIN and are definitely not “street legal”.  For 2013 they were offered at a starting price of $55,000.

That’s essentially what Gas Monkey Garage did.  They got their hands on twenty of these babies and offered them for $89,000 minus a engine and transmission.  So far they have sold 14, with one more set to be auctioned in January at Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale AZ.  Keep an eye out for more information about the COPO on their show soon.  In the mean time, enjoy some views of the recent editions of the COPO Camaro

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Cruise at SEMA Show on Friday Night

Friday Night Cruise

Cruise SEMA BannerFor the past three years, at the end of the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) Show on Friday, some of the cars on display drive out of the show onto the surrounding street in front of the Las Vegas Convention Center.  It has become known as “The Cruise” and has become very popular, even amongst weary, dog tired show goers.

Origins of The Cruise

In fact, the cruise started years earlier as an unofficial event.  After the show closed on Friday afternoon, some cars would drive off to get to their trailers and either get locked up for the night or head back home.  So locals and attendees would camp out along the drive ways and watch some of the cars drive away.

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You can admire the individual cars and appreciate a static display of cars, but nothing beats seeing them now drive off, under power, lights on and with exhaust bellowing.

Sanctioned Cruise

The Cruise just sanctioned this drive off and became a recognized, official event.  Early Friday afternoon, before the show closes at 4 PM, portable bleachers are maneuvered into position along a driveway that had been the point of access for the taxi’s.  The stands fill up hours before the cruise starts and the actual driveway gets lined with interested folks as well.

Cruise EmceeThis year SEMA had an emcee and a DJ spinning some tunes.  Because it gets dark early in Las Vegas, SEMA even arranges for some portable lights so the cars can be easily seen.

Cruise with Chip FooseSome cars tossed out sponsor t-shirts or hats to the crowd and Chip Foose came over to say hi and thanked the crowd for attending.  SEMA was even selling a limited number of hats, embroidered to commemorate the Cruise

Cruise Hat for Sale

The Cruise and the Stars

Of course, the stars of The Cruise are the cars.  Now most of these cars have already been parked outside of the convention center and on display all week long.  But nothing takes the place of seeing the cars actually start up and drive off.  We saw the WyoTech Ford truck/roadster, that we had previously highlighted, make a pass through the crowd after maneuvering out of the indoor display hall.

Cruise WyoTech's Ford

I never had seen so many LED’s on some of the 4X4’s and they were all blindingly lit.  The cars were often packed with more than just the driver, so their friends could enjoy the experience.  And of course many vehicles had more than one camera attached to their car, probably to help make a video for YouTube?  There was even a drone flying overhead.

cruise-drone

Many media folks were there including our friends from Hot Rod magazine.  It was refreshing to see so many gear heads come out to see the cars cruise, and great to see so many owners take their cars on the road!  Even the French builder of the 57 Bel Air themed Harley Davidson motorcycle drove out.  This is a great way for SEMA to wrap up the week and was one of our highlights.

Enjoy some of our selected shots from the SEMA Cruise.  Which is your favorite?

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GearWrench releases Gimbal Ratchet at SEMA

gw_81027_frnt_mainGearWrench

At the recent SEMA Show, our friends at GearWrench were showing off a new Gimbal Ratchet.  This is a step up from the typical thumb drive ratchets.  In tights spots the two plane gimbal allows for the ratchet to fit securely on the fastener and then pivot or lean the ratchet to get the most secure grip on the tool and then spin on or off the fastener.  Think of a gyroscope and you’ll get the idea

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This ratchet is great for tight spots and shows someone was thinking at GearWrench.  The tool comes in either the 1/4″ or 3/8″ drive and would be great for low torque, tight situations.  It fits great in the hand and is sturdy, but still lightweight.

Pricing and Availability

This ratchet will be coming out in the beginning of 2014 and I figure it’ll price out at around $20.  Their website even suggests earlier delivery if you need a hint for the holidays!  Tell us what you think and if it made your wish list.

 Some photos courtesy of GearWrench

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Goodguy’s Displays Top 12 Cars of the Year

This past weekend, at the Goodguy’s 16th Southwest Nationals car show held in Scottsdale, Arizona attendees had the chance to see all the Goodguy’s Terrific 12 Award winners displayed together in one space.

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Goodguy’s

This year the Goodguy’s AutoCrosser of the year was determined after Saturday’s AutoCross Finals Shootout.   All 11 of the other finalists were already on display for Friday and Saturday.  Some of the Terrific 12 were seen at earlier Goodguy’s events, other car shows and even at the recent SEMA Show.  But this is the one chance each year to see all the cars at one time.

Goodguy’s Award from Snap On

Adding to the uniqueness of the exhibit, will be each winner’s custom toolbox from Snap-on. Each winner receives their large toolbox in Scottsdale, wrapped with pictures of their ride to display alongside their car of the year.

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The cars are displayed at the Westworld show grounds on the top level of the asphalt.  There the public can go by and see these cars up close.  Throughout the show, the owners, builders or their representatives were usually around to answer questions and show off special features.

Goodguy’s had a great show overall with lots of cars and great weather.  Subscribe to this blog to learn when we write up our coverage of the show.

 

 

SEMA Show 2013 Overview

We contributed an article and some photos about the recent SEMA Show held in Las Vegas, Nevada to our Canadian friends at www.mystarcollectorcar.com 

It’s always nice to share ideas, thoughts and car shows with others.  You can check out the article here.  The website posts a new article every day and never spams you.  So check them out if you want a Northern perspective on car shows!  Frankly sometimes, it is hard to realize that they are writing from Canada.

1957 Bel Air Themed Motorcyle is SEMA Sensation

1957 Chevy Bel Air Motorcycle
On display in front of SEMA Show

Take a 2008 Harley Davidson Dyna Street Bob motorcycle, add huge amounts of ingenuity, imagination and innovation and blend with over 3,000 hours of labor and you might end up with this homage to the ever popular 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air.  This red beauty was seen at the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Marketing Association) show held in Las Vegas, Nevada  last week.

57 Chevy Bel Air

The 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air is an iconic look from the 50’s.  Any enthusiast will easily recognize the front chrome bumper, the bullets on the hood, the swoopy aluminum molding along the sides and the wild fins and rear tail lights of the 57.  It is ironic that these styling features were only found on the 57 and none of the other Chevy years.  For the tri-five years, (1955-1957) Chevrolet altered the appearance and styling of their vehicle.  Try re-tooling a car line now like that every year!

1957 Chevy Bel Air Motorcycle
Close Up of Rear End View

LUPO Racing

The builder, LUPO Racing, was from France and brought over this interesting takeoff on the iconic ’57 Chevy Bel  Air.  The builder/owner used the styling cues from the Chevy “fins” for his rear end and actually utilized the rear tail light to accentuate the rear view.  The exhaust exits through the rear end’s light housing.  Originally Chevrolet had thought of using the same idea for their cars, but the exhaust left a residue on the chrome which stopped that concept from going to production.   He also used the “chrome Dagmar’s”  from the Chevy’s front bumper to help carry off the theme.  Add in some Chevy emblems and badging and mix up some great imagination, and you end up with one sweet look.  Famed motorcycle builder Arlen Ness handiwork was even  used for the engine cover.

SEMA Show

This motorcycle parked in front of the SEMA Show, where anybody could walk by and admire the handiwork.  To top it off, the builder/owner drove it out of the SEMA Show on the Friday night Cruise.  The bike caught the eye of Hot Rod Magazine, who was at the cruise too.  Here’s their closeup of the motorcycle.

The bike had been featured in two writes up in bikenet.com previously as well.  Part One featured the frame and Part Two looked at the rear tail light housing.

You’ve got to admire the craftsmanship of the builder and the expense of carting it over to the states to be seen for one week here in Las Vegas!

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Timing is everything

Probably I won’t be the only one to post …

But how often can you post something at

9:10 on 11-12-13 ?

56 Desoto steering wheel
clock in steering wheel

This 56 Desoto actually had the clock in the steering wheel .Must have been hell to read if the steering wheel went out of alignment.  And imagine the difficulty in fixing that car clock when and if it went bad.

clock in wheel
Clock in Steering wheel

 

 

NHRA Breakfast at SEMA Show

One of the hidden “gems” of the SEMA – Specialty Equipment Market Association – week-long festivities this week is the NHRA – National Hot Rod Association – Breakfast.  Each year NHRA gathers a group of racing celebrities to come together, share some stories, crack some jokes and give the drag racing fans some inside looks at the world of drag racing.

The Voice of NHRA

This year’s breakfast was entitled “The Voce of NHRA” and featured past announcers Dave McClelland, Bob Frey and Alan Reinhardt with current ESPN/NHRA announcer Dave Rieff being the emcee.  The first two former announcers were introduced with video montages of their career.  When Reinhardt came out, they did not have a video of his past works, mainly because he is still announcing at various tracks.  Later Alan quipped, “My videos won’t start in black and white.”

Dave McClelland responded that the younger they are, the balder they are.  The announcers also shared some jokes about buying a parrot.  You had to be there!

They NHRA also had a poignant remembrance of Steve Evans, another past announcer, and gave an award to his son, Cameron Evans who runs Red Line Oil.

Dave McClelland

McClelland told the story how he started his career, when a track announcer “froze” in front of the crowd.  When Dave offered to take over, the track owner said, Why not?  You couldn’t do any worse.”

When McClelland was commenting on his career which spanned from 1961-2003 with NHRA and even earlier with other tracks, Alan Reinhardt commented “My parents hadn’t even yet met in 1959.”  And Dave quipped back, “And in a perfect world, they never would have!”

McClelland talked about his career actually racing and commented that he “kept his car looking old, just like the driver.”

Dave Rieff when first assigned as a rookie to interview John Force was worried.  He was told; don’t worry about it, “John will interview himself.”

John Force

John Force, the 16 time Funny Car champ, also came out and he was in rare form.  When he complained about not getting respect, Bob Frey pointed out the overhead sign only listed the three announcers as being present.

NHRA Preview Sign
NHRA Sign

Force told the story of how he got stopped in New Mexico and his 18 wheel race hauler was sporting a boat trailer plate.  Alan Reinhardt had to help loan him a truck to continue his travels back home to California, and while the truck was parked in a California lot it was vandalized with all the windows broken out.  To which John Force had calmly explained, “Don’t worry, we can fix this!”

Words can’t convey the warmth and true friendships the announcers shared for each other.  The crowd was in stitches and laughing throughout the event.  Later McClelland commented that it was the most fun he had in ages.  And I agree.

64 Ford Roadster F100 from WyoTech at SEMA Show

Truck
Driver’s side view

Congratulations to the trade school WyoTech that brought out a 1964 Ford F100 that was given a roadster treatment by a band of their students over an eight month period.  Because half of the school day is spend in classes, away from the machines, that really equates to a four-month frame on build.

Student workmanship

The students chopped off the top, making it a roadster.  One student made the renderings for the “pickup” and all the students worked on various parts of the car from the body work, to even the final trim and upholstery.

It was on display by WyoTech at the SEMA show being held in Las Vegas this week, from November 5-8, 2013.  Nice job by the students and good to see the future of rodding is in good hands.  And nice job by the faculty staff doing the training, and inspecting.

The truck received continuous stares, admiring glances and positive comments.