1932 Four-Door Sedan - Kopper Kandy

Pity the poor four-door sedan. In a hot rod world filled with cool coupes, racy roadsters, and classy cabriolets, boxy more-doors are last in line--the bottom of the barrel. Shout all you want about extra passenger room or ease of entry and egress, but most rodders just ain't listenin'. To them four doors are chronically dowdy family cars, last resorts in a hobby obsessed with reclaiming the glories of youth.

So why in the world would Gary Vahling actually elect to build a quad-door Deuce as his latest ride? After all, as proprietor of the Denver-area Masterpiece Rodding & Restoration, Gary has a reputation to uphold. Does he really think he's "done it all," and this is the only challenge left to tackle in the rodding realm? Maybe so. But mostly he just wants to prove a point.

"I was originally going to build a beater four-door," Gary says of the sedan, which he bought when the previous owner lost his storage. "As we got into it, we decided to go all the way. We did a four-door to show people you could make them look good."

And look good it does. Like a spoonful of sugar, the PPG Mandarin Copper (applied by Joe Qualls at Color on Wheels) makes this beauty easy to swallow. The nostalgic highboy approach seems to be an appropriate fit, too. In fact, the color and overall appearance might make you forget it's a four-door at first glance, despite the fact that the body is basically stock. Ironically enough, spying the extra set of doors just seems to make it that much cooler. Purple pinstriping, a handful of louvers on the Rootlieb hood sides, and Guide-style headlights with turn signals on top are just icing that makes this "Kopper Kandy" even sweeter.

While the look is vintage, the bulk of the sedan's mechanicals are new, starting with the Roadster Shop frame and drilled Chassis Engineering I-beam axle. Hairpins and So-Cal's discs-in-Buick-drum brakes further the old-school effect up front, while a TCI four-link locates the 9-inch rearend. Bias ply wide whites were the only way to get the look Gary was after, so a set of BFG Silvertowns are wrapped around Wheel Vintiques chromies with Merc caps. The rolling stock gets going with power from a crate Chevy small-block appropriately adorned with finned valve covers and a Hellings-style air cleaner.

It's only fitting for a retro-styled ride like this to wear white tuck 'n' roll on the inside. Jim Skinner at Auto Weave Upholstery gets credit for stitching the leather and creating a look that will take you back a few decades. Granted, there are a few modern concessions, like Vintage Air, an ididit tilt column, and a full Sony stereo system. But spend a few minutes with the cut-down '40 wheel in one hand, the Lokar swan-neck shifter in the other, and a set of Stewart Warner gauges in your line of sight, and your mind is sure to wander back to a simpler time.

Speaking of time, it probably would've taken a lot less of it to throw together the beater that Gary originally envisioned. Fortunately his crew--including Dennis Graff, Jay Overholt, Bryan Seymour, and especially Steve Dowsett--agreed that the refined version was worth the extra effort. The results speak for themselves, as this is one of the finest four-door sedans we've seen. Not only that, it's got enough room for the entire crew to pile in and go for a cruise, which is something they could never do in a coupe.