Cool Blue

What will influence the design of your next hot rod? Some folks are influenced by cars they've seen in magazines, cars they used to own, or even cars their friends have had. Cliff Hansen, who grew up in Southern California, but now lives in Zephyr Cove, Nevada (near Lake Tahoe), has had a long history with hot rods, even though he's only 55 years old.

The faithful readers of STREET RODDER may remember his bright yellow '33 Ford coupe (with 12-spoke Americans up front) that was featured on the cover back in December 1990. (The crew of Brizio's Street Rods was shown setting the body on the its chassis.) A few years later, Cliff was lucky enough to purchase a former America's Most Beautiful Roadster award winner--the Ferrari-powered roadster Brizio built for Jim Ells in 1987.

But Hansen's long career with fast cars goes back even further. In the mid-'70s, instead of attending Pasadena's Art Center College of Design (which he wanted to do), Cliff got into racing cars professionally. Not the quarter-mile kind, but rather Formula 2 and 3 cars, Formula Fords, Group C World Endurance Championship and Formula Atlanta cars (he was a teammate of Bobby Rahal's in 1976). The sport gave him a ticket to race all over the U.S.A., Canada, and Europe. Unable to raise the money to race Formula 1 (though he was invited to by some F1 teams), Cliff eventually turned to multi-unit real estate investments.

He stopped racing in the mid-'80s and, over the years, has amassed quite a unique car collection that includes a Dick Dean-built '50 Merc, a '63 Ferrari 400 Super America, a 427 Vette, a GT350S (one of 11 built), and a couple of '80s-era Formula 1 cars (which he intends to race in a vintage Formula program). But one car that he had designed in his head and thought about for years was a roadster pickup. He soon put together a file of photos he'd collected representing all the design elements he wanted on the car. That, coupled with his racing and performance history, would eventually yield a one-of-a-kind hot rod. Because of his history with Brizio's Street Rods and their high level of build quality, there was no need for Cliff to go anywhere else to get his truck.

Brizio's builds their own chassis using Curbside rails, but to get the car as low as Cliff wanted, the frame was Z'd 4 inches just behind the front crossmember (a C-notch was also added to the frame's rear). For the car's profile, Hansen wanted the front axle's centerline to line up with the grille shell, so the wheelbase was stretched to 108 inches and the frame horns bobbed. Out back a Dutchman quick-change was added with a pair of Aldan coilovers mounted to each side as well as a pair of Pete & Jake's hairpins. (Cliff tweaked their design by having the brace design inside the rear hairpins curve forward, with the front hairpin brace curving to the rear.) Even with the Z'd frame, Hansen chose a 5-inch-drop for his Super Bell axle to be the centerpiece of the front suspension, adding Pete & Jake's shocks and a Durant mono-leaf spring. SO-CAL front disc brakes (with the faux finned drum cover) were next, along with a set of 16-inch steel wheels (5s up front, 8s in the rear) wrapped in Firestone rubber (5.00/5.25 fore, 8.25 aft).

Since Cliff has such a long history with performance vehicles, you know the engine in this pickup wouldn't be a stocker! The motor of choice started life as a 350 Chevy, but it's based on a ZZ4 Chevy and converted to a 410-horse crate engine by Edelbrock. Edelbrock also used their aluminum water pump, aluminum heads (with a 2.02/1.60 stainless steel vale combo and a 9.5:1 compression ratio), and an MSD ignition on the Performer RPM crate engine, which comes complete and ready to run. Cliff swapped out the single carb Edelbrock supplies in favor of twin 500-cfm units, then added Sanderson headers and a MoonEyes air cleaner before Brizio's mated the engine to a Tremec five-speed trans and dropped it into the frame.

Even though he already owns a couple of '32s (the AMBR roadster and a Vicky), Cliff would have liked to locate a Deuce roadster pickup body but, as only 593 were produced in 1932, chances were slim. Brookville Roadsters, who made their mark with their steel Model A reproductions (and more recently with the '32 roadster) makes a '31 Ford roadster pickup body out of steel. What's more, they also offer a stretched cab version, which gives the driver an extra 6 inches of cab space. Cliff bought one of the bodies and Brizio's team (along with Jack Hagemann, Jr.) did some extra work to the truck's box (it's been shortened and massaged to get the right look). Other little tricks were the chopping of the windshield stanchions (3 inches) and the laying back of the posts until they looked right. Mickey Galloway then performed the required prep and bodywork before the chassis and body were delivered to the painter, Darryl Hollenbeck.

Hollenbeck, who paints many of the cars that come out of Brizio's shop (as well as Steve Moal's shop, too) used a True Blue House of Kolor paint to cover the body and frame. (He also painted the wheels their candy red with more House of Kolors paints). Sid Chavers (Santa Clara, CA) got the call to work up an interior for the car, which uses a red pleated Naugahyde with white accents to cover the bench seat and door panels while red loop carpet was installed below. Cliff and Sid had gone over Hansen's collection of photos taken from lil' page books to find the right vintage look for the rod's innards.

Five Auto Meter gauges were also set into an engine-turned gauge panel that is surrounded by a unique aluminum trim accent. To top the polished Mullins steering column is a red-wrapped Brizio three-spoke steering wheel. A local pinstriper, Rory, followed the paint job by adding red stripes outlined in white on the dash, around the cockpit's exterior, and on other areas around the car.

After a two-year build up, the roadster made its debut at the 2002 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, and then was shown at various events around California. But Cliff didn't think it was finished without a top (which is funny, as he likes to drive his roadsters in the rain!), so the roadster went back to Sid Chavers' shop so he could build a white-trimmed top for it.

And, if anybody thinks this pickup is just another showpiece that won't see any road miles, then they've never met Cliff! Each car he owns is purpose-built, and he drives all of them hard! (Some may remember Hansen driving his Ferrari-powered Deuce roadster on Americruise back in 1994). Driving is to Hansen like breathing is to regular folk--there's no way around it, and he's going to enjoy every second he's behind the wheel!