It's showtime! The room is filled with bright lights, flash, glitz, interesting people, enough reflections to outshine the sun, and an intensity that can only be found when the essence of testosterone and the spirit of competition are present in maximum dosages. At least that's the way it seemed to Vince Spretnjak when he debuted his '34 Ford coupe (dubbed "Show Down") back in 1985 at Cobo Hall. After six years of hard work, Vince and his yellow '34 became serious Ridler contenders and ISCA standouts throughout the remainder of the season. But one season of dealing with a polished, pampered, and plated "pusher," was all he could stand. As fate would have it, this '34 would take up residence in a corner of his shop for the next 14 years while Vince concentrated on his growing collision business. Within those 14 years, Vince discovered the pure joy of street rodding by actually getting out and driving a few of the other project cars he had built. For one reason or another, these cars didn't quite live up to the same standards as his original '34. Nevertheless, the real fun was driving rather than polishing, which gave Vince a great idea. Somewhere in the 1999-2000 period, Vince realized that what he really wanted was a street-driven hot rod with the look and feel of a '60s Gasser. But to make the issue a bit more complicated, he wanted it to have all the reliability of your average, off-the-showroom floor, new family sedan. He also realized that his trusty old '34 sleeping in the backroom was the car he had been looking for the whole time. It would now be the base for his new Gasser project.
Originally, the '34 had been a full-fendered beauty powered by a blown small-block, but Vince felt a leaner, cleaner, back-to-basics appearance was required for this transformation. What he wanted was the stripped-down, bare-bones, all-business look of a '60s Gasser-and he wanted it all in a street rod package. So to get the ball rolling, Vince removed the fenders, running boards, and the blown small-block-which are all unnecessary items on a '60s Gasser. The Roadster Shop frame would have a few owner alterations made to it to accommodate the new powertrain, as well as the addition of a drilled and polished dropped I-beam to the front and a Vega-style Mullins steering box to control any directional changes. Out back, a Currie-equipped 9-inch Ford rearend was narrowed to allow the rear wheel/tire combination to be tucked in nice and tight to the body. A triangulated four-bar system with Alden coilovers control all rearend movements and insure that the power generated up front is properly planted to Mother Earth. You have to consider these things if you're going to build a pseudo Gasser, especially if you're going to apply serious horsepower.