Take a good look at over 30 years of New Zealand and Australian hot rod magazines and you will see what we mean when we say John Reid is one of the best rod builders in Australia. Without a doubt, John's street rod styling has paralleled that of our American origin and has always set the trends for New Zealand to follow.
Together with his wife Janet, John owns and operates Rods By Reid, a company that manufactures world class street rod parts and turnkey cars. While renowned as the leader in the New Zealand street rod industry, John and Janet felt the time was right to build a promotional vehicle. Something that could showcase every conceivable component available from Rods By Reid, and also stand as "proof in the pudding" in terms of their second-to-none fit and finish, reliability, and superior handling aspects.
His latest effort is the '33 coupe you see here, which by the way is now the shop car for his Tauranga, New Zealand-based Rods By Reid street rod shop. This car is not just a rolling advertisement for John's expertise, but more than that, reflects John's past as well sets his future path.
Back in 1968, John constructed what was his first nationally recognized street rod, a Dodge-based bucket named "Vandal" that was shipped to the U.S. to compete at the Oakland Roadster Show. Then, in 1974, "Vandal" was rebuilt and updated with four-wheel disc brakes and a new custom flamed paint job. With its new look, John renamed her "Black Sabbath." Naturally the car was a top show winner even though it was driven regularly. This "show and go" theme has been a mainstay in all of Rods By Reid's street rods right up to this very day. While the "Black Sabbath" car was sold in the late '70s, and more cars have passed through John's hands since then, the origins remain the same.
Fast-forward to 2004 and while the black-with-flames theme is still working perfectly, the current car is state-of-the-art and quite different. While John's new version is dubbed "Black Sabbath II," an appropriate name for this Kiwi-bred coupe, it could also be considered as a modern rendition of Tom Prufer's famous "Cop Shop" coupe.
Starting with the SAC framerails, John stretched and pinched the front section, and built his own double tubular 12-point centersection before mounting the front and rear suspension. The rear consists of a Jag centersection with Rods By Reid-manufactured tapered halfshafts, polished stainless uprights, polished billet control arms, four-links, and anti-rollbar. The "Lo Boy" frontend features chromed Rods By Reid dropped spindles, anti-rollbar, and polished stainless control arms. Helping the handling aspects even more is a set of Affco shocks all around with Wilwood discs for the right kind of stopping power.
Under the custom-built aluminum three-piece hood by in-house metalman "Shrappnel," lies a TPI-fed, 355ci Chevy small-block controlled by a Street & Performance computer. Also featured on this engine is a set of aluminum LT1 heads with Comp Cams valvetrain. A reverse rotation aluminum Vette water pump has also been fit to the small-block with a Griffin radiator and Street & Performance serpentine belt kit. The remainder of brightwork, including the valve covers, was all custom-made in-house at Rods By Reid.