Twistar

Let's face it--building a hot rod is a lot like life. Most of us formulate some sort of plan for the future, be it personally or professionally, and try to achieve what goals we've set for ourselves. Sometimes, though, life throws us an unplanned curveball and things start to go in a different direction. The same thing often happens when building a car. Halfway through the process, you might see something you really like and want to incorporate in your car. Maybe something from the local rod run got the gears upstairs turning or maybe something from these very pages got the little gremlins of imagination churning. Whatever it may be, the point is that oftentimes what may have started out as a red highboy pickup may very well end up as a blue, channeled lakes-modified. I've done it myself and I hear it all the time: "Well, we started out building a finished car, then decided 'let's just primer it and have fun.'" Well, add one more car to the never-ending list.

When Steve Legens and his crew began their latest creation, Twistar, it was originally going to be blue and silver. The last-minute decision was made just before the car was to be rolled into the paint booth. To keep things fresh, they decided to scrap the original paint scheme and try the flat black and silver combo instead. Some things though, weren't decided on the wire like the paint scheme. The headers and the way they extend through the hood sides was an idea the crew at Steve's shop, Legens Hot Rod Shop, came up with in the car's infancy.

Starting with a body and chassis purchased from Alloway's Hot Rod Shop down the road in Louisville, Kentucky, the crew began the arduous task of building a SpeedStar without building a SpeedStar. Avoiding the cookie-cutter stigma was priority number one since the SpeedStar was one of Bobby Alloway's most popular cars. The Legens crew had their work cut out and they knew it.

An Alloway chassis laid the foundation for Twistar with all the usual pretty bits hanging off each end, a Currie 9-inch rearend hooked up to a pair of Pete & Jake's radius rods, and tubular IFS up front. All four corners also got the coilover treatment as well as big Wilwood disc brakes. While the chassis is pretty standard fair, the wheels are definitely mixing things up a bit.

Bonspeed Wheels provided the large Delta-series rollers, 20s up front and 22s out back, and then Legens had the centers black-chromed. The effect works wonders for the overall appearance of the car, linking the upper portion of the body, the wheels, and the massive headers together. And speaking of the headers, that group of exhaust tubes that protrudes from each hood side was one of the first ideas the boys had for this car. Wrapping around each other before diving down and back toward the rear of the car where the spent gasses pass through Spin Tech mufflers and exit via a triple outlet exhaust tip.

Inside, things are just as interesting. Wanting to expose their upholstery side of the shop, Legens Hot Rod Shop wanted to make the interior of this one-of-a-kind car just that. Using a combination of regular and Nubuck leather, the interior was stitched from head to toe in haze and raven-dyed hides. A center console was fabricated and covered in leather and opens to reveal the electric window controls and door locks. Flanking the console on both sides are custom-made bucket seats, each with the Twistar logo embossed on the seat back. A Budnik wheel on a Flaming River column handles the steering duties, while a trio of pod-mounted, custom-made Classic Instruments gauges keeps the driver informed.

While the story behind the car may have more twists and turns than those headers, there's no denying that the crew at Legens Hot Rod Shop pulled off what they set out to do. And if life imitates art, they're off to a pretty good start.