1937 Chevy Five-Window Coupe - Building the Consummate Chevy

Those in the street rod world are accustomed to Alloway's Hot Rod Shop in Louisville, Tennessee, delivering one head turner after another. Some would say Bobby has taken the "safe" route by building the classic Deuce or '33-34, but then who couldn't build one of these and make it look good? Next up, the SpeedStar: his version of a hot rod with its roots firmly planted in the rich heritage of the Model 40, but this time wrapped in modern wallpaper.

So, what's with Alloway's Hot Rod Shop building a '37 Chevy coupe? There are plenty of these cars ('37 and '38 share the same sheetmetal) that all of us have seen. Let's face it, this car isn't the Mona Lisa of Detroit Iron. It is, however, an excellent starting point for the imaginative builder and a car that has been overlooked for too long. With all of this going for, or against, him, Alloway has begun work on a '37 that's sure to gain the attention of rodders everywhere come next summer.

Up pops Chuck Rowe of Millington, Tennessee-who is no newcomer to the street rod ranks-currently the proud owner of one of Alloway's finest '33 Ford coupe efforts to date, as well as a '59 Chevy Impala that had the crowds at Goodguys Columbus in awe this past summer. After the classic "come to Jesus" meeting, Chuck and Bobby opted to "let it all hang out" and see if Cinderella truly resides within. All of that is history, as the saying goes, "The future is now."

Our future Cinderella is cleverly wrapped in a 1937 Chevy five-window coupe that came by way of New York. With the Alloway talent building on an Art Morrison chassis, the results should prove both aesthetically pleasing and earth pounding. Current plans call for a Reynolds Aluminum 494-inch big-block Chevy to propel this Stovebolt with a Mike Long-prepped Tremec six-speed. It's reported that the big-block Bow Tie spent its early life residing in a 1971 McLaren Can-Am race car driven by Peter Revson. (He was the heir to the Revlon cosmetics fortune and a Formula 1 driver who lost his life in March of '74 while testing an F1 Shadow at Kyalami in South Africa.) Mylon Keasler of Keasler Racing in Alcoa, Tennessee, will get the nod to build this bad boy motor complete with the eight-staggered stacks Lucas mechanical fuel injection soon to be converted to electronic, which includes a MSD crank trigger ignition. In its day, this race motor was reported to produce 780 hp, however, after the modern touches, this very same engine should churn out in excess of 1,000 hp; seems just about right for a Chevy making a statement.

The Art Morrison chassis is based on a 2x4-inch rectangular tub perimeter frame with appropriate crossmembers that support an independent frontend and an Alloway-installed Winters limited-slip quick-change out back. The 2,800lb coupe began life with a 112 1/4-inch wheelbase that will be stretched 3-plus inches to 115 inches. To accommodate this, the cowl and the front fenders will be lengthened accordingly, but more on that later.

As of now, plans call for the corners to be occupied with Strange coilovers and Wilwood four-wheel discs and hubs with 14-inch rotors and six-piston calipers all pressed into service via Kugel Komponents' swing pedal assembly. The wheels will be the obligatory Coddington-built Alloway specials measuring 20x10 with 4-inch backspace in the rear and 17x7 with 4 1/2-inch backspace in front. (We can only hope that the lug pattern will be 5 on 4 3/4 Chevy!) Steering will be handled by a Fiat rack-and-pinion with an ididit steering column and a LeCarra wheel. The wheels will be corralled by BFGoodrich g-Force rubber coming in at 215/45R17 in front and 295/55R20 in back. The tire and wheel combo should net out at 24 5/8-inch-diameter in front and 31-inch-diameter in back, giving the car that oh-so-familiar Alloway rake. The bottom of the Morrison 'rails should be a very low 7-and-change inches off the ground. By the time the fenders and running boards are positioned, this ride should be oh so low.

The wallpaper on this project will begin with a 2-inch chopped top. The rear fenders will feature the sides "pulled" down and the front fenders and cowl will be lengthened some 4 inches. The front grille pan area will also be "pulled" out 4 inches as well. While all this is occurring, the hood will remain stock in length. The headlights, while stock in appearance, will be lowered and the taillights will be turned sideways and the buckets sliced into quarters. The rear pan will feature twin exhaust pipes running through it.

That should get us through the beginnings, no need to give it all away right now. Stay tuned as we follow this Chevy through to completion.