1938 Ford Convertible - Pueblo Poster Car

When we first approached Randy Young about shooting his car for SRM, he was beside himself. His convertible was already featured on the poster for the Pueblo Nats, so it seemed only fitting that we chose it for a spot in the magazine. Photo-grapher extraordinaire Bob McClurg loaded up his camera and the resulting photos practically speak for themselves.

Randy and his wife, Janet, reside in Newton, Kansas, and that's primarily where the construction of their 'vert took place, utilizing various shops in the area for paint, bodywork, upholstery, and other miscellaneous tasks. Under the body resides the stock Ford chassis, updated with a Heidt's Hot Rod Shop independent frontend complete with disc brakes and rack-and-pinion steering. Out back, a 9-inch rearend maintains the all-Ford theme as far as the chassis is concerned. But when it came to the drivetrain, that's when Randy strayed from the mentioned recipe. A 350ci Chevy was bolted in front of a matching 350 trans to provide a bulletproof combination. The motor was left relatively stock, with the exception of an Edelbrock intake and carb, and Mallory ignition. Randy then laid the entire roller on a set of Boyd Coddington Wheels billet wheels, wrapped in Goodyear rubber.

Randy's '38 really comes alive in the sun thanks to the Classic Body Works-applied DuPont Smoothie Yellow paint. But before the paint was applied, Randy made a few modifications to the exterior of the car, namely the smoothie treatment of the running boards and the adaptation of earlier '37 bumpers. Once the car was rolling in its dazzling yellow coat, it was time to bring the car down to Downey's Auto Upholstery in Wichita, where it received a full tan leather wrap over the Glide Engineering seat and door panels. A Dakota Digital gauge cluster resides in a Bitchin Products dash, and an ididit column topped with a banjo-style steering wheel round off the interior.

There's something to be said of the simplicity of Randy and Janet Young's Ford. While the body remained relatively unmodified, the car still has the impact to attract the attention of not only our keen photographer, but also Randy's street rodding contemporaries. That's quite a statement.

Facts & FiguresRandy and Janet YoungNewton, Kansas1938 Ford convertible