Twin Turbo Terror -- Street Rodder

Mike Filion, of Pro Design Hot Rods, and Prince Herzog have a history of working together that goes back quite some time. You see, Mike and his team have put together at least a handful of hot rods and trucks for Prince, one of which has graced our magazine before (February 1999). But as progress goes, nothing they've done in the past can come close to their latest endeavor.

A few years back, Prince told Mike he would like to build a '37 Ford. Being the ever-resourceful guy that he is, Mike knew of one in Long Beach, California, that happened to be for sale. It was a bit rough, but the price was right and soon it was back at Mike's Huntington Beach-based shop. As complete as the car may have been, not much of it would end up being used in the grand scheme of things.

The first measure of business was to slide the stock chassis out from under the body and get to work on a brand-new frame. The 'rails were boxed the entire length and a girthy 1 1/4-inch chromoly tube X-member was fabbed to support the Corvette C5 IRS and also stretched a full 4 inches. To make the C5 rear fit under the fenders with the wide rear tires, the frame was narrowed and a total of 9 inches was whacked out of the Corvette axles. To get the car nice and low and not have any suspension interference, the Afco coilover shocks were mounted almost horizontally and actuated via cantilevers. Up front, the suspension was kept relatively simple in comparison, with a Kugel independent setup used in conjunction with Corvette ZR-1 disc brakes. Intro V-Rod wheels--18x8s up front, 20x12s out back--roll on Pirelli P-Zero tires at all four corners.

Underneath the hood, another surprise lurks. A 585hp 350ci Chevy was built with Air Flow Research heads to handle the twin turbos that hang off each HPC-coated header. Hogan's Racing Manifolds made the custom intake, while many of the other pieces were fabbed in Prince's aerospace industry shop, Tri-Models Inc. The shop provides wind tunnel test models for major players in the aerospace industry and Prince used the shop extensively to fabricate some serious one-off parts, including the induction scoop located above the radiator that directs fresh air into the turbos. Behind the engine, a stout 4L80E trans sends the power out back and keeps the rpms down at highway speeds.

With the chassis sorted, Mike's crew, assisted by the guys over at Geoff Mitford-Taylor, turned their attention to the body and the loads of mods ahead of them. Remember how the chassis was stretched 4 inches? That was because they decided to make the doors open suicide style. Problem with that is, the front of '37 doors contact the fender, so the door either gets trimmed to clear or, in this case, everything gets moved forward until the doors and fenders clear each other. But getting stretched was not the only mod the doors received. Since the plan was to convert the five-window into a hardtop, most of the doors got completely replaced. All the trim also got shaved off the doors and body and a custom grille was made by Prince to replace its stock counterpart. The windshield and rear window were converted to flush-mount and the door glass, which needed to be curved, was made using tooling designed at Prince's shop. Up top, the roof was pretty hammered, so they skinned a new section for it and popped in a Porsche 911 sunroof to let in a little sunshine. Mike had plans to recess the license plate into the rear of the body, so to make it fit above the body reveal, the trunk lid was moved up a few inches. GS400 Lexus taillights were mounted on each side of the license box and, up front, the stock '37 headlights were frenched into the fenders.

Prince likes to travel in style and to that extent, his '37 doesn't disappoint. The car was featured in Clarion's booth at the Consumer Electronics Show, so naturally, it is equipped with a state-of-the-art stereo system. All Clarion equipment was used, including a VRX755VD head unit that is the first to offer a fully integrated iPod in-dash interface. Massive subwoofers are located in a fully sealed box in the trunk, as well as a drop-down display, while 6 1/2-inch speakers are mounted fore and aft in the cabin. A Glide Engineering seat was buckled down, with a custom center console running down the middle of them. Geoff Mitford-Taylor's guys created the dash and various interior pieces and then the car was sent over to Bill's Auto Upholstery in Brea, California, to get wrapped in the tan leather and suede. To keep everybody in the coupe comfy, a Vintage Air climate control unit was put into service, with the controls mounted in the center console between the stereo and Classic Instruments gauges.

Just a few years after his first street rod, and Prince has raised the bar to an extraordinary height. The paint had barely dried on his '41 Chevy and they were starting on this '37, and guess what? Just a few months after the completion of the '37 and Pro Design already has another rod in the works--this time a '56 Chevy delivery. We can no doubt be sure that this one will have even more surprises in store.