When Kevin Alstott got a peek at the roadster sketched by Roger Burman, owner of Lakeside Rods and Rides in Rockwell City, Iowa, it was lust at first sight. The car was sleek, stylish, and best of all, different. You see, rather than using the typical '32, '33, or '34 Ford as the base for his design, he had selected the commonly ignored '35 and then stretched and streamlined the design just enough to make it grab you without losing the essence of the '35. On the surface, it may seem a strange choice, but historically it was the striking redesign of the '35s that brought Ford back to pre-Depression-era sales numbers, along with being recognized as the most stylish Dearborn auto product to that date. So it's no wonder this fenderless, laid-down, streamlined beauty would win him over. Fact is, the more Kevin looked, the more he knew he had to have it built. But rather than start with some old hauled-out-of-the-weeds body, he decided to have Marcel's Custom Metal in Corona, California, fabricate a complete aluminum body for him. That way the custom touches in the drawing could be built right into the original aluminum skin rather than making alterations to an existing steel body. The body is a thing of beauty; the sloping nose, the exaggerated rockers, and the laid-back, one-piece, curved windscreen all blend together perfectly. There's a real sense of elegance, motion, and symmetry in this design that just can't be overlooked.
While the body fabrication was underway, a 5x2-inch steel tube chassis was being readied. To gain some much needed interior space, the wheelbase was stretched to 118 inches, while cosmetic touches like the pinched front and bobbed rear helped accentuate the long lines of the stylized aluminum body. Suspension is from Boyd Coddington's Hot Rod Shop IFS with a Corvette independent in the rear, while stopping power comes from Wilwood discs all around. Then a slightly tweaked Woody's Automotive-prepared 355-cid small-block provides the go. We say slightly tweaked, but in fact this one is packing some JE 11.5:1 pistons, an Eagle crank and rod set, a healthy COMP Cams bump stick, and a pair of big tube Sanderson headers. Then for adequate induction and a touch of window dressing, it's topped with a Demon 750-cfm carb and a polished Edelbrock Air-Gap manifold. When all the little adjustments were finalized, the cast portions of the engine were painted Pearl Yellow and the aluminum trim items polished to a high luster.
So there it is-a strong chassis, plenty of power, and an ultra slick, custom-built aluminum body made just for rodding. After the final shaker-style hood scoop was fabricated and all the hardware was fitted, the entire body was covered with a liberal coating of PPG base/clear Pearl Yellow paint. Then the finished assembly was rolled up onto a trailer and hauled to Omaha, Nebraska, where the crew at the Recovery Room fabricated the interior panels that bring so much life to those spaces. There are coves molded into the one-piece trunk panes and the door panels. In addition, there is stainless wire mesh like the stuff used to cover the speakers sewn into the upholstery for a little added flash. When the upholstery was complete, it was taken back to Lakeside, where the bazillion last-minute things that always come up were taken care of prior to rolling it out for public display.
When we were talking to Kevin about the car, he told us that his favorite interior and exterior features were the amount of room in side the car and the flowing lines outside-more specifically, the way the rockers were shaped. He also said he thought he would shorten the nose up just a little bit so there wouldn't be quite as much grille hanging out there. Now there's a real perfectionist, because to us, this car looks spectacular just the way it is.