Jack Tucker can't remember the time before he was a car nut. It's just something that's been in his blood forever, and he blames it mostly on his brother, Butch. Like most of us, the love of cars has been ingrained in Jack's psyche. His history with cars began with a '55 Ford sedan delivery, which was soon swapped for an all-original '37 Ford Club coupe. The car was a solid Arizona driver Jack drove home after the purchase was finalized. He then rebuilt the car over the next three and a half years and continued to tick away at the odometer until a local Ford dealer approached him to sell it. Jack knew how rare the Club coupe was and what it would take to pry the keys from his hands, and the dealer was willing to negotiate. A price was set and soon Jack was off looking for another set of wheels. He didn't venture far from his established year, but this time he came up on another rare bird-a '37 Ford sedan delivery. Jack and his wife, Barbara, put many miles on their delivery, but before too long, Barbara's itch to have a convertible to complement their sedan was too strong to ignore. Enter their more most recent addition-this '37 Ford Club Cabriolet.
The Tuckers picked up the old Ford at the Orange County Cruise-In back in 1997. At the time, it was a done car and a fairly fresh build, being about 2 years old. The body was painted purple with tweed interior, with Boyd Coddington wheels all around, an all-Chevy drivetrain, and a gray top. They left it as it was for the first couple of years, driving to various rod runs in and around Arizona until they decided it was time for a fresh rebuild the way they had intended.
Squeeg's Customs in their hometown of Mesa, Arizona, was chosen to tackle the rebuild and soon the marriage between the body and chassis had ended with the two being dipped separately to reveal the original steel. The chassis was a Total Cost Involved-equipped SAC Hot Rod Products frame that had a Ford 8-inch rearend out back. Jack and Barbara decided this Ford was going to be reverted to its original drivetrain brethren. In place of the Chevy equipment, they dropped in a 385-horse 351ci crate motor from Ford Racing Performance Products, backed by a C6 trans. A set of Billet Specialties wheels replaced the Boyd's and contemporary Nitto performance tires were wrapped around the billets.
Once the body was dipped and stripped to bare metal, the crew at Squeeg's began to massage it to perfection. Over a hundred modifications were made to the body, some subtle, others more obvious. The front sheetmetal got its share of modifications, more so than any other area of the car. The headlights were lowered into the fenders, which were lengthened, as was the hood. Custom sculptured hood sides were also fabricated with stainless trim that matches the center console trim. After the endless list of modifications was complete, a custom hue of PPG Candy Copper was applied to the cabriolet body.
With the copper cab painted, rolling, and running, it was off to Concept Works where Brian Cline wrapped the door panels, Glide front and custom rear seat with tan leather, while the floor was covered in matching carpet. It should also be noted that Chris at VIP Interiors is the responsible party for the chopped convertible top. Chris built a top that not only looks good from the outside and flows with the chopped windshield, but also hides all the mechanism for the folding convertible top. Squeeg's built the center console, which houses the Air Ride Technologies controls and also features a storage compartment between the seats. An ididit column, topped by a Budnik steering wheel, sits in the foreground of the '41 Ford dash fitted with Dakota Digital gauges and pull-on, push-off A/C vents.
Since completing the Club Cab, the Tuckers have driven it to events in Pleasanton, Del Mar, and Scottsdale and don't have any plans on stopping any time soon! Jack told us they're going to take a little time off and enjoy the newly completed '37 before starting up another-this time their old sedan delivery, which he says has seen its share of road rash over the years and is in need of a little TLC. We'll be on the lookout for that when it's finished, but until then, keep your eye out for the Tuckers cruisin' the highway in their Copper Club Cabriolet!