When Craig King decided to build the street rod of his dreams, he knew it would probably be his only chance. That said, instead of building another "bellybutton" car, he decided to make his mark by building something uniquely different. While surfing the Internet one day, he found a '31 Ford Deluxe phaeton for sale at a Florida estate sale. Craig bought a ticket to Miami from his Maryland home and before the weekend was over, the details were ironed out to get the Ford up North. Upon doing a bit more research, Craig found that his newly acquired phaeton was more rare than he originally speculated. The car was a transplant to the United States, originating in the South American country of Uruguay, and was one of only 2,200 built.
With the rare bird now tightly in his grasp, Craig-with the help of his father-in-law and fellow hot rodder Bruce Palmer, and friend Robert Birch-tore into the car to bring it into the 21st century. They started with a Flatlanders chassis, with a traditional straight-axle suspension up front and a Winter's quick-change rearend out back hung on a Total Cost Involved four-link, and Wilwood disc brakes at all four corners. Budnik wheels provide the bling, wrapped in Bridgestone rubber up front and fat Hoosier meats bringing up the rear.
Craig chose a small-block Chevy to power the rod, in the form of a 425-horse, 383ci ZZ-series crate engine, with help from Lloyd Brittingham in getting the engine prepared. The Street & Performance-dressed engine also featured Edelbrock induction and Sanderson Street Rod headers. A 700-R4 trans was slipped behind the Mouse motor to spin the gears and finish off the powertrain.
When it came time to handle the body chores, Craig received a helping hand again from Bruce and Robert, knocking out all of the high spots in the body and getting it shipshape for Lloyd, who applied the flawless PPG black finish and wired the Ford. Freshly painted, the phaeton was then sent off to Strader's Upholstery to receive the black and tan vinyl interior, custom top, and tonneau cover.
Craig knew he probably only had one chance to build the car of his dreams and with that in mind, he set out to build a car not only of high caliber, but something that wouldn't blend in with a sea of similar hot rods. To say that he hit the nail on the head would be an understatement.
Bernie And Carol Lyons' '29 Ford Landau Sports CoupeWhen Bernie Lyons retired recently from GM, he knew he would soon be building another car. That speculation soon saw fruition in the form of a phone call from a vacationing friend. He happened to be in San Antonio, Texas, when he spotted a dilapidated coupe. The friend called Bernie to see if he would be interested, and he was. It wasn't long after that the friend returned home with Bernie's newly acquired '29 Ford Landau Sports Coupe. The car had seen better days but was intact and in pretty good shape given the age of the coupe-about 70 years old. Bernie wasted no time and tore into the rebuild.
Being a resident of New Carlisle, Ohio, Bernie was aware of his neighbors, Brookville Roadster, and the service they provided. That being said, it's easy to see why he went with one of their chassis for his Landau Coupe. Bernie picked up one of their frames and began to further modify it to fit his needs. He wanted to Z the rear of the chassis to bring the rearend more earthward, so a portion was hacked off the rear 'rails and modified to suit his tastes. Doing so also modified the gas tank mounts, so those had to be fabricated as well. Bernie chose a 9-inch Ford rearend for its strength and reliability and mounted it to the chassis with a pair of coilover shocks and located the unit by way of a four-bar. A traditional dropped axle frontend was used with a 4-inch dropped Magnum axle, four-bar, and disc brakes. A Flaming River steering box linked to a modified GM van column handles the steering chores.
When it came time for the paint and bodywork, a few things needed to be sorted first. One of the major hurtles to clear was fixing the top. The original was pretty far gone, so Bernie decided to fabricate an aluminum skeleton that would later be skinned in aluminum sheet, padded, and covered. Once the bodywork was completed, Bernie shot the coupe in DuPont black before reinstalling the aluminum top. The coupe was then turned over to Bob and Mike Lyons of Lyons Custom Trim to stitch up the cream leather and cinnamon wool carpet. The duo also gets the nod for covering the aluminum top.
With his Landau Coupe now finished, Bernie says the only thing he'd do differently today is to figure out how to gain some much-needed extra luggage space. That only means one thing-Bernie and his wife, Carol, must plan on putting some serious miles on the coupe!