The story of Bryan Smith's coupe goes back about five years. Bryan always had a passion for old cars since he was young, fueled mostly by his father's similar passion. It was only fitting, then, for the two to build a car together. They began by purchasing a Rat's Glass body and a chassis from Boyd Coddington Hot Rod Garage in the summer of 2001. By March the following year, Doug was diagnosed with cancer. Two months later, the disease had taken his life.
It took Bryan about six months to decide what he wanted to do and, luckily for us, he decided to charge on with the project he had started with his dad. With help from his uncle, Taft Asher, and his friends, Bryan jumped back into the coupe build to honor his father.
The Boyd Coddington chassis is a fully independent setup with custom A-arms sprung on Carrera coilovers and Wilwood disc brakes up front, and a Corvette-based rearend with the same shock and brake combo. The chassis was painted red and every suspension item either got polished or dipped in chrome. The Boyd Coddington tradition continued when it came time to choose the wheels for Bryan's ride. Magneto is the name of the line and 20s and 15s are the sizes he chose, all wrapped in Goodyear rubber.
We're fairly sure that Bryan likes to fill the hood full of motor and we're not basing our hypothesis on a guess-under the hood of his '33 sits a monster in the shape of 502 ci of Chevy power. A lumpy COMP Cams bumpstick, Weiand water pump, Powermaster alternator, Sanderson headers, and Billet Specialties valve covers are just a few of the performance parts on the menu for his big-block. An Edel-brock dual-quad intake topped by a pair of Edelbrock carbs with a Billet Specialties air cleaner provides the hot rod look for his hot rod motor. Rush's Transmission built the Turbo 350 trans, and we're sure they built it extra stout to handle the upward of 500 hp that the engine's capable of making.
Bryan's body comes out of Rat's Glass' manufacturing facility in the shape of a chopped '33 Ford three-window coupe. He made a few subtle changes to the body, such as rounding the trunk and door corners with the help of bodyman Tony Collins. When the time came for paint, Robbie Byrd was the man responsible for laying down the Erica Red Sherwin-Williams paint.
Inside Bryan chose to fill the Rat's Glass with Auto Meter gauges mounted on an insert that was made by his father. Paul Atkins installed a Sony stereo system before Jack Roberts wired the whole car with a Ron Francis Wiring kit. From there, Paul fabricated a custom bench seat and then covered the interior with tan leather and wool. The result is a spectacular contrast to the brilliant red paint scheme.
We caught Bryan's coupe not long after it was completed during our whirlwind summer tour and to say that the car is beautiful is an understatement. Although his father is no longer with us physically, we like to think that he's up there smiling down on the coupe Bryan built.