For those of us who have been involved in this hobby for longer than we'd care to admit, most would probably agree that street rod construction has reached an all-time high in terms of not only quality, but sophistication. It seems like some builders believe a car has to be visually altered to obliterate its lineage and incorporate every power and convenience option available on a new Mercedes. However, there are some diehards out there who believe traditional looks, simplicity, and quality construction are the key elements of a street rod. One of them is Richard Graves.
Richard began working on cars in his dad's repair shop and building rods while still in high school, and he was well on the way to his career building cars by the time he graduated in '62. Over that period of time, he's built in excess of 100 rods and customs, with his first "magazine" car appearing in the late '60s. Today he operates Richard's Wheel & Chassis in Long Beach, California, where they do everything from tune-ups to turnkey cars.
We recently stopped by Richard's shop and spotted a highboy '29 Ford coupe in the corner. The author fell in love with it and Editor Brian Brennan was later found inside it curled up in the fetal position muttering "mine, mine." After dragging Brennan kicking and screaming from the coupe, it was obvious this was going to be one cool A-bone. But the more we looked at it the more apparent it became that this was a car that could be duplicated by a homebuilder. Granted Richard and his ace employee, Jeb Scolman, are extraordinarily talented guys, but the truth is there is nothing particularly complicated about this car's construction. It is, however, superbly executed and there is much to be learned by taking a close look at some of the construction details.
Richard was gracious enough to let us follow along as the coupe went through a trial assembly. Take a look.