1935 Chevy Cabriolet

Ever stop to wonder what drives you? What makes you do the things you do? What events transpired early on to make you who you are? Mark Andersen probably has a pretty good answer. "My grandpa sold Chevrolets from 1928 to '32," he said. "Then he started with Chrysler. My dad took that over in the late '40s, and he sold until '78. I started out buying and selling old cars at 16--it was a '69 Z/28 I bought in about '71 or '72 for $1,400," he said.

So you could say Andersen's got motor oil in his blood, if not a little contract ink. One thing led to another, and sooner rather than later he ended up with a "half wholesale, half collector car" auto sales business. But just because he was selling cars didn't mean he couldn't build a few on the side, right?By late '98, Andersen was on the road, and in STREET RODDER (Dec. '98), with Erodica, his first full-blown rod. The candy yellow and pearl gold '35 Ford coupe sported a subtle angle chop and a not-so-subtle 468ci big-block Chevy.Within 11 months of that, he debuted Elusion--a fire-prism red '36 Ford roadster that also made STREET RODDER (Nov. '99). That time around, Andersen teamed up exclusively with Rockwell City, Iowa's Roger Burman--one of Erodica's key players--to create a subtler, yet equally striking rod.

As successful as Erodica and Elusion were, Andersen said he figured he needed a little change. "So far all I built were Fords," he said, "but I wanted to build a Chevy." So when Downs released their '35 Chevy cabriolet body, he hopped to it and picked up a body/chassis combo, then turned it over to Burman for another buildup. "This was one of the early '35 cabriolet bodies from Downs," Burman said. "It was a really easy build ... it wasn't much more than blocking and sanding to get it ready. The only thing we really made special was the gas tank."

While Burman makes the buildup sound simple, don't underestimate its merit. Burman loaded the chassis with a Street & Performance Ram Jet-injected GM 385hp/350 mill. Before delivery, Street & Performance deburred the block, painted it the body color, and polished the heads. TPI Performance prepped a 700-R4 trans and converter, while Sanderson Headers chromed a set of block-huggers for the 2-inch Turbo-Toned and aluminized exhaust system.The 6-inch-stretched Downs frame sports a Total Cost Involved IFS, Wilwood binders, and All American coilovers. A Flaming River manual rack-and-pinion points the Colorado Custom/Michelin rollers o'er hill and dale, and a Currie Enterprises 8-inch rearend rounds off the running gear.

As far as bodywork was concerned, not much more went into the package other than the 6-inch stretched hood and 2 1/2-inch chop. Burman loaded the Downs grille shell with one of Downs' billet aluminum grille inserts. He then flanked it with Hagan's blue-dotted headlights in a set of King Bee buckets. Burman shipped the body to Rockwell City Iowa's Lakeside Rods and Rides for the aforementioned block and sand and subsequent PPG Innovator Green.

Tracy Weaver from Omaha, Nebraska's The Recovery Room trimmed the Larry Dennis seats and the rest of the cabin in tasty mushroom-colored, buttery-smooth Ultra leather. Classic Instruments gauges and a Vintage Air control panel fill the Lakeside Rods dash, while a Panasonic/ MA Audio six-speaker system fills the rest of the cabin with sounds.

Upon completion, Andersen scooted the cabrio out to test the rod run waters. The result? A Des Moines Goodguys pick and a 2000 NSRA Louisville Pro's Pick. As for Andersen--you wouldn't expect a wheeler-dealer to sit on popular merchandise, would you? A true trader at heart, Andersen turned the car loose after a little while behind the wheel, because, as he put it, "I didn't want to wear it out. Anyway, there's always the next car!"