1939 Chevy Five Window Coupe

Not too long ago, people didn't respect the '39 Chevy coupe as a car you could rod. You have to contend with so many weird angles (unlike the boxy squareness of a '32 three-window Ford) that it makes it hard to keep the proportions in check. Considering there isn't a non-curved piece of metal on the car to begin with, anybody who wants to modify a '39 Chevy better know what he's getting into!

Ronny French is a truck driver from West Paducah, Kentucky. Though he's been involved with rods for the past decade (he's also a member of the River Tin Street Rod club) and has owned a '39 Chevy, he stepped up when he decided on his latest project in late 1996. Luckily, French's friendship with Kenny Driver and Charlie Roberts helped yield an exceptional end result: a persimmon-colored street rod.

Kenny of Kenny's Rod & Custom in Paducah, Kentucky, got the project from Ronny and went about creating a base to work from. A stock '39 Chevy chassis was used, but Kenny added a new X-member for added strength. A Mustang II IFS was also installed, as was a Camaro 12-bolt Posi rear (modified to accept Ford 9-inch axles instead of the C-clip-type Chevy units) with 3.55:1 gears. Essential to the low profile required by today's rodders, an Air Ride Technologies airbag suspension was installed up front, too, to help give the coupe the proper stance while parked. And bolting up 17x7-inch Billet Specialties wheels to each corner guaranteed the Chevy's fenderwells would be filled.

Next on the list were the body and the 2-inch chop, which was expertly performed by Charlie Roberts, as well as reconfiguring the '40 Chevy headlights into the fenders. Kenny's Rod & Custom came back into the picture to complete the bodywork, which also covered installing a new, flat dash. The PPG paint was sprayed by John McDaniel Jr., and was used on other items (such as the valve covers and the rear bumper) as well. After Jimmy Harris completed the wiring job (aided by a Ron Francis wiring kit), Ron rolled his rod into Paul Atkins' shop in Cullman, Alabama. Paul not only recovered the Ford Thunderbird bucket seats, but also created a small jump seat in the cockpit's rear, fabbed and covered the door panels and headliner (which includes an overhead console) with eige-colored leather, and laid down some beige wool carpet.

French debuted his ride at the NSRA's Street Rod Nationals South in Knoxville in May 2000, where it not only won a STREET RODDER Pick, but also a PPG Best Use of Paint award. And Ronny couldn't be happier with the way his Chevy turned out, even though the attention the car is receiving is a little overwhelming, especially in such a small town. West Paducah is located at the first highway exit inside Kentucky from Illinois along Highway 24, and it really isn't known for its high street rod count. But after seeing what French did with his Chevy, maybe we ought to start paying better attention!