Everybody seems to know Chip Foose, and for good reason. Remember the Plymouth Prowler? Much of its design came from one of his school projects. His name is attached to half a dozen America's Most Beautiful Roadsters and three Don Ridler Memorial Award winners. In fact, one of Chip's cars was the first (and thus far the only) to win both titles. You can't even channel surf without seeing the guy's disarmingly friendly mug. With his talent, he could probably clone himself; he's so prolific you'd think he had.
On the other hand, few people know that Chip is-pardon our pun-a chip off the ol' block. The block from which Chip fell is called Sam, and while he rightfully basks in the glow cast by his son's star, the cars he builds-even the ones before his boy thrust their name into the limelight-are works of art in their own right. Ralph and Marlene Weaver's '36 Ford three-window coupe isn't just an example of Sam's latest; it's his biggest collaboration with his son to date.
Ralph admittedly stepped into this one at about the 85 percent mark. To be more specific, Chip told him to buy the car and finish it (it lacked only wiring and interior). "At the time, I was halfway into building a '35 three-window coupe," Ralph said. Now if you don't know what the Fooses do, and if you're not that familiar with a stock '36 Ford, let us explain what Chip left Ralph to ponder.
Ford's designers, specifically Edsel Ford, E.T. "Bob" Gregorie, John Tjaarda, and John Bonbright-the guys ultimately responsible for the Lincoln Zephyr-introduced grace and streamlining to Ford cars in the mid-'30s. While they pulled off the Ford's styling beautifully, consider that Henry forbade them to stretch the wheelbase beyond 112 inches-their biggest wish. That arbitrary figure began with the '33, and, as a result of Henry's stubbornness, remained until the crotchety teetotaler died in 1948.
Chip granted them their wish posthumously and drew the car a smidge over 4 inches longer, about 1 3/4 ahead of the cowl and another 3 through the doors. While the length ahead of the cowl came purely from manipulating the car in the drawing phase, the latter was partially a result of how the body responded to its top's new profile.
Sam didn't so much chop the top as much as he leaned the A-pillars back a few more degrees to match the pillars in Chip's drawings. As a byproduct of leaning the pillars, the top landed about 2 inches lower and about 3 inches back from where it started. Naturally, the latter figure dictated how much the doors and, ultimately, the body stretched.
As deft and elaborate as they are, the chop and longer body aren't what necessarily gives this car its rakish line; Sam wedge sectioned the body to achieve that. Again, following Chip's drawings, Sam sliced the body just under the beltline at the rear wheelwells and widened the cut to what would've been a 3-inch-wide gap at the grille, had the hood and grille remained. Reuniting the body sections gave the body a more pronounced pie-slice profile.
Such extensive surgery in the doors' relatively small area led Sam to discard most of the material below their beltline. Unburdened by the doors' original shape or their external hinges, Sam rounded the doors' lower halves and fabricated entirely new and tight-fitting doorjambs to match.
Since the Fooses blended the fenders' and running boards' profiles to appear as one shape, we will treat them thusly. While the front fenders' stock character lines suggest that the running boards extend well into the fenders, it may have been mass-production limitations that dictated where the rubber-covered boards actually ended: abruptly behind the fenders.
Who would've dreamed that...
Who would've dreamed that any dash part from a '56 Chevrolet would fit in a '30s Ford, much less look good there? The dash pod is just that, and it features a set of Classic Instruments gauges, including the company's combo speedometer.
The console gets a factory...
The console gets a factory feel with a few OEM components like the shifter and switch insert. The shifter itself is a Corvette piece; however, that insert is a one-off with contemporary rocker switches and '60s GM ignition switch and cigarette lighter. Note how the lower dash evokes the '32 Ford's dash.
These seats are stock Corvette...
These seats are stock Corvette units, and while they match the car's Corvette-themed LS1 engine and color, which looks surprisingly like Daytona Sunset Orange Metallic (which is, for the record, almost 5 years old as of this printing), they blend surprisingly well with the car's modifications. Gabe Lopez trimmed this particular car in a two-tone tan leather combo.
While the GM LS engine series...
While the GM LS engine series is a marvel of power, it isn't exactly handsome as delivered. Enter the engine shroud, a Chip Foose hallmark. Examples like the one between the factory GM cylinder head shrouds have come into their own as coveted items like superchargers or multiple-carburetor induction systems.
While a bumper-mounted spare...
While a bumper-mounted spare tire hid the rumble seat's rectangular lid, an external spare didn't fit this car's sleeker personality. To address the mismatch, the Fooses carved out the rumble-equipped bustle and fabricated in its place a trunk lid whose parting line follows the beltline. If you didn't know bulb-sealed edge trim existed in 1936, you'd swear it came that way.
The SRRC independent rear...
The SRRC independent rear suspension mimics the Corvette, but it has a few twists. First off, it's a Hotchkiss design with a Ford 9-inch center section. Furthermore, it wears its brakes inboard, la Jaguar. This one's lower control rods mount to a bracket that doubles as the tailpipe.