On Bein' Green
Jesse Greening and Greening Auto Company
Of all the builders in this program, Jesse Greening is the youngest. In fact, his tender age of 31 means he missed the pedal-car craze altogether. But don't let his age fool you; he's an old hand at heart and he understands this old-car business better than most graybeards.
Then again, it's probably that relative youth that gave him, Russell Gurganus, and Ben Weber the energy to pie-cut the entire body lengthwise. As extreme as that was, it wasn't as ambitious as the bustle they formed to replace the stock trunk. Since the doorjambs no longer matched the body's silhouette, the Greening Auto Company crew eliminated them altogether. The hood louvers met the same fate.
The Greening crew emphasized the car's sleeker and leaner lines by flipping the axles. They also machined a set of aluminum wheel discs, and the steering wheel, gauges, pushbar, and pedals are from aluminum stock. Aluminum sheet and a scoop reminiscent of Bob Tindle's Orange Crate replaced the stock grille insert. Believe it or not, the windshield is a modified stock unit with a center bar.
The interior panels are aluminum sheet and tubing; however, Jesse's mom, Connie, finished the seat with distressed remnants from an old leather jacket. Jesse's dad, Jeff Greening, shot the car in drab-green Glasurit, and, in case you're wondering, there's not a lick of chrome on the car.
Less Is Moal
Steve Moal and Moal Coachbuilders
What does it take to populate your clientele with high-profile comedians, exotic-car collectors, and motorcycle dealers? In Steve Moal's case, it's the ability to infuse buttoned-down old Fords with a little panache otherwise reserved for handcrafted Ferraris.
Considering Steve's ability to generate slippery and evocative skins for his creations, it's no wonder he crafted an entirely handformed aluminum body for his car. He formed the cowl with a flare like that on the Maserati 8CTF that Wilbur Shaw drove to the winner's circle at the 1939 Indianapolis 500. The bellypan is straight off of the dry lakes; the bucked rivet heads that hold the body together are pure aircraft construction practice. He replaced the stock front axle with a robust dropped-tube axle and flanked it with bronze-bushed spindles.
While the red scallops by Alfredo Aguayo Jr. and Gregg Lowry Jr. and the black pinstripes by Rory are almost exclusively American, it's no stretch to say the polished aluminum body is a nod to the bare-metal W25 Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows from the '30s. Even the engine-turned dashpanel, aluminum steering wheel, and waffle-cut pedal pads that Jack Friedland machined are all pages pulled from the race-car fabrication book. The way Ken Nemanic rolled the pleats over the cowl would've made even a brawler like Parnelli feel that much more confident.
As with his full-scale cars, this car's beauty is more than skin deep. Consider it Steve's way of bringing a little bit of the flavor of Maranello to Michigan.
Dem' Bones
Rolling Bones Hot Rod Shop
You could say that the Rolling Bones crew screws it up for anyone aspiring to build a period-correct hot rod each time they debut another car. It's not because their cars are the fanciest or the shiniest. In fact, they look like they were built during Eisenhower's first administration. And that's exactly what makes their cars look so captivating.
To build their car, the Bones-Ken Schmidt, Keith Cornell, and Chris Chabre-used stock Ford parts almost exclusively. For example, they repurposed early Ford shock arms as a front axle. The spindles are real Deuce pieces, but they were originally brake arms. The wheel backing plates are-get this-old Grant horn buttons.
They channeled and pie-cut the body to achieve the sneakier profile. To get the distinctive side-panel look, Pete Schmid at Louvers Unlimited punched a blank steel sheet for the Bones to rivet to the hood sides. The aluminum grille filler panel, adorned with the George Alfonsin logo, is straight Yeakel/Baney roadster material. The steering wheel is the one the car came with; however, it's cut down and wrapped in electrical tape. Behind that wheel on the aluminum-sheet dash is a real 110-MPH SCTA-BNI timing tag that the Bones earned at '05 Bonneville. The trim job and tonneau cover, a Dorrie Dipasquale job, looks like a well-seasoned catcher's mitt.