1933 Willys Highboy - Black Widow

If the Terzich name looks or sounds familiar, it might be because two generations of the Terzich family have been building street rods and fast cars for the past decade and collecting many top honors for their work along the way.

In fact, brothers Denny and Nick Terzich both build cars with their sons, Denny Jr. and Michael, and the four of them have been responsible for some of the most high-profile and stylish cars to come down the pike in a long time. Denny Jr. and Michael set up their shop, Pro Rides, in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, (about 20 miles north of Pittsburgh) in 2004, but it seems a year can't go by without seeing the Terzich name in a national car magazine or in the winner's circle.

In fact, Denny Sr.'s ride recently found ink, with a orange '37 sedan in the April '05 STREET RODDER and, just a few months ago, a silver '41 Willys roadster was in the March '08 issue. The '41 Willys Senior owns is a 'glass-bodied roadster that was laid up at Dennis Taylor's Reproduction shop, a shop known for their quality as well as their 'glass Willys bodies. Dennis wanted to create a '33 Willys, too, and set about making a set of molds to do just that. But the car he took the molds from was heavily modified and Dennis wasn't pleased with the results. Eventually Taylor decided to sell his business (to Impact Classic Reproductions in West Central Illinois), but decided that he'd like to build a one-off highboy version of the Model 77 '33 Willys for himself. The work progressed through the building of the chassis and creating all of the body panels, which is when Denny Junior saw it and he told Dennis he'd like to own it.

Denny and Dennis worked out a deal to trade the Willys project for a '67 Camaro racecar, and Denny took the car to his dad's garage rather than the shop, as he didn't want to delay progress on any of his customers' cars.

Senior and Junior took the car apart and started making changes they felt the car needed. They ended up fabricating some finish panels and powdercoating or chroming many parts, and changed the induction, transmission, wheels, tires, brakes, mirrors, interior accents, and many other parts to take the car to the next level.

The chassis was custom-made by Taylor from 10-gauge and fit to follow the lines of the body. The main rails are 2x5.5 inches, with a center section and crossmembers made from 1.5-inch round tube. The wheelbase was also stretched 2 inches over the stock 100 inches. For suspension out back, a custom Panhard bar was fabricated along with a Speedway Engineering 7/8-inch splined anti-sway bar and a four-link system that centers a polished Halibrand Champ quick-change (4.33:1) rear. The front works with a Super Bell axle and Pete & Jakes hairpins and Wilwood disc brakes were used on all four corners, as were Aldan coilover shocks. To bring up the shine, Street & Performance chrome-plated all of the front suspension pieces for Denny.

The rollers-a combination of Radir 18x3 12-spokes and 20x12 Billet Specialties five-spokes-are wrapped with motorcycle tires up front and Mickey Thompson 31x16x20 radials out back. Steering is handled through the use of a Corvair box and a steering drop unit from Speedway Motors, which lowers the output of the column 11 inches so there is a straight shot to the Borgeson steering joints.

The engine is just as impressive as anything else found on this ride, and uses a 1955 Chrysler Hemi (the 354-inch motor bored out by Larry's Performance) as a base. Ross flat-top pistons (installed for low compression because the engine was going to have a blower) work in conjunction with an Erson camshaft, and the heads received a mild port job before the stainless steel valves were installed. Induction comes from a Weiand 2x4 manifold (chromed by M&P Refinishing in Jeanette, Pennsylvania) with a quartet of Weber/Inglese side-draft carbs.

Spark is derived from an MSD coil and distributor while the block is cooled with a big-block Chevy water pump, attached with Hot Hemi Heads adaptors. The alternator is a Powermaster 100-amp unit with custom brackets and Dennis Taylor fab'd the custom headers and stainless exhaust system that exits to a pair of Flowmaster Super 40 mufflers. Picking the gears is no problem for the Hughes Performance 700-R4 trans, mated to the Hemi with a Wilcap adapter. The trans uses a Hughes Performance 10-inch lockup converter, dialed in with a 3,000-rpm stall, and shifted with a B&M Racing Shifter with a custom "Black Widow" shifter knob milled by Billet Balls

When Taylor created his one-off body, he took the opportunity to change some of the lines more to his liking. The cab itself was stretched 5 inches while the A pillars were leaned back, the B pillars leaned forward, and the doors stretched 6 inches. The hood was also lengthened 5 inches, and the body pie-cut 1.5 inches from the cowl to behind rear window. The rear fender radius was also raised 1.5 inches while the body was widened 3 inches in the rear and 2 inches up near the grille (the grille itself was shortened almost 2 inches and its bars made from stainless steel). Custom hood sides and aprons also needed to be created, and when all was said and done in the bodywork department, Taylor sprayed the vehicle with black PPG paint.

Once the '33 Ford commercial headlights (attached with one-off brackets) and LED-style '37 Ford taillights (with their housing ring ground down so they mount flush on the body) were wired up, it was time to turn the attention to the inside of the lil' rod.

The dash is a custom piece made to hold the Billet Specialties aluminum gauge insert, which has five Auto Meter gauges installed (and not counting the column-mounted Auto Meter tach). A TEA's Design bench seat, covered in red pleated leather by Dennis Taylor, matches the color of the door panels and wool carpet. The three-spoke Billet Specialties Outlaw steering wheel comes with three holes drilled into each spoke, but holes were added to the hanging Billet Specialties pedal assembly so it all matched. After the Electric Life power windows were added, it was time to take the car out of the garage and get some miles on it (all of the Terzichs prefer to drive their vehicles).

The car made its debut at the Goodguys show in Columbus, Ohio, in 2008, where it received a Pro's Pick award, but has only seen limited miles rolled up on the odometer since the weather has been so bad in Pennsylvania the past few months. But before it went in storage for the winter, Denny not only drove it to work and some local car cruise spots, but he also hopped in it a few times to run to the grocery store, which probably surprised a few folks who were there buying some milk and bread.

But the best may be yet to come. Denny's wife, Jennifer, is a teacher who schools fifth-graders and, since the car has an automatic, she's dying to take it to school so her "kids" can see it. She says they all love cars and, if that's the case, they're really gonna love this one!