For Howard Tarnoff of Medway, Massachusetts, the fever for a new bicycle during the summer of '59 led him to take on a side job at his Dad's Rambler dealership in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, washing used cars. Being immersed in the late-'50s automotive culture at 10 years old laid the groundwork for his current condition.
He worked on Saturdays, which was the day the service area was closed. The mechanics who punched the clock during the week were able to use the work area on Saturday to wrench on their own cars. While he would hustle in the wash bay, the older guys would be working on their hopped-up roadsters and coupes which ruled the local streets.
Now you'd think that Howard would have attached a fascination to a nasty chopped coupe or a sinfully channeled Deuce roadster. Not so--Howard's "fire" was a '49 Plymouth coupe running a hot cammed inline six. With dual carbs and an exhaust note that sounded like nothing else it was the coolest car he had ever seen or heard.
Moving forward, Howard became involved in dirt track racing on the Wisconsin circuit and eventually wound up owning his own used car business. He later merged his skills into the software industry, married, and had a family, while still managing to own quite a few cool rides. It wasn't until he relocated to Massachusetts that he got the urge to finally build the car that never left his memories. Howard soon found out that '49 Plymouth coupes weren't as easy to come across as he thought and, after years of searching, he finally located a mint two-owner car on eBay in 2003. With 34,000 miles on the odometer, it would be the perfect base to work from.
Once the car was delivered, he wasted no time in laying down the miles in it for the first year as he began scouring swap meets and online ads for the various key parts to start the build. In his mind he had built the car hundreds of times since he was in his teens and, with the support of good friends Sam Memmolo and Mickey Lauria as sounding boards, they gave him the positive reinforcement needed to get many of his ideas dialed in.
His first stop led him to Lenny Schaeffer at Chop-Shop Customs in Woburn, Massachusetts, to begin the transformation on the body and chassis. Getting the right stance for the car was a key element for its look and the team at Chop-Shop Customs began by updating the front end with 3-inch dropped spindles from Fatman (combined with fresh springs from Eaton) while also relocating the shock mounts. Out back fresh parallel leaf springs from Posies (along with new tube shocks) gave the car just the right rake. To make sure the coupe would have more than enough braking power, 11-inch discs were added at the corners. Inside they installed a tidy set of pedals from Kugel Komponents that also incorporates the hidden master cylinder.
Chop-Shop Customs' talented team began the sheetmetal mods on the body by filling the seams of the front fenders. Other mods include the molding of the rear fenders, and frenching the headlights, taillights, and antenna. Before the welder was shut down, they also shaved the body, dumped the parking lights, and filled the license plate recess on the trunk lid. The team then filled and smoothed the chassis.
 To capture the sounds still...  To capture the sounds still hanging in his head since '59, Howard decided to keep the original six-banger in place and give it a serious boost in the performance department. Punched to 230ci, the engine was treated to an Edgy finned aluminum head and cam, Arias slugs, and a vintage Edmunds two-pot manifold topped with a pair of Carter-Weber carbs. Combined with a custom cutout exhaust by Xtreme, the car sounds just plain wicked when wide open. |  Its all in the details and...  Its all in the details and the team at Xtreme treated the stock dash and steering wheel to Alsa soft-feel paint while also accenting the dash with burled wood. Adding plenty of comfort to the mix, Fred Carello stitched up a winning combination of dark blue and garnet vinyl with just enough dark blue square weave carpeting to make the interior stunning. |  Shaved clean, with the addition...  Shaved clean, with the addition of a frenched antenna, complimentary '39 Ford taillights, and tucked bumpers, the rear view of the coupe proves that the car is in a class of its own. Dual exhaust and a right-on rake give it just a touch of evil. |