The latest car in Scotty Grey’s garage will be the last one he has had built, and that’s saying something. Born and raised in Texas but now living in La Habra Heights, California, Scotty has owned a string of well-known vehicles that, taken individually, would be the focal point of anybody’s garage but, taken en masse, it’s almost unbelievable.
Lester Bowe at Southwest Auto...
Lester Bowe at Southwest Auto Upholstery stitched up the dark green antique pebble Carrera material (a type of pleather) over modified Porsche 914-6 seats. The same material went over the door and kick panels, and minor aluminum trim pieces were made by Eischen for accents. The material was also used to wrap the Lobeck steering wheel, which bolts to an Eischen-built column. An aluminum CCM Rod Shop dash insert is filled with five Stewart-Warner gauges, and hidden from view is the Dynamat insulation and the Centec wiring system. An 8,000-rpm Stewart-Warner tach is mounted just above the trans tunnel.
Ever heard of “CheZoom?” The radical ’57 Chevrolet, penned by Thom Taylor and built by Boyd Coddington for Joe “Mr. Gasket” Hrudka, was owned by Scotty for a time, and he’d also commissioned Boyd to build the “Whatthehaye” roadster—the Viper V-10-powered one-off that looked like it was designed at the Delahaye auto factory in 1936.
Over the years the result of the wheelin’ ’n’ dealin’ between Scotty and Coddington produced several cars. One such transaction involved a ’32 Ford woodie Scotty wanted but, as it worked out, he was offered the Aluma Tub instead (the all-aluminum ’29 tub built for the American Rodder TV show and featured in the August 2004 issue of STREET RODDER), a deal Scotty took.
Though some might be able to remember back to 1992 when Coddington had built the Aluma Coupe (the scissor-door, egg-shaped, yellow pearl, Mitsubishi-powered hot rod), 10 years later Boyd was well into another phase of aluminum-bodied cars. Around the same time the Aluma Tub was built, two other ’29-based vehicles were being assembled with similar, but unique, suspension pieces: the Aluma Truck and a Model A coupe.
The truck made its debut in the Dec. ’02 issue of STREET RODDER, but the little Model A coupe was never seen—that is until now. Scotty Grey owns this car, too, and a year ago turned it over to Ohio-based hot rod wizard Jeff Eischen to work his own particular brand of magic on it.
Eischen’s name should be familiar to STREET RODDER readers, as the last three of his scratchbuilt creations have all appeared in the magazine (February 2008, June 2009, and September 2010). As it so happened, all three of those cars were bought by Scotty, who had also bought Eischen’s first hot rod, a little track-nosed roadster. Already familiar with Eischen’s work, Scotty naturally felt he could finish this project, too.
But well before Eischen got involved this car had its own history. The chassis was built by Al Simon at Coddington’s using hand-formed rails and tubular crossmembers on a wheelbase of 104 inches. A Winters quick-change was used out back while a unique torsion bar system with aluminum radius rods utilized up front. Wilwood discs are on each corner, as are Coddington-carved 15x7 spindle mount wheels in the front and 17x10 pin-drive wheels in the rear.
The body started life as a 1929 Ford Model A five-window but, after a visit to Marcel’s Custom Metal in Corona, California, the coupe was chopped, its roof filled, aluminum three-piece hood put in place, and the doors not only made to open suicide-style but close flush fit. Roughed together with the suspension in place and most of the bodywork done, the car then sat for a few years.
Mulling over whether to sell it or finish it, Scotty eventually called Eischen about finishing the car. Eischen went on to make whatever he didn’t have and assembled the car in the manner of his other vehicles: simple and stylish with a high degree of fabrication and design. He made a grille out of stainless steel tubing and screen, and shaped his own engine mounts and steering shaft supports. A hole in the one-piece hood was made so the top of the air cleaner would fit flush, but a metal ring needed to be made to not only stiffen the edge but as an accent, too.
Ron Mullins, based in Galloway, Ohio, got the car from Eischen so he could do the required bodywork before spraying the entire car with Dupont two-stage black paint. Once the color was on, the rod went to Southwest Auto Upholstery where a pebble patterned pleather was used to cover the door panels and a pair of Porsche 914-6 seats. Dyanmat insulation then went in before the gray square-weave carpet was laid out.