Tha California Star

It was Rose Kennedy who once said, "Life isn't a matter of milestones, but of moments." Another way to look at things, but absolutely true. It must then have been quite a "moment" when Don Varner's name was called at the 1984 Grand National Roadster Show at the Oakland Coliseum, as winner of the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award. However, with this said, we're sticking with "Milestones", as "Moment Cars" would sound pretty strange.

So, why is it that a car that won the coveted nine-foot AMBR trophy at Oakland not quite two decades ago qualifies for such an honor? Though it is a fairly new car when it comes to historic hot rods, it meets our parameters on several levels--let me explain. First and foremost, the Don Varner-designed, Ron Covell-built vehicle (Note: if this team sounds familiar, check our Jan. '02 Milestone feature for Don's more traditional track roadster) both set parameters and created controversy that has kept bench racers in jaw-jackin' topic material to this very day.

Though it wasn't the first from-the-ground-up Oakland winner, it pretty much gave notice that to have a chance at the gold, a roadster could no longer be just a dolled-up old car, but rather had to be a professionally designed and crafted panel-built creation of impeccable workmanship (even though this wouldn't always be the case). To my knowledge, the first such AMBR winner was LeRoi "Tex" Smith's "XR-6" in 1963, followed by Carl Casper's "Ghost" in 1965, a sculpted 'glass T-bucket (1964 had seen a return to original-style cars with Don Tognotti winning with his '14 roadster, "King T", with pretty much a restored body. Then, in '66 Don Lokey took the prize with his "T Plus II", which was basically hand-fabricated except for vestigial portions of a '27 T body. 1967 found Bob Riesner's twin-engined "Invader" in the winners circle, billed (as was Carl Casper's "Ghost" in '65) as an Experimental Roadster. Joe Wilhelm's "Wild Dream" followed in 1968 in a tie with the previous year's winner. 1969 saw Art Himsl's "Alien" take the gold--then from 1968-83, original-style roadsters returned to the winner's circle, even though some (like Andy Brizio's "Instant T" in 1970) were 'glass replicas. Then, as stated, our Milestone car took the AMBR in '84 in a cloud of controversy (was it T-based or wasn't it?). From 1985-93, the AMBR judges would once again favor cars built from genuine roadster bodies, or 'glass representations thereof. In 1994 Joe McPhearson's hand-built "Infinity Flyer" again introduced the panel-built car, but one that at least looked like it had started out as an original. Bob Young was another exception in 1997 with his original '37 Ford-based "Youngster" (which also, as had Fred Warren's '37 Ford inspired "Smoothster" in '95, pushed the age-limit to the outermost edge). Then Dave Emery's "Revolver" based on a Zipper '32 (which may, or may not, be considered a 'glass reproduction Deuce, depending on one's personal interpretation), which Dave completely re-sculptured, won in 1998, followed by panel-built cars again being the rule up through 2001 with Richard Berg's "Impact" taking home the gold. Note; as this is being written in advance of the 2002 show, the winner is unknown, however it's a good bet that it will again be among the ranks of completely handformed vehicles.

I believe that the "California Star" also showed that no matter how radical the creation, there was (and is) a design barrier that one crossed at their own peril. Unofficially, and to be on the safe side, an AMBR contender probably should resemble (at least at a glance) a 1937 or earlier hot rodded roadster of American manufacturer, and as Ford built some 1,250 roadsters in 1937 as that body styles swan song, that's the cut-off year.

And let's face facts, the traditional hot rod roadster has most always been (and continues to be) Ford-based, no matter where your automotive allegiances lie. For some readers this statement must hit a raw nerve, but for validation flip through your vintage magazine collection, or if you're a child of the '50s and a survivor of the '60s, try to remember, and if you remember...But enough about the what of it all. You either see a contemporary version of a '27 T-based track roadster in the "California Star," or you don't! Let's jump right into the who and why of it all. The who being Don Varner and Ron Covell, and the why being, because they could!

Don Varner is a professional industrial designer who has always had a strong interest in automotive design, having styled several cars for his friend, the late, great customizer Bill Cushenbery, including "El Matador," and "Silhouette." Don and Ron have so far collaborated on four cars, the first being a '29 Ford roadster pickup, followed by a '23 T track roadster (the aforementioned Jan. '02 Milestone feature), then a new track roadster for Dave Cayer, as Don didn't want to sell his car at the time. Don had always wanted to design and build a unique car completely from the ground up, with none of the compromises involved in rebuilding/restyling a car originally designed and built by someone else. Don's concept was to create the perfect embodiment of the street rod esthetic. Innovation in original design has always been the touchstone of street rodding, going arm-in-arm along with racing car technology and styling. Thus stated, Don's dream car can truly be seen as a modern street roadster, drawing on track roadster tradition, but showing the influence of (then) contemporary Indy cars.

The controversy over the roadster's design has always been that it doesn't contain any old car components (or reproductions thereof). What most don't realize, however, is that the original intent was to use a 'glass '27 T as a base, then add a new nose, tail, and side pods, to create one of the first mid-engine street rods, something ultra modern, yet relating to its traditional hot rodding roots. In fact, a full-sized mockup was constructed to fine-tune the design, building onto a '27 T 'glass body with foamcore board, chipboard, tape, hot glue, and any other materials necessary. Having a full-sized model really gave Don the opportunity to get the proportions and details worked out properly. It was at this point that Don decided he didn't like the way the Model T doors and decklid worked with the Targa bar, so he ashcanned the last vestiges of Model T, giving Ron the go ahead to form the body entirely from aluminum so he could refine bothersome areas of the design to his liking. A good call from a designer's standpoint, although he alienated a large percentage of the rodding community in doing so.

Once the body design was entirely worked out on the 2-1/2-year project, Ronstarted making drawings of the chassis and suspension to fit inside the body structure, providing mounts and pickup points for all of the mechanical components, including a turbocharged Chevy Citation engine and transaxle mounted transversely, aft of the passenger compartment. The next step was to make a mockup of the chassis, using PVC pipe held together with hot glue.

This was the first time Ron had done a chassis mockup in this way. As it turned out, Ron feels it's a fabulous method for refining a design. Ron made the first mockup in about a day, and when completed he saw many ways to improve it. So, he made a second mockup that reflected all of these changes and revisions. After being completely satisfied with the mockup, the actual chassis was then fabricated from 1 1/4- and 7/8-inch O.D. chrome-moly tubing on a chassis table topped with particleboard. Items like front spindles and rear uprights for the IRS were machined from steel billet, then laboriously hollowed out to a 1/8-inch wall thickness to keep weight down to the minimum. Then rotors from Strange Engineering, Wilwood calipers, and Spax shocks were installed, along with Porsche 911 rack-and-pinion steering, slightly narrowed to eliminate bump steer. The body itself was constructed over a particleboard buck with cross sections approximately one foot apart. Wraparound cockpit glass was formed from Plexiglas in a large oven over aluminum forms created by Ron.

When everything was metalworked by Ron to absolute perfection (there is no filler in the aluminum body) it was sent to Bob Acosta in San Jose for prep and finish in Ferrari Red lacquer. Putnam's Interiors in Sacramento was then given the task of creating a sculptured interior covered in natural tan Connoly leather to complete the package. Ron feels that although the car was finished almost two decades ago it's some of his best work, and definitely his most ambitious project ever. Coincidentally, Ron was just given the STREET RODDER Magazine Editor's Choice award at the 2001 SEMA Show in Las Vegas as this is written. In fact, Ron offers a video, Building the California Star, which is a must for any fan of Ron's (a.k.a. Professor Hammer), or of high-end street rod construction. (For info on price and availability, contact Covell Creative Metalworking, 106 Airport Blvd., #201, Freedom, CA 95019, 800-747-4631 or 831-768-0705, email at: covell@cruzio.com)

The roadster's longtime caretaker is Steve Lykken of Solvang, California, who purchased it from Don about a year-and-a-half after it was finished. As you can see from the photography, it's every bit as nice today as when it won the AMBR back in 1984. This is one Milestone car that needs no restoration--testimony indeed to the skilled team that designed and built it almost a generation ago.