The term "hot rod" has been used for decades to describe a car that epitomizes individual performance. Whether it be acceleration, braking, or handling, it's all part of one hot rodder's dream. The ultimate hot rod blends aspects of performance and good looks to create one of one.inline_mediumwraptextright27098482/features/1001sr_1932_ford_highboy_five_window1001sr_01_o+1932_ford_highboy_five-window+front_view.jpgTrue

You might not expect a 37-year-old to have 20 years experience in building hot rods, but once you see the work Jason Graham turns out of his shop in Portland, Tennessee, you soon become a believer.inline_mediumwraptextright31283631/features/1001sr_1930_ford_model_a_coupe1001sr_01_o+1930_ford_model_a_coupe+driverside.jpgTrue

What started back in January has come full circle, as the saying goes, with our Factory Five Racing '33 hot rod going from a really big box of parts to a driving hot rod. The gang at Perewitz Cycle Fabrication in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, gets credit for puttin' in the time turning parts into a driver.

All of us have a story about the one that got away, not the fish but rather the hot rod. It's the car you knew deep down you should have never let go-but you did! Imagine being one of the lucky few who managed to hold onto their pride and joy through the decades of change.

For the third installation of our "dream build" series, we sent Josh a series of swap meet photos in the hopes of conceptually building one of the most popular styles as of late: a highboy A-V8 coupe. We started with a decent body found at the Los Angeles Roadster Show swap meet and proceeded to whack the top a few inches before mating it to a chassis built off a pair of Deuce 'rails. A complete front suspension setup from a '35-40 Ford was found, split 'bones and all to support the front of the chassis, while out back a banjo rearend and radius rods were hung off a Model A spring to make adding that quick-change later that much easier. Of course, it wouldn't technically be an A-V8 without the obligatory Flathead motor, which we "scored" for $325. Ford steelies from a '40 were shod in bias-ply rubber and sit all around, big 'n' littles of course. A Deuce grille was added to drive home that V-8 vibe, as was a hood top to finish off the front end.

Dan Olsen has a modest way of describing his striking '37 Ford sedan. "It's just a basic street rod with fancy paint," he says.

It's hard to imagine that there has been a '32 Ford highboy sedan built in the last 27 years that doesn't take some trace of influence, directly or indirectly, from the famous Eastwood & Barakat sedan from 1982. Eastwood built the chassis and Barakat built the engine. Together, they finished the car in not much time and for not much money, using stuff from their garages, plus lots of talent and taste.

Second Time Around
One of the best ways to build an attention-getting street rod is to start with something out of the ordinary and finish with something out of the ordinary. Kind of what Crawford Byxbee did by building this '32 Ford roadster pickup.inline_mediumwraptextright25950101/tech/1001sr_1932_ford_roadster_pickup1001sr_01_o+1932_ford_roadster_pickup+crawford.jpgTrue

The ability to find anything you could possibly ever want to think about on the World Wide Web is both a blessing and a curse. Who hasn't spent mindless hours adrift in front of a computer looking and clicking on the most inane subjects? (What are those town names between Amboy and Essex in the Mojave Desert?) But the web is also one of the best ways to find something you really want, such as your next vehicle.inline_mediumwraptextright31318665/features/1001sr_1957_ford_ranch_wagon1001sr_01_o+1957_ford_ranch_wagon+passenger_side.jpgTrue

Being a fan of late '50s and early '60s American iron, it's no wonder Charles Shane chose a '58 Chevy Impala in which to build a mild custom of the same period. While the late '50s-era Chevys are commonly built as either restored drivers or as typical '50s customs with spotlights, wide whites, et al, Charles decided that a more mild approach would be more appropriate for the second-owner, 55,000 original-mile car. As he put it, "I had a different idea."inline_mediumwraptextright27135208/features/1001sr_1958_chevy_impala1001sr_01_o+1958_chevy_impala+front_view.jpgTrue

By the time Paul Howard of West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, was ready to enter high school, he was a regular at the Elm Square Pharmacy where he would buy countless "little pages," studying what was happening in the world of hot rodding. Knowing that his parents believed hot rods were the Devil's handiwork, he would stash his magazine collection under his mattress. While letting them believe he was doing homework, he was really absorbing everything he could from countless features and tech articles; everything from Bonneville to the dry lakes.inline_mediumwraptextright25924022/features/1001sr_1931_ford_highboy_roadster1001sr_01_o+1931_ford_highboy_roadster+passenger_side.jpgTrue

For a lot of Americans in the late-'30s, World War II was a remote conflict they read about in newspapers and heard about on radio broadcasts, with little direct effect on their lives. In Southern California during that time, a lot of young men who, a few years later would be fighting in Europe or the Pacific, were occupying their free time racing their roadsters on the local dry lake beds.inline_mediumwraptextright31286835/features/1001sr_1932_ford_highboy_roadster1001sr_01_o+1932_ford_highboy_roadster+passenger_side.jpgTrue

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