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High Roller Hot Rods

Ken Gross

August 4, 2003

Decades ago, wealthy individuals demanding fine personalized transportation went to the top coachbuilders of the era and ordered what amounted to bespoke vehicles. The custom body shops of Walter M. Murphy, LeBaron, Rollston, Derham, and others handcrafted brilliant designs on Duesenberg, Packard, Rolls-Royce, Pierce-Arrow, and other luxury chassis, creating the elegant cars revered as classics today. The traditional coachbuilders are gone, but the phenomenon continues in a most unlikely manner. Arguably, the finest custom coachwork in America today is found in the workshops that produce hot rods.

At the 51st Detroit Autorama last January, eight custom cars built in shops from California to Tennessee competed for the coveted 2003 Don Ridler Memorial Award. The “Ridler,” awarded for creativity and perfection, is considered the most important annual trophy in hot rodding for both owners and builders. This year’s winning car, a copper-hued ’34 Ford, featured dozens of alterations, from artfully stretched fender lines to an elegantly lowered roof. Owned for 40 years by Ron Whiteside, the original steel coupe was completely transformed and updated by Chip Foose and his crew at Foose Design in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Trained as a professional automotive stylist, Chip Foose initially worked for the legendary Boyd Coddington and then formed his own company. His shop just completed an award-winning custom ’56 Chevy convertible for TV comic Christopher Titus. Interestingly, and as a measure of the level of talent in this hobby, an initial Foose sketch led to the creation of the Plymouth Prowler, and his design for a radical Dodge Viper–powered ’54 Plymouth (better known as the “Sniper”) greatly influenced Ford Motor Co.’s popular show car, The Forty-Niner. Chip Foose’s complete transformation of a ’35 Chevrolet Master two-door sedan, for Chevrolet megadealer Wes Rydell and his son Bob, won the 2002 Ridler Award. Industry buzz speculated that the “Grand Master’s” cost exceeded $700,000, a figure justified by a build quality far exceeding anything from an OEM automaker. Best of all, these cars aren’t just pretty shelf toys, they can be driven. A case in point, after winning their Ridlers, owners Whiteside and Rydell drove their cars from the Detroit show to this year’s spring Goodguys hot rod meet in Del Mar, Calif.