’m recovering from four 10-hour days walking, standing, and talking with all sorts of hot rodders who strolled the aisles that were at the 74th Annual Grand National Roadster Show. As is the norm, the show produced plenty of cool hot rods and customs, both inside and outside the multiple buildings that make up the Pomona Fairplex. As is the norm, there was one exhibit that caught my attention. Cool car with cool memories.

The “Cop Shop Coupe” is both a way-cool looking hot rod and also brings back memories of a former staffer I worked with for years: Tony Kelly and his monthly “Cop Shop” column. Kelly was a retired police officer who began making extra folding money (not much) writing a monthly piece, “Cop Shop.” Turns out the first “Cop Shop” editorial hit the pages of Street Rodder back in September of 1979, but the iconic ’34 Ford coupe wasn’t yet gracing the pages of his monthly discourse.

The Tom Prufer coupe rolled out of Pete Eastwood’s shop, P-Wood’s Garage, with no hood, no paint, no interior, and no wiring. But Eastwood built in the credibility and character that this bad boy has to this day. As the current owner, Greg Stokes, a longtime hot rod friend, of Auckland, New Zealand, likes to say, “I’m the current custodian;” and he gets the nod for bringing this authentic hot rod to the show.

It should be noted that the coupe, as it appeared in Kelly’s monthly column, was before the now-famous flames were added. The Bell artwork appeared after the column had run for two years. The oh-so-deep black paint is an RM black lacquer with pearl flames by Rod Powell. The flames were added several weeks after the black paint was added. During those two weeks, the coupe appeared at the 1983 Grand National Roadster Show, or “Oakland Roadster Show” as it was more frequently titled.

Now, the law enforcement officer depicted in the cartoon writing a ticket is none other than Kelly. The column artwork first appeared as a “Henry Hi-Rise” by Dave Bell, and from there it was modified to be part of the monthly column. From time to time we used to have him dress up as we used him as a prop for photo-ops. He was always a good sport about helping and a good friend.

The Henry Hi-Rise column appeared first and then the coupe rolled out and the two have forever been linked. Pretty cool. If you are a pack rat of all things printed hot rod material then you most likely have a back issue of Street Rodder September 1979 and August 1984 and The Rodder’s Journal #21 Winter 2002.