What did you do during your COVID-19 lockdown? Well, longtime and well-known hot rodder Fred Warren from Ohio spent a lot of time in his shop and with the help of the boys from Precision Hot Rods & Fabrication (PHRF) turned out this little gem: a Speed33. Fred is known for any one of a number of hot rods, including his AMBR-winning roadsters in 1995 (Smoothster) and 1999 (Shockwave) and, did we mention, a Ridler winner.

PHRF built the custom frame that holds an LS3 with a 4L70 nestled between a Kugel Komponents IFS and IRS fully polished, featuring Wilwood disc brakes all around. More “around the horn” accessories include the Billet Specialties polished 17s in front and 20s in back with Pirelli P Zero rubber, measuring 205/50R16 and 295/45R20.

Mounted to the custom chassis is a Speed33 convertible body with a black top. The body and custom PHRF hood are filled with mods and then sprayed in a custom-mix red from PPG. The interior is stitched in a black leather by Dean Alexander of Hot Rod Garage. Also, inside are Classic Instruments gauges, Vintage Air A/C, ididit column with a Billet Specialties wheel, American Autowire system, Juliano’s seatbelts, and a trunk-mounted Optima battery.

Look for this hot rod to show up in a future issue of Modern Rodding.

Lingenfelter Performance Engineering will be making its presence felt in the world of electric hot rods, having been selected by GM as the first aftermarket company in developing the Certified Installer Program for their industry-leading eCrate Electric Connect and Cruise system. As a company Lingenfelter Performance is committed to a sustainable future in aftermarket performance and working with the industry leader GM gives them a great opportunity to help guide the future generation of aftermarket performance. They’ll keep everyone plugged in with the exciting project.

For more visit: lingenfelter.com

It’s always fun to see what’s going on in someone’s backyard or their garage for homebuilt projects we will get to see in time. This month was stopped in at Matthew Weaver’s garage, in Reedsville, West Virginia, and took a look at what he’s building: a 1938 Ford Standard coupe.

Weaver picked the car up, literally out of the snow, and brought it home. He likes the car because it has some unique features, such as the absence of vent windows. It also has a unique window regulator mechanism; one revolution of the crank drops the glass about an inch to create a vent effect. It has also had a one-year-only front grille and hood side panels with art deco styling and last year of cable-operated mechanical brakes.

To make this come true he has enlisted the help of a good friend and many times hot rod builder Jimmy Stanton. The end result the two of them are shooting for is a mostly ’50s custom look with a few modern updates, like a Ford Maverick 8-inch, a Speedway Motors Vega steering box, and GM-metric caliper disc brake kit. Weaver has a 1951 Mercury Flathead that will be rebuilt and then matched to a ’90s Ford Mustang T5 with a Chevy S-10 tailshaft conversion to keep the shifter forward on the trans.  

Current goals call for the car to be painted in a Candy Cinnamon over a silver basecoat above the beltline and will be silver with a couple small accent stripes. Stay tuned as we hope to have more on this coupe over time.