You're not going to believe this, but this stellar '30 Model A is Bill Steele's first complete rod build. We're not suggesting that Bill just fell off the truck yesterday with a crescent wrench and a claw hammer-the 38-year-old collision shop owner is a hands-on bodyman and painter and an accomplished custom bike builder as well. He's done a number of partial buildups, "cars already started by someone else-that kind of stuff," as he puts it. "But this one is my first car done completely from start to finish," he swears up and down. Nice work, rookie: Goodguys selected Bill's coupe as its '09 Hot Rod of the Year.
Bill is quick to mention that he had collaborators during the nine-month effort: the crew at RPM Motorsports in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, including proprietor Curt Ukasik and ace builders Justin Wilson and Josh Hart. Bill also credits the Roadster Shop for coming up with the chassis concept that he says made the car-and its killer stance-possible. "I had in my mind a car that was low to the ground, mean, like the old sectioned cars," Bill says. Trouble is, channeling and sectioning on a Model A coupe body often produce an awkward, squashed appearance, along with eliminating all traces of interior room.
The Roadster Shop's solution involved dropping the '32 Ford framerails nearly to the ground with a generous kickup at the rear. Check out the photos: The body is only barely channeled over the Deuce rails but still presents a low, nasty profile, augmented by the healthy roof chop. Cabin space was preserved; Bill says he's already put 900 miles on the coupe in relative comfort. On the car's first test run, the 331 Chrysler's open pipes drew a penalty flag from the local police for disturbing the peace.
Maybe it's just because traditional chrome and shiny work have become so hideously expensive, not to mention such a tremendous pain in the heel to get done properly, but there's a growing trend in alternative finishes. We like it. Here, Bill chose classic gloss black for the valve covers, running gear, and firewall and a textured silver-gray powdercoating for the brakes and contrasting components. For the exterior color, he had something completely different in mind: replicating an old-fashioned, dulled lacquer finish, "like you'd see on an original '38 Buick," Bill says. Engaging his paint-mixing and spraying talents, using PPG materials, he cooked up something he calls Downtown Brown, with a 15 percent surface gloss. It's not primer or suede, and it's not a hard shine, either. It's somewhere in the middle-Bill's idea of just right. This may be his first complete build, but he knew what he wanted. Bill says, "I had this car completely built in my mind before I ever started on it."