So-Cal street rod to go

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So-Cal street rod to go

A newly-minted re-creation of a smouldering So-Cal Roadster street rod is about to go under the hammer at Shannons' Collector and Muscle Car Auction
July 21, 2011 2:27 PM AWST
A newly-minted re-creation of a smouldering So-Cal Roadster street rod is about to go under the hammer at Shannons' Collector and Muscle Car Auction at Meguiar's MotorEx at Sydney's Olympic Park on Sunday, July 24.

So-Cal street rod to go

Based on a heavily customised 1932 Ford, the So-Cal Roadster that was built in just 10 weeks by Queensland's Oz Rods as an after-hours project is a fully-sanctioned recreation of the vehicle made famous by California's famed So-Cal Speed Shop that opened its doors back in 1946.

Believed to be the first fully endorsed So-Cal Roadster built outside the United States, the classic hotrod with its signature red and white So-Cal livery was the result of a whirlwind collaboration between America's and Australia's best-known custom rod builders.

Oz Rods owners Graeme and Trish Parmenter were planning to build a local right hand drive and road legal homage to America's favourite hotrod, but decided to ask So-Cal president Pete Chapouris for his permission and collaboration on the project.

To their delight he agreed and the project took shape under So-Cal's sanction based on a rolling '32 Ford chassis purchased from the US and an imported Brookville steel roadster body.

To deliver true rod performance they slipped a 350-ci Chev V8 between its rails and coupled it to a GM Turbo 700 Automatic transmission, with power pushed to the So-Cal knock-off wheels through a 9-inch Ford differential.

The project was only just completed in time for its coming out function in Brisbane on July 13, where American hotrod gurus Pete Chapouris and Jimmy Shine were special guests and signed the vehicle as their seal of approval.

The following weekend the So-Cal Roadster was given its public shakedown run when driven by them at the annual 'Back to Brunswick' hotrod event at Brunswick Heads in Northern NSW.

Shannons are offering the iconic rod as one of the 35 lots in Sunday's Collector and Muscle Car Auction at MotorEx, where it is expected to sell in the $100,000-$140,000 range.

As a consolation prize - or perhaps the perfect companion - Shannons are also offering a half-scale replica of the classic So-Cal '32 Roadster featuring fibreglass and powered by an electric-start 50cc Moped engine.

Also personalised by Pete Chapouris and Jimmy Shine, the 'Lo-Cal' So-Cal is expected to sell for $10,000-$15,000.

All MotorEx lots can be viewed at www.shannons.com.au

 

So-Cal Roadster street rod front angle
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