The Silva Speed Special (Part 3)

I’ve mentioned Kevin Silva’s sedan a few times here on The Jalopy Journal (here, here, and here), but I’ve never really gotten into the full story of how this little hot rod came to be. Kevin recently finished the car and I thought the timing was there, so here we are – part 3 of the Silva Speed Special.

It’s starts more than a handful of years ago on the East coast. Kevin, a native Connecticut guy, decided it was time to build a period hot rod and did what most of us did when we had that same notion – he went out and bought Vern Tardel’s and Mike Bishop’s book on how to build a Traditional A-V8. Years were spent studying the details of the Tardel build and the reasoning behind each decision and before long the Tardel gene was implanted.

The parts collecting phase started almost immediately. He found an amazingly straight body that had been sitting in a garage for decades… bits and pieces here, bits and pieces there. Then, of course, life took over and Kevin found himself moving to Florida and then Texas. Each move tested his dedication to the project as he hauled his parts collection and his dream half way across the country.

By the time Kevin settled in Texas, momentum started to build. He took his ideas and his frame to Zac Roberts of Full Custom Fabrication in Austin. Zac completed most of the fabrication work on the chassis, welded up the killer headers, and performed the subtle yet effective chop.

It was around this time that I first met Kevin while hanging out with Jason Kidd of Flyright Choppers. As it turned out, Kevin and I lived just a few blocks from each other and plans were quickly made to get the families together for dinner. It didn’t take long before the Silvas and Cochrans were hanging out quite a bit and while the girls did girl things, Kevin and I did… well, hot rod things…

One memorable moment came a few months after Kevin and I first met. Keith Tardel was in town and we headed over to Kevin’s to check out progress on the sedan. The dynamic was pretty incredible… Here is Keith, who’s work (along with his father’s obviously) had inspired the build before him that had actually been born mentally in Connecticut and was now being seen through in Texas… Just a few short blocks from his second home. There was something surreal about the family tree that was branching out in this small garage in the hill country.

Kevin pressed on… With all of the fabrication work done, the car was stripped back down to its cores, painted, and lovingly assembled by Kevin and his good pal (and great machinist) Casey Cook. They got it all wrapped up the week before the Lonestar Round Up where their efforts were rewarded by receiving one of the most important awards (if there is such a thing) a traditional hot rodder can get – the Kontinental pick. I don’t know that I have ever seen Kevin so stoked.

The last few weeks have been spent mostly just ironing out the bugs. This past weekend, Kevin and I decided to gather on a hill for an impromptu photo shoot at sun down. It was then that this whole story kind of came together for me. The Tardel/Bishop book has been responsible for an entire era/genre of builds since it was published, but I had never really seen the output against a car that was actually done by a Tardel.

“Brothas of a different motha…”

That’s how Kevin describes the scene as he looks down at his sedan parked next to the Tardel/Cochran coupe. And you know, he’s right… The Tardel family tree has branched to Texas.