The Burrows Coupe

As the rain poured down early on the Saturday morning of the H.A.M.B. Drags, I stood at my second floor hotel window and looked over the parking lot full of both hot rods and rain water. Adam Burrows’ ’34 coupe sat proudly in its spot beaming like a beacon of hope for both this year’s drags and traditional hot rodding as a whole. A few hours later we pulled out the parking lot in the family truckster (complete with U-Haul trailer) and as we did, I thought to myself, “Man… I’m hopin’ for a miracle and that some how, I’ll get to see that car run down the track today.”

The improbable did happen. Late that afternoon, after the clouds had parted and the rain subsided, I sat in the timing tower at Mo-Kan and watched Adam fly down the quarter mile. Just as soon as the little coupe hit the big end, I looked over at Tom Davison and in unison, we both blurted that Adam’s car deserved a photo shoot.

An hour or so passes and I was sitting at The Jalopy Journal booth when I saw Tom literally flying across the pits towards the exit. He wasn’t doing a power walk and he wasn’t jogging. He was sprinting. In fact, his feet were leaving the ground so quickly that he had a dust trail behind him not too dissimilar from something you’d see in a cartoon. The contrast of what I know about Tom and the visual of him moving so quickly still makes me ponder everything I know about physics.

A short while later, Tom dropped by the booth – still breathing heavily and sweating profusely. “What the hell was that all about Tom? You alright?” I asked.

“I was hunting the pits for that ’34 when I noticed he was headed for the exit gate. I really want to shoot that car, so I did the only thing I knew to do. I ran as hard as I could and screamed as loud as I could manage. Somehow he heard me… or maybe I just caught him. Anyhow, we’ve scheduled a shoot.”

Now, I bring this up only because those of you that know Tom know he’s a pretty laid back guy. I mean, a younger generation might even describe him as an OG gangster of sorts. He’s that laid back. And if your well cultured, you’ll know that the Geto Boys taught us that “Real gangsters don’t run for shit, cuz real gangsters don’t run fast.”

So, Tom proved two things to me. One, the Geto Boys were flat wrong. You dangle a big enough carrot in front of even the most laid back of men and he will, in fact, run. Two, Tom was most definitely not kidding when he said that he REALLY wanted to shoot Adam’s ’34. It’s not hard to see why.

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Adam Burrows found himself a while back with two halves of a ’34 coupe body – neither of them were worth more than scrap really, but at least if he leaned them together and squinted he felt as though he had himself and honest-to-goodness ’34 coupe body. Tired of squinting and dreaming though, Adam called up his buddy, Gary Rinehart, and the two of them got out the grinders and welders and made the body one. While they were at it, they chopped the top 3″ and laid the a-pillars back just a hair. Once that was squared away, Adam channelled the body 5″ over a ’34 chassis featuring an old found drop axle, transverse springs, split bones, and an F1 steering box. Then, it was time to start thinking about the driveline.

Adam loves the big block Ford and decided that a 427-inch FE motor was perfectly appropriate for his coupe. And to give it even more of a “go flavor,” he added a tunnel wedge intake and two Holley carbs that just peak past the plane of the hood. And it’s here where the car really gets its personality. It takes balls to cut a ’34 hood and everything (motor angle, intake height, etc…) has to be just right for it to work proportionally. On this car, it’s just that – right.

Adding to the late 50’s/early 60’s competition look is the paint itself. The color feels like candy apple red, but it’s actually “fire red” and it looks incredibly rich up next to the interior that is stitched up in gold and off-white vinyl. Capping it all off is a ’40 Ford dash filled with original gauges and, of course, a ’40 Ford wheel.

It’s a package that just looks and sounds right on a drag strip and I can’t tell you how damned happy (and relieved) I was to see Adam’s little coupe blasting down the quarter. A sincere thanks to Adam for bringing the car out and Tom for going the extra mile (literally) to get this car shot.

Enjoy:

Quick Tech:

• Engine: 427-inch Ford FE (294 solid lifter cam, Tunnel Wedge Intake, dual Holley Carbs)
• Transmission: Tremec 5-speed
• Rear-end: Ford 9″
• Wheels/Tires front: Gennie wheels 15×5″ with 6.40-15 Firestones
• Wheels/Tires back: Gennie wheels 15×8″ with 9.00-15 Radir cheaters
• Front Axle: Dropped axle of unknown origin
• Brakes: ’39 Lincoln
• Body: Chopped 3″, Channeled 5″
• Interior: Original bench, ’40 Ford Dash and steering wheel

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