A Humble Debut at SEMA

Among the many flash and trash vehicles of SEMA in Las Vegas, there was one little car that debuted that week with fanfare or hype: Colby Martin’s 1931 copped Model A Coupe, displayed outdoors at the SEMA Action Network (SAN) stand. I’ve actually known Colby for many years as the talented graphic designer who helped with logos for the Asphalt Invitational, but had no idea he was cooking up this coupe as well. Probing further, Colby admitted that this car was 13 years in the making, starting with a body purchased from the famed Kennedy Brothers, and then a slow gathering of parts and pieces from random places followed by many, many nights in the garage with his dad Al. The father and son team did the lion’s share of the fabricating and assembly, resulting in a very clean hot rod with some unique details. Was such a purely traditional ride wasted among the likes of the over-the-top “look at me” rides of SEMA? No, I think the opposite. Kind Colby’s coupe harkens back to why the event even exists- Organizing and fighting unfair regulations that might prevent him and his dad from building their humble homebuilt A in the first place.