Cuttin’ Down a Different Deuce

You’re gonna chop that? The parts car? The donor? Sounds inconvenient. Sounds impractical. Sounds uncomfortable. Are you listening? You’re gonna bring it down how far? The only thing you’ll bring down is the value. What about all those pillars and all that glass and those hinges and this and that and everything that pulls the arrow toward the “more trouble than it’s worth�? category? Four inches? That’s low. Really low. Visibility—what about that? It’s just a mail slot. What kinda mail you gonna get in that slot? Tickets? I’m not sure if I trust your judgment here, pal.

Whether or not Yaril Quintana faced an inquisition this serious soon became inconsequential, because in light of the naysayers’ jaw jacking, he decided to take on his first ’32 Ford chop. Not a coupe, not a Tudor, but a full-fledged four door. If Yaril’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s the owner and founder of Yaril’s Customs, a shop northwest of Miami in Hialeah, Florida specializing in all things pre-’64. A number of great cars have come out of Yaril’s through the years, including “Miss Loved,�? a ’50 Ford custom that made a national T.V. appearance last fall. There’s a strong chance that we’ll have more about his other projects sometime down the road, but today we’re going to focus on that four door you see at the top of the page.

Let’s face it; four doors have been called a lot of things through the years, and most times those things haven’t been particularly good. It’s because from a technical go-fast-look-cool standpoint, they leave a fair amount to be desired. Although their pedigree doesn’t hark back to the birth of our hobby like the roadsters and coupes, they have acted as staples of the support vehicle and people-hauling subgenre. And that’s a necessary—and undoubtedly important—role.

Some pretty damn nice hot rods, race cars, show cars and close-to-stockers that have sprouted up across the nation over the past six decades. Chet Herbert’s chopped, channeled and six-cylinder (and later flathead)-powered example is the first one that comes to mind, having grown into a perennial favorite since the 1950s. The car received a considerable amount of ink, including a Rex Burnett cutaway in Hot Rod Magazine and a Rod & Custom feature.

Herbert’s sedan works because it combines a nose down stance with just the right amount of chop. When paired with a hot six or a set-back flathead, the car appears to be much longer than you would have anticipated. It’s sleek and certainly not busy with all those doors and windows; it’s a look that makes sense.

This car makes sense too, but in a far different way. The sedan has been chopped hard and given an aggressive rubber rake. With the cutting complete, it’s downright savage. After checking out the car for a while, I realized it was chopped in 2012 and finished sometime around 2013. The whole process (minus some images) and neat backstory was covered in this thread here and this one here.

Four door or not, this machine demands a second look—there’s no question about it.

—Joey Ukrop

All photos from Yaril’s Customs. Make sure to view both threads for a complete step-by-step on this clean chop and build process.