Project Thirty Eight

Almost 17 years ago now, I launched The Jalopy Journal with a feature titled, “Project Thirty-Eight.” It marked a transition period not only for myself, but also for the car I was building. My ’38 Ford coupe was originally intended to be a race car, but at some point along the way I decided I would rather have a hot rod. Of course, I had no idea at the time what a “hot rod” really was. More or less, The Jalopy Journal was my way of reaching out for help.

At the time, I was an undergraduate at the University of Oklahoma taking 15 hours a semester and working as a parts manager at the local custom Harley shop. I was always pretty good at the books and never really had to spend much time studying, so I had a lot of available time to build things in my little one-car shed. Mt first project was a streetable drag bike. I learned a lot building that bike – mostly, I learned that I didn’t really like riding motorcycles all that much. So, why not build a race car?

Initially, the plan was to build a 10-second car on 8″ slicks. I had a monster small block and a bunch of pals willing to help, so I went at it… But at some point along the way, my mind was taken over by visions of Dean Batchelor. I read his books and studied the images within. I had no idea as to the mechanicals of the cars I saw, I just saw the looks and fell in love. That’s what I wanted and I started The Jalopy Journal with that premise alone.

It took me three years to build the ’38. It’s well documented that I’m a hack in the garage and this build is where the mustard is. I often found myself doing things three and four times simply because I wasn’t talented enough to do things right the first time. I was often laughed at and with, but soldiered on and kept working towards my goal. Eventually, I met it.

The ’38 is a “street rod” more than anything else. I often hear people call it that as if it’s a badge of dishonor. To me, it never has been. It’s always just been my car. It’s as if it was born to me and that was that. Sure, as I grew into hot rodding and my tastes developed I began to see things on my car that I wished I had done differently. I even began to have some regrets, but I’ve never even so much as entertained the thought of selling the only car I’ve ever built.

How could I? I’ve put thousands of thoughtful miles on that little black coupe. I’ve taken hundreds of passes down the drag strip in her. I’ve met countless friends through conversation spawned over the car. I met my wife in that car. I asker her to marry me in that car. I’ve literally grown up in that car.

Even so, I had some regrets. There were things that I wished I had done differently. There were things that just didn’t meet my sensibilities anymore and the car sat as a result. I haven’t driven it in almost two years now. I feel the most amount of regret over that. I’m into simplicity. And there is nothing simple about an old car sitting in your garage for two years. It was a mental burden that I just couldn’t live with any longer.

Last night, I almost cried when I saw my little coupe pull away on the back of a trailer. It was emotional because I realized it’s the end of something. This morning, I’m a little more excited because I realize it is the beginning of something else. The ’38 is headed to my brother’s shop in Santa Rosa, CA where it will be reborn. It’s going to be a long-term project that Tardel and I will fully cover here on The Jalopy Journal.

Stay tuned for some pretty neat tricks from an old dog. Project Thirty-Eight is back!

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