An Altered from the Archives

Just like the old song says, I’m on the road again. By the time you read this, I’ll be up in Washington soaking in as much hot rod and custom car action as I possibly can. The good news is that I have a number of future Jalopy Journal features in the works. The not-so-good news is that none of those features are quite ready for today’s post. Nonetheless, I do have a snippet worth sharing.

Remember seeing your first hot rod? Longtime readers will recall my short story about the blown ’34 Ford Altered that I spotted at a metro Detroit gas station in the early 2000s. Anyways, because of that encounter, I’ll always be drawn to ’33-’34 Fords built for the quarter-mile.

While searching through my files this week, I re-discovered this black-and-white snapshot of a brutal 1934 Ford coupe. It’s about as close as you can get to a Roth Studios illustration without bending the laws of physics. Well, maybe this one bends them just a little bit.

So what is it that makes this thing so radical? First and foremost, there’s the stance. It’s hard to say for sure, but it appears as if the team responsible for #22 incorporated a re-arched Model A or Model spring up front. When paired with spindle-mount American 12 spokes and a set of pizza cutters, there’s no doubt that this thing would have been a handful.

Next, let’s check out the engine compartment. I love how they retained the grille shell (that happens to be pretty mint) as well as the splash aprons. Note the two-gallon Moon tank and, of course, blown and injected Chevy set way beneath the cowl. Other talking points include a tastefully chopped top, Plexiglas windshield and five-spoke Americans mounted on piecrust slicks.

At first glimpse, some may mistake this ’34 for the famed Hyder & McCloud five-window, which ran in the Southern California Fuel Altered ranks in the mid-’60s. For a split second, I thought there was some relation. But then I remembered exactly where this shot came from.

You see, this photo was taken by John MacKichan in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1965. John is a lifelong hot rodder, and recently his daughter, Jessica, has been scanning the shots and sharing them with the world through their Instagram page. Although I don’t have any further information about this car, make sure to check out their photo collection when you have a chance.

—Joey Ukrop

Photo by John MacKichian