Far, Far Away

At 36,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean, I was fast asleep. Half my body was covered by a green airline blanket, while my jacket handled the rest. The cabin was dark, aside from the fuzzy glow of the seatbelt signs and aisle lights. I was warm, peaceful and happy.

Sometime before dinner service, I was working on an article that I’ve been chipping away at for weeks. I love writing on planes, especially on long flights. The legwork is done but, sometime in the middle of the night, I decided that it just wasn’t ready yet. No sense in rushing it.

This morning, I woke up with a plan. As soon as I connected to the airport Wi-fi 5,078 miles away from home, I cracked open my digital archive. It wasn’t long before I came across a survivor hot rod from a bygone era.

I found the car on Twitter of all places. It was posted by a user named Tommy M in July 2019, and the caption read, “Canadians too. My uncle Frankensteined this one a while back. Any ideas about what parts he used? BTW it eventually got stolen, so if anyone sees it let me know!” One Retweet. One Quote Tweet. One Like. End of story.

The car, however, clearly has plenty of stories to tell. At first, I thought it was a Model A coupester but, the closer I look, the more it seems like at 1932 Ford five-window with the roof cut off and the decklid molded. It’s heavily channeled over a custom tube frame, and the floor is made of wooden planks. The steering wheel is 1960 Chevy, and it’s powered by an overhead V8. The taillights look Dodge, but I can’t say for sure.

There’s no doubt about it—Tommy’s uncle got creative while building this car. It’s interesting to note that even though the fabrication is on the rough side, it’s still finished with paint and (some) upholstery.

So, I’ll ask you this: What parts can you identify? And, even better, has anyone seen Tommy’s uncle’s lost hot rod?

—Joey Ukrop

Photos by Tommy M