Hot Rods Anyone remember Brutus from the late 80s early 90s?

I was looking for something else in some old magazines last night, and happened upon a story that had a couple pictures of the car. No, I didn't scan it, and no, I forgot what issue it was in. Hot Rod magazine, some time in the mid 90s.

 

Loved that car immediately when I saw it at Louisville in the early 90s.
Resulted in me building this car.




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That made me laugh! If you think of the issue, let me know.

 

I can look for it...

 

december 1994 issue, page 30

 

That's it.

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That's him! Does anyone know where he is now!

 

Where is Alan Ray out of?

 

The only one I know of is in West Mineral Ks.

 

The car has Georgia tags, did Alan move?

 

..that ol Chrysler was way ahead of it's time...

 

Remember it well from the Street Rod Nationals in Louisville. It was from the Atlanta area. My friend who lives in Marietta, GA knew the guy(s) who built it. He tells the story of a stored boat trailer that broke loose and caved in one of the doors. They looked high and low at junkyards to find a properly "patina'ed" door as a replacement. My memory says it had polished Halibrand Sprints. My 10 year old son loved it.

 

The answer was posted before the question

 

It is a Chrysler once owned by Alan Ray from the Shawnee Mountain Bunch. Two of my favorite stories about it. Brutus was at a rainy day rod run years ago near Macon, Ga. & when it pulled out it left a dry spot that was outlined in brown colored rust. Then there was the sight of Brutus cruising the Nats in Louisville loaded to the gills with club members & two scantily clad MaMa's on the front fenders handing out flyers to a local strip club. I know it won some "best of" trophies that really whizzed off some of the "gold chain" high rollers. Don't know what Alan's up to now but I believe he's still in Georgia. And we still see Brutus at shows & cruises around Marietta, Ga.

 

Yes was seen at many Nara and good guys events but not lately


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Great stories! I'd love to find out where it is now. Does Alan not own it now?

 

Barry Hildebrand says a gentleman named David Smith owns & drives it now. We see it now & then at local events so I'll try to get a current picture of it. Will also check with some of the Sawnee (not Shawnee) Mountain Bunch to get an update on Alan Ray.

 

That would be great if you were able to get some pictures of it! I tried to find David Smith on Facebook, but didn't have any luck.

 

When Alan built Brutus, no one ever neard of the term Rat Rod. If I remember correctly, He had a 454 in it and the engine bay was detailed to the max. The interior was a leopard skin blanket.

Nobody ever had any more fun with a hot rod than Alan had with that thing. He could pull into a show, let that thing shake the ground for a fee minutes and just draw a crowd.....Good memories.

Ironically, It was a good old car that was just covered with surface rust but not eat up.

John

 

I remember seeing it, but hearing it first. Had a healthy sounding BBC!

 

I'm not big on "cloned" cars but how cool would a car like this be, I remember how I felt the first time I saw this car in a magazine coverage of a car show back then.
I mean.......it has everything that matters in life, big engine, patina, and polished Halibrands.

 

I don't remember the year, but the first time I saw it was at Frog Follies. I was walking from the concession stand towards Lobeck's "corner", and here come this amazingly bad ass sounding car up the curve. He parked Brutus and everyone getting out was having a great time. That's the scene that hooked me on hot rods.

I'd love to see if Brutus could be bought, if not, DDDenny, I would like to build something along those lines!

 

Your mission if you choose to accept.....................

BTW Kelly
Did you go to the Paducah shindigs that ? River City Street Rods did.
I went to one while in the area in the 80's.
Good times.

 

The mission has been a dead end so far. But I've not given up hope. I c

No, I never got to that one!

 

I spent some time looking trough the HUGE list of David Smiths in Georgia, no luck!

 

I’ll always remember the ‘65 GTO Brutus altered wheel base match racer. First time I saw it live was at Lion’s in a best 2/3 with Gas Rhonda’s Mustang

 

Anyone have any new information?

 

I just got off of the phone with the guy that built the engine in it when Alan had it. His name is Ronnie Tenpenny in Cleveland Tennessee.

He told me that it was a 454 with a flat tappet cam and Square port heads. He said it also had a ten bolt rearend.

He owns Ronnie's Rodshop in Cleveland. He said he saw the car a few years ago and that it had a Alabama tag on it.

 

The search is still going for David Smith! I may see if I can get in touch with Alan, maybe he has a contact number?