Back in Time at Suhr's - and Miss Feb is MINE!

whew!

Pop and I just got back in late last nite from a 1000+ mile roadtrip; we went to Zach Suhr's place to peep Miss February - the center car in the 1951 HAMB calendar:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/?p=549

First off, Zach's place is really amazing. If you stand in the right spot in his drive and peep his stuff - it IS 1951. Honest. Zach's been collecting vintage hot rod stuff for years; he's got stuff I've been looking for - but I guess I didn't have the p***ion and determination he does for the gig - and I'm a good 20+ years older!

His daily rod is a thing of beauty; A roadster body on deuce rails; wide fives all round and torque tube open pipes exiting just below the doors. He fired it up for Pop and I...yeah. Zach's got it bad.

Anyway, I did a complete look-thru on the current state of Zach's Track AV8 while Pop and Zach bench raced. His metalwork is really, really amazing, considering it's good ol' fashioned panel beating - hammer and a dolly is all he used to make that gorgeous nose.

We rolled the Trackster out in the daylight, and stood back...

That was pretty much it for me.

There's a point when you're looking at a car and you KNOW it's gonna be yours - and when we stood back, the moment came. Zach's spent a huge amount of time immersed in 1951, and it shows - the car has the line, the stance, the look. It made me smile, and that's all it took.

I've never really understood art; **** hangin' on a wall just didn't speak to me. After looking at Zach's work, tho...I'm beginning to get it. It's art, man...rolling thunder art. Art that makes you taste fresh wet corner dirt while standing still.

Yeah...art.

Since it's not fair to yank art from the artist's hand incomplete, Zach's gonna finish off the metal work and some other details over the next few weeks and one of the prettiest little cars I've seen will be on its way to the Motor City for paint, wiring and finish work.

I can't wait!

I dropped Pop off late...As he walked in the door, he stopped and said, "Thanks for inviting me along, son. That was a nice car and Zach's doing a good job...I really enjoyed today."

That made the trip worthwhile.

Thanks, Zach!

 

Glad to hear you liked his newest car, me being his neighbor I can attest to that. He is part of the reason that I have a Av8 roadster n the works. After riding in his a coupe just wasn't going to do it any more. Good to see it going to a good home, back where it came from.

Me-oh

 

Yeah, He's got it.

 

He's a punk.

Spike

 

we'll see how cool he is when i blow his doors off!

yeah, he seems like quite a fella......i can't wait to meet him some day.....

 

Where are the pics?!?

 

Living down the road from Zach and Me-oh, and having gone through all the school grades with them both, I'm glad to see Zach putting smiles on the faces of some new folks out there... It seems to me, that as time goes on he's going to make many more people feel like they're driving a car from 1951, '41, or whatever era he dedicates his tallent to.

I hadn't gotten to ask him how the weekend went, but after seeing the post seems it went excellent for both of you. Congrats to you both! Chuckspeed, you're getting one awesome car! Any chance the roadster will make it back to PA for the Jalopy showdown?

 

thanks everyone,
chuck....i'm glad you guys made it home safe and that the trip wasnt a waste for you and you liked the car.
too bad you didn't have a bit more time so that i could have showed you the other car.
i thoroughly enjoyed meeting you and your dad. your dad's stories are great. i love to hear about the past from guys like him who really did it. nothing beats first hand experience. Thats what im trying to replicate, im just 60 years too late!

flathead youngin....you might want to weld your doors on to keep my "B" from blowing them off

heres the car seymour


now that this is official i guess i can start planning out the next one
Zach

 

I fell in love with that car at the Jalopy Showdown last year and talked to Zack quite a bit about it.

I'm alittle surprised he is gonna let it go without finishing it but I understand and It seems like its gonna be in capable hands and It will be in my backyard so I'll get to see it completely finished.

Zack is a talented builder with alot of soul, I look forward to what he does in the future.

 

That cars amazing in every way. I cant wait to see it around town this comming summer. Let me know if i can lend a hand with any thing im just down the road.

 

Zach's gonna spend a fair amount of time on it over the next couple of months to insure the finished product has 'essence of Suhr'.

That being said - I was brought up by a 'dammit-I'll-do-it-myself' kind of guy, so I can't just plunk down hard-earned jing on a finished product. I have to make it my own, even if it means only doing a little bit of the work.

I'm kinda funny about this sort of thing. It's just lump of metal until it's lit off for the first time - then it has a life of its own. I want to be the guy that pushes the ****on for the first time on what is arguably one of the prettiest little rods I've ever seen.

 

dirty-

I'll keep the GMB's up to date on its progress - and letcha know when it arrives. Once it's here - yeah. A good car is often made better by helping hands, so I'm hopin' the GMB's will be willing to pitch in so's the car is ready for Billetproof!

 

Billetproof Hell, get it ready for the Autorama and then it will be ready for Both the Jalopy Showdown and Billetproof.

BB

 

CONGRATS bud! This is GREAT news! I too have seen the roadster in person last year and it IS totally amazing. I'm THRILLED it's coming to life, and to live, in the Motor City. It's will look awesome blasting down Woodward Ave on a hot summer nite.

I do agree with B BK though, why not shoot for Autorama, in whatever state of completion THEN for the Jalopy Showdown in May. It would be so cool to see it running around the track at Ladamore in May.

My skills aren't much but by all means call me if you need a helping hand.....at least have a welcoming party when you bring it home.

 

I don't think it's overstating to say that car is one of the best looking traditional cars ... anywhere.


PS: Chuckspeed -- I was hoping for PHOTOS of Zach's place! I guess I'll have to pay a visit myself.

 

Zach has stuff that would give even a casual rodder an enormous stiffy; I would not post pix of it for fear that it would go missing in the middle of the night.

Tellyouwhut - the dude oughta charge admission, it's that good.

 

I will take you up on the party one way or another. When something like this arrives in yer garage, you hafta remember - you're not the owner, you're merely a custodian of something larger than yourself. What makes it special is it's connection to other people - the folks that add a delay factor to every trip made in the beastie.

As for autorama - dontcha have to be invited to attend?

 

Man, you should consider a career as a writer. Your words took me on a trip and it was poetry, just like the car. Well done, gr***hopper!

 

Ah I'm glad to hear someone loves Zach's piles of junk...I mean stuff. You can have it...I don't want it all sittin in my yard soon!

I'm glad to hear you and your dad had a safe trip and it was worth it. Zach has been talking since the moment you left about all the work he has to do and he's excited to get it all done.

P.S. Jer and Andy...that means no stopping by all the time. j/k

 

Damn Chuck! Very cool your gettin Zach's car! You damn well better get ahold of me once it's home! Or better yet bring it over!!!!

 

Glad you peeped the thread - the A frame I've been savin' for my roadster project is now available; you have right of first refusal.

 

wedding on the horizon.....does zach know about this?

more words like these and you may play second fiddle to a hot rod

 

You know I want it . We'll have to talk, soon, I wanna come over once your new hotrod is home....

 

You're first in line - orig unboxed unmolested A frame with about 30-40% of the original paint on it; frame horns in decent shape, mostly surface rust with minimal pebbling.

 

Consider yourself invited

I'll talk to you more soon.

 

thanks.

I do like to write - been published here and there. When I'm finally too damned old to do my day job, I'm gonna do the writer gig. Do a hamb search for either

ohmigod i love gl***packs, or;

incendiary event observer (a fancy grenade inspector)

if you wanna read more of my 'stuff'.

 

Well, technically, it's not Miss February...

Zach build awesome cars. That car is by far one of my favorites to have been given birth by the HAMB community. I love it. Even unfinished, it speaks VOLUMES. Though I've never actually met him, I know he has the true P***ION and I greatly look forward to the day I get to shake his hand.

Every year in the calendar, I try to focus on some aspect of why we all do what we do. Because of his p***ion, I wanted to use some of Zach's thoughts in the calendar. I felt he deserved his own page, uncluttered by numbers and dates.

 

that is soo cool.

FWIW, Zach looks EXACTLY like a gangly, freckle-faced guy fresh out of the action in the South Pacific, runnin' his rod up and down the orange groves- red hair and all. After seein' his shop and his stuff - he's not fakin' it. When he went inside for a moment, I ran behind the chicken coop, lookin' for the time machine, 'cuz you'd SWEAR he just popped in from Muroc.

Hell...he had Johnny Cash playin' on his radio! I KNOW he didn't do that for effect...

freaky, man. Just freaky.

 

No stopping by, Hot rod Heidi? Cuz I think I just heard him leave headed for your place... Ha ha , Don't keep him up to late he has work to do!

Me-oh

 

Yea, I drove by tonight and the garage lights were out... have anything to do with this Heidi? hahahahaaha