Hot Rods 2009 Good Guys Street Rod of the Year

Columbus, OH – It’s been quite a year for hot rodder Doug Cooper of Oyster Bay Cove, New York. Cooper’s prized ’32 Ford B-400 sedan “Deucenberg” has taken home hot rodding’s two signature awards this season beginning with the Don Ridler Memorial at the Detroit Autorama before being named the Goodguys/Cl***ic Instruments 2009 Street Rod of the Year at the Goodguys 12th PPG Nationals in Columbus, OH.

The story of Cooper’s stunner is a tale of perseverance and pride. Built by the team at Johnson’s Hot Rod Shop in Gadsden, Alabama the project took four years to complete under the watchful eye of team leader Alan Johnson. Every panel, line and seam on the car has been meticulously reworked and hand crafted in true coach-built fashion . To accentuate the superior metal work on the car, the Rodder’s Journal recently published an entire layout of the car last year in bare metal.

The all-steel convertible sedan body features a stylized roofline (with an aluminum lift-off roof & cloth top) countless subtle body mods including suicide doors, a narrowed grille and cowls, angled A and B-pillars and even one-off bolts for the bumpers. It’s all covered in custom mixed BASF Glasurit "Bordeaux" that appears to be a foot deep. Jon Wright Custom Chrome supplied the heavy load of plating while Paul Atkins Interiors s***ched the tasteful leather upholstery. The ch***is is traditional in layout with a beam axle in front and a live axle with coilovers at the rear - all flawlessly executed. “Deucenberg” rolls on the Dayton Triple Cross wire wheels with rims and hubs painted to match the car with polished stainless spokes. Under the hood lies a plated and polished 405-hp LS6 engine.

Longtime client and friend Bob Johnson, who won the 2007 Street Machine of the Year crown with his Johnson’s-built “G-Force” ‘Cuda gets credit for the cars moniker which cleverly blends the hot rod connotation of the “Deuce” (a common reference to 1932 hot-rodded Fords) and the early 1900’s Deusenberg’s from which the team took a lot of styling cues.

For Cooper, the entire four year ride of “Deucenberg” has been a life changer. “I’m so proud of the team that made this car happen,” he said. “Alan’s family and the team are truly incredible. They worked a minimum of 16 hour days, sometimes even 18 or even 20 towards the end to finish the car. Alan’s wife Angie, his mother and the wives of the crew would bring us dinner while we all worked together. It was an amazing team effort.”

This marked the second Goodguys/Cl***ic Instruments Street Rod of the Year ***le for Johnson’s Hot Rod Shop. The shop also built the 2007 Goodguys/Air Ride Technologies Street Machine of the Year.

The five finalists’s for this year’s Street Rod of the Year compe***ion included Marvin Bok, Auburn, IN 1939 Ford Convertible, Chris Conly, Milan, MI 1933 Ford Convertible, Don Smith, Mansfield, TX 1932 Ford Sedan, Doug Cooper, Oyster Bay Cove, NY 1932 Ford B 400 Sedan and Frank Tetro, Melbourne, FL 1932 Ford

 

VERY cool.........style and cl***,hope the guy gets to drive it someday

 

Good for him. That car is one of my absolute favorites.

 

An absolutely stunning car. Good choice...

 

The work out of Alan Johnson's shop is incredible. That they could take a 2 door sedan and turn it into a high tech B-400 shows the vision and quality that the shop is capable of doing. Great job. Recently aired an interview on Speed Channel with Doug Cooper. He stated that there was no way he'd cut up a real B-400 and clarified that his car was a sedan. Amazing workmanship. The FOGGER

 

The car is noting less than astounding,,not traditional in the least but a TKO when it comes to craftsman ship and cubic yards of money,,congrats. HRP

 

Absolutely stunning car, and it retains the cl***ic stance and beauty of the original. The craftmanship is beyond belief.
Hats off.

 

Not taking anything away from the BIG Timers,Fat pockets There are some really good young guys building rides on low bucks that dont get the credit they deserve.I really rather see a car built from Junk yard parts with talent than the muilti billion dollor cars

 

that is a stunning Street Rod. attention to detail is phenomenal! incredible vehicle

 

Big timers, fat pockets.????
The car has absolutely fantastic craftmanship and the crew that built it and showed it, put their hearts and soul into it to achieve what they have.
My hats off to them.

 

Alan Johnson is one of the most talented guys in the game! the award is STREET ROD OF THE YEAR! and here is a news flash most junk yards are filled with 80's and 90's cars......the homebuilt argument has been played to death here!!!! with out the Fat Pocket guys as you say we would not have any heros like Barris, Winfield,Watson and hundreds of others we look up to from the Junk Yard days of building cars!!!! Okay off my soap box!!! I really like this car and it deserves the win!

 

Just goes to show ya, no matter the economy or world conditions, car guys know how to keep the industry and spirit alive. I love that car.
Mikey

 

pretty snazzy looking.... but if it will never be seen cruising the nations hiways at 80 MPH they may as well have put that money into a bronze sculpture.

 

Absolutely Stunning car!........the builder should be extremely proud, just like I would be if I had a primered '54 BelAir Tudor in my garage....What's not to love? Centurion9

 

Thanks for all the compliments guys, I appreciate it...

for those doubters this car was built to be driven. I'm a car guy not an ART collector...I'm limiting the miles right now to keep the underside as fresh as possible to fullfill the indoor commitments we have for this coming winter.

It even got driven in the rain on Saturday in Columbus!

We are having a great time showing the car outdoors, it will be seen from coast to coast this summer so keep your eyes peeled we might be at a show near you...

Thanks Again!

 

Thanks for the write up Al......We looked for you Sunday in Doylestown....
Now we know why you were absent
This is a great car and supreme workmanship went into it....making it most
worthy of the hype. Hope we get to see it in Louisville in a few weeks
I ***ume your going to be there Great car, you can be very proud of your
efforts Thanks for sharing too

 

Can't you simply appreciate it for what it is - rolling art - without getting into the have vs have not thing? There is always a 'have not' who feels the need to call it out and I feel sorry for such people if this is their best cheap shot.

The car is beautiful, and the craftsmanship and attention to detail is phenomenal, whether it is your taste or not. I would not want the Mona Lisa hanging in my living room, but I can appreciate and enjoy it as a stunning work of art in it's own right.

Congratulations to Alan Johnson, Doug Cooper and all involved in this fantastic build and it's great to hear it is getting driven - that's what they are for.

 

I can fully appreciate the skill, vision, craftsmanship, dedication, innovation, and certainly money that went into this car. It's beautifully done, but...I don't like it.

Of course I don't need to. As long as Doug likes it, that's all that matters.

 

Over the top, subtle! ***s....MIKE

 

Man,dont get me wrong,I was there at the awards ,The cars are stunning absolutely gorges.But I myself as a down to earth real world hotrodder saw some really good work coming from your back yard builders not even get some credit for their rides.And I am sorry they are the ones that drive this hobby.It is the guy who has the fastest car in town and the sweetest car at the local cruz-in not some dude that hires a car builder to build a car for him with a blank check and a crew to haul it around for him that drives this hobby.

 

That's a beauty!!, " If you gotem drivem"

 

I'd have to disagree, "not traditional in the least"...It's certainly trad. in a styling sense.

 

Doug,

That is an outstanding car.

I read that it was originally Alan's car, but for you to have the foresight to 'take it off his hands' was a good move. Alan is a great builder and it really is a showcase of his and his crews talents.

Glad that you plan to drive the nuts off that car. Hopefully I will get to compliment you in person seeing that you live so close.

—MRAK

 

Very nice car, Very deserving of this award in a very tough field of cars. I wonder how many other riddler winners have been in that much rain. Most of them are just tucked away in some garage.

 

Stop sippin the Haterade. The car is gorgeous, the styling is traditional and tasteful, and the craftsmanship is second to none. What's not to love about this car? Even if it's not your personal taste, anybody into cars can easily appreciate the craftsmanship and attention to detail.

Dissing pro built cars and guys with the budget to afford such creations is like hating on pro athletes because they're better than me at sports. I still watch every NY Rangers game and enjoy my beer league hockey even though I'll never be good enough to play in the NHL. We should enjoy and appreciate the well funded and pro built creations even though most of us will never be able to afford one, and be happy building our cars to the best of our ability. No shame in that.

Doug, I had the pleasure of seeing the car out in Detroit. It is truly magnificent and it deserves every award it collects

 

Nicely done, the rear top section is a big improvement over the stock appearance. I'll have to study the Rodders Journal feature again, thanks for posting this. Just read all the posts up to mine, didn't know the car is almost local, hope it gets shown at someplace close by.

 

The folks who build those mega-dollar cars for the well heeled are regular guys who earn, arguably, regular paychecks in return for their talents and dedication. They go into work day after day to fulfill the customer's 'order'. To complete a project to the degree of style and perfection as demonstrated by AJ's crew requires superb leadership, a well defined vision of the finished product and a level of dedication to the task that many 'regular Joe's' just don't comprehend.
You can throw money at a project until the cows come home and still end up with a piece of ****, people do it everyday, but it's the total package that create cars the likes of which come out of AJ's, Troy's, Ring Bros, etc.......To those who bash the high dollar cars, ask yourself this question- "Why does this car piss me off?" The answer should come as no surprise.
J Stone

 

Wow

 

Thanks to all of you for the kind words about the car. The compliments that it has received from all of the traditionalists here means a lot to me. I have not taken the opportunity to participate in one of the HAMB meet and greets yet but I plan on doing so at Louisville and Bonneville. Thanks again, Alan Johnson

 

The car is even better in person. Simply flawless and perfectly proportioned.