You Just Never Know!

Much to the chagrin of some who have posted in this thread, it appears as if the
Super Bell Coupe will be getting even more magazine ink ... Here's an e-mail I
received today from the folks @ The Rodder's Journal:


Road Trip with the Pete & Jake's Coupes, & Jim Ewing's Super Bell Coupe
From time to time we get to do things around here that make us feel like we are
watching history. Just before the recent Goodguys show in Pleasanton, California,
we took a little road trip. We made our way from South San Francisco down to
southern California to the NHRA Museum in Pomona to meet up with Jerry, Peggy
and Jason Solver along with Frank Morawski who were in town to drive these
iconic coupes up Interstate 5 to Pleasanton. Our original goal was to shoot these
cars simply in the studio for the next issue, but when the idea came up to for a
road trip who could resist!



Meeting at the Wally Parks NHRA Museum in Pomona, California from left to right: Peggy and Jerry Slover,
Frank Morawski, and Colton and Jason Slover.


The trip was off to a good start as we left the Pomona Fairplex Friday morning.


Working our way over the G****vine, the mountain p*** separating Los Angeles from California's Central
Valley.


It has been quite some time since all three of these coupes have been on the road together. Watching
them cruise along was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.


200 miles down, 175 to go!

Check out more of these iconic coupes in an upcoming issue!

Your friends at
The Rodder's Journal

 

It's cool and all, but I don't really care for the nose treatment.

 

for any hot rodder, this shot should give you wood

 

its a love hate thing?
i dont like the front.

 

Say what you will about any one of these 3,but 30 years from now if AXLE is alive and kicking, he'll be hunting them down for a display at the Grand National Roadster Show.They are icons in the hobby.

 

Can someone else PLEASE post another comment about how they don't like the front? because five isn't enough

 

It's pure Hot Rod in my book.

 

OK...I've always thought it was just an ugly *** car.

 

TAKE SOME EX-LAX You Old *******s!...................WHY ISNT ANYONE TALKING ABOUT THE OTHER TWO CARS HUH??????....... The CA Kid and Jakes Yellow Coupe?............ ILL TELL YA WHY, .... Those cars are the SAME-OLD - SAME-OLD that you would not pay much attention to at any given car show!!!!....... FRANKS SUPERBELL 34 COUPE STANDS OUT AND STANDS ALONE!!!!!!.......... Its the NUMBER ONE CAR THAT STARTED OUR HOBBY IN MOTION!!!!........ WE WHO ENJOY OUR HOTRODS OWE IT ALL TO JIM EWINGS SUPERBELL COUPE AND TO FRANK M. FOR KEEPING THE CAR AS IT WAS WHEN JIM BUILT IT....... If you dont like the looks, so what, if you dont think the car is the most significant car in Street Rodding History, then your just another 32 Ford or Corvette Idiot!..... If this post is ill placed, i apoligize..... im new to this Old Mans chat line and not sure how it works but........ Ive never seen more men cry over a car so much in my life!!!!..........5 Full Pages of WHAAAAAA Whaaaaaa Whaaaaa!........ This Has To Be The Most Talked About Street Rod In History?........ Glad it lives here on the east coast where its safe with us Thugs!.........I think they would destroy the car if it were out west, everybody is so jealous of this Wild Machine........ No Wonder FRANK carries a Smith & Wesson under his shirt..............LOVE IT OR HATE IT, ITS THE CAR THAT STARTED IT ALL!!!!!!!!!..... And I Hope You Dont Like It!!

 

Uhh............yeah, no one built Hot Rods before 1977.

 

Just because it's a great car, doesn't mean it's not ugly. There are some ugly chicks that are awesome, but they are still ugly.

 

It isn´t ugly!

 

... becuase this thread is about Jim Ewing's (now Frank's) Super Bell Coupe and not about the Pete & Jake's coupes (which, IMO are equally as cool).

 

It's got the joey ****afuco front end.

 

Wow. I'm all about having respect for this car (see my previous post!)...but your still WAY outta line.
That car didn't "start" Hot rodding either...it just helped usher in a new era of acceptance for the term.

 

G***ergl***, I think you might benefit from something my kids used to tell their mom when she got all wound up about something they were doing.


TAKE A STRESSTAB!!!!!


And BTW, this was NOT the hot rod that started it all. Not even the resurgence that got us out of the restorod era.

Frank

 

I'm going to have to chime in and disagree. ALL THREE coupes are LEGENDARY. They all three changed hot rod life as we know it. I still remember staring at the Coupes are for Chickens R&C issue when I was 5 or 6 with Jake's car and the California Kid (the issue was 3 or 4 years old at that point). They may look like no big deal now, but in the context of the time that they were built they were ground-breaking. I still love them. I wouldn't build one for myself like that, but I love them all the same.

 

I saw Frank Sunday morning while he was working on one of his other cars ( The Carillo Roadster). We had a big laugh over this thread. The opinions placed here have no meaning to Frank. He has the Bell SuperCoupe and none of the rest of you do. Plain and simple. Call it ugly, it really doesn't matter. If your car is more iconic ( and there are a bunch on this board ) than show some pics. This car is alot more than iconic. It is HISTORIC !!!! There are other historic cars on this board and some are new cars...may cause dangerous comes to mind right away.
For a place that is based on history, you guys are sure beating this like a dead horse.........I could be wrong..........my 2 cents

 

I really don't get the groundbreaking part. Just getting back to roots. Same as Scritchfield and to a certain extent McMullen did 10-15 years earlier. There were always traditional cars (and Bonneville styled cars) around, just didn't get the press as these three.
Larry T

 

Larry, at the time Hot Rods were p***é. The muscle cars all but killed them off. As has been stated, street rodding was all about stockers and resto rods. The California Kid, Pete's coupe, and later the SuperBell coupe snapped people out of the haze and back into true hot rods. Sure there were always trad cars around. They never went away, but they weren't exactly popular either. Certainly not like they are today. This is the only time period that trad cars have been as popular as when they were "contemporary". And those 3 cars, plus the Grafitti coupe and later the Eliminator coupe changed the game BECAUSE of the exposure. That's where I am coming from. You've got a few years on me, so maybe you have a different perspective of that time period. There were no cars like either of the three around my area when I was a kid.

 

Chad and I are about the same age and I agree with the impact on my young mind back then. Cant wait to read the roadtrip of all 3 cars....................and thanks to Rocky I happen to have my own set of Bushpilots Wings, I can't believe there isn't a pic of them

 

No there weren't a LOT of hotrods around, but they weren't extinct either. The 60's is about as far back as I can remember, but the ******** hotrodders NEVER gave up on their deal. I can remember looking through a rodders stash (Flattop Bob can tell you about Delbert)) in the early 70's and he had old builds and new (what we would call nostalgia) builds going on. Same thing in little towns all around here. Just because the magazines had forgotten about hotrodding, doesn't mean it was dead. And I can remember **** Scritchfield writting quite a few articles about tradition from the 60's on up.
Last point. I think the American Graffiti coupe probably had a lot more influence on traditional rod building than any of these three. Only one that comes close was the California Kid.
That being said, anytime you wanna park the Super Bell Coupe, "Pete & Jakes rides", McMullen or Scritchfields roadster, the AG Deuce, or any other of their sort in my garage, bring them on over. I'll make room for them! (G)
Larry T

 

did the Slovers go through the Pete and Jake coupes before the roadtrip? Last ime I talked to Jason at thier shop he said they were a little long in the tooth and not real road worthy?

 

They didnt build cars like this back then you goof.... and you have your date wrong!..... But coming from a guy who thinks a 1965 Comet is a Street Rod, I now understand your remark/s.... "oh Brother

 

I can see by the lack of STREET ROD KNOWLEDGE that this message board is no longer screening new members!!!...... Ill bet 80% of the people making comments about the SUPERBELL COUPE are seeing it for the first time on these pages!.......... I said it once and ill say it again, NOBODY is talking about Jakes Coupe or The Calif Kid.......... YUP", Id say the Superbell Coupe is the most talked about street rod in in HAMB history?

 

AND YOUR 2 CENTS IS WELL SPENT....... AMEN, You Said It All Brother. Beating a dead horse is the perfect term.... Most cant tell the difference between the Famous Hollywood TV & Movie cars and The Iconic Street Rod Industry changing cars.................... As For "The Carillo Car"....Lets just stay hush about that one before one of these freaks blows a gasket....they have NO CLUE about any of this stuff..... and lets not let them in on it, its fun playing Brain Ping Pong with these KNOW EVERYTHING HOR ROD GUYS! ...... The next thing somebody will says is THE MUNSTER COACH IS THE MOST ICONIC..... Tell Frank when you see him that my T-Shirt Is Too Large!

 

Take all three to a cars to a car show.... Stand back and watch what happens...... again & again & again & again & again........ Im in TOTAL agreement with you about all three cars.....100% Agreement....But the FACTS are the FACTS...... The CA Kid is My Favorite of the three cars... But The BELL Coupe just had the MOST Impact in street rodding as we know it today with the other two cars directly behind it........

 

YOU have your opinion and I have mine......... Ive been around the block.... and if you ONLY KNEW...... well, We'll just have to agree to disagree. ....... Been there, Done that, Seen it, drove it

 

Never said it started hotrodding....I said it started street rodding as WE KNOW IT TODAY!!!....This Is The car that Changed the direction of this Hobby, Sport, Obsession or Addiction.......... This car made this hobby do a 100% U-Turn..... Again, we agree to disagree

 

lolololololol hahahahah! Now that was funny!.....lmao