slipped in, and a shortened ’32 grille was fitted. Dave and his dad straightened everything out and Grey’s Garage laid down the ’69 Mercedes Blue paint—that was it the first time around and it looked bitchin’. But car guys are car guys, and Dave decided fenders were needed. He got ’32 front fenders, ’32 running boards, a ’32 splash apron, and Model A rear fenders (I assumed ’32 fenders all around until I really looked at the pics). Obviously, none of it fit perfectly, so the ’32 fenders are more than half fabricated, the splash pan is smaller all around, the lower section of the rear fenders was matched to the ’32 running boards, and a dropped ’32 headlight bar was installed. This time Dave and his brother straightened out the new stuff and Grey’s Garage laid down matching ’69 Mercedes Blue paint. The interior has stayed the same for years because it’s super cool with Hudson gauges in a ’35 Ford dash, a ’55 Ford column with shifter and ignition, a ’40 Ford steering wheel, and a Speedway wiring kit.
Joe Vieau was brought in to stitch the black and camel leather interior over the stock seats. Interestingly, Dave’s brother Jeff helped him on this second version of the coupe, but on the original build and forever this ’30 Ford coupe will always be the Dave and dad show. Like many of us, Dave grew up helping his dad in the shop and after a stint with sand rails, he moved into traditional pre-war rods. In an old car feature he described his dad as a street rodder and himself as a traditional rodder. His dad would say, but that’s not how we did it back in the day. Today tradi- tional rodders list of acceptable late-model parts has grown as they drive their cars more and more. The tra- ditional rodders have come up with different solutions (and styles), but it’s just guys growing up and wanting to take the rods they built out on the road. The truth of all these names is that although we may have different dreams of the perfect hot rod, we’re all still just build- ing old cars.
28 JANUARY 2026
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