You might think someone who buys and sells cars for a living would view all vehicles as mere commodities-merchandise on which to make a profit. We're sure that's the case for some car dealers, but we've also met quite a few who are true enthusiasts and keep handfuls (sometimes fleets) of cool personal rides stashed away in private collections. So where does a car dealer go when he wants a special-order ride? When he's John Sullivan-owner of John L. Sullivan Chevrolet in Roseville, California-he turns to the bearded one: Boyd Coddington.
John tells us he considered several high-profile builders when he decided to customize his restored '56 Chevy Bel Air convertible. As a relative newcomer to the hot rod and custom scene, John only knew Boyd from watching the "American Hot Rod" television series and from seeing Coddington-built rods at car shows. Imagine his surprise, then, when he called Boyd Coddington Hot Rods and discovered the "celebrity" owner to actually be accessible.
"It so happened that Boyd answered the phone," John says, and the two talked at length about the potential project. Boyd soon agreed to fly up to the Sacramento area and meet with John. "When Boyd came to see the car, he asked, 'Are you sure you want to do this?'" John says. Imagine that-a car so nice that even Boyd had reservations about cutting it up! John knew what he wanted, though, and before long the Bel Air was on its way to Southern California for the full Boyd treatment.
Like many Coddington projects, this one started with an Art Morrison frame. The Coddington crew outfitted it with extra crossmembers to prevent flex in the convertible body, and then added a polished Kugel front suspension with coilover shocks and Wilwood disc brakes. A matching Kugel independent rearend with inboard Wilwood discs was also fitted to the frame. Once the welding, grinding, and trial assembly were done, the frame was given a platinum finish and set up with 17x8- and 18x10-inch custom Coddington five-spoke wheels wrapped in 245/45R17 and 295/45R18 Goodyear skins.
John's dealership was able to supply parts from the GM Performance Parts catalog, including the car's coup de race: an LS7 V-8. The latest in Chevy's line of LS-series small-blocks, the race-bred LS7 displaces 427ci, is rated at 505 hp, and sports such exotic internals as titanium rods and valves and a dry sump oiling system. Boyd's guys dolled up its exterior with nice paint and a stylish cover, and built a firewall-mounted oil tank connected to the engine via stainless lines and a UMI adapter. Sullivan Chevrolet also supplied the 4L60E overdrive transmission and its controller, while the polished LS7 exhaust manifolds were connected to a custom-built exhaust system built with Magnaflow pipes and mufflers.
When it came to the body, John told Boyd to use his imagination, but not to obliterate the '56 identity. Boyd responded by having his crew perform some typical mods-shaved emblems and door handles, a smooth firewall, and so forth-as well as more distinctive alterations. The Chevy got a facelift by flipping the front bumper upside down and receiving a custom grille built from two horizontal bars that follow the shape of the stock frame. In the rear, Lee-style '56 taillight lenses from Danchuk were fit into custom-machined bezels, while the sheetmetal below them was massaged to accept a modified '55 Chevy front bumper flipped upside down. When the nipping and tucking was complete, all sheetmetal was showered in a DuPont Boyd Red finish.
Under the Chevy's beige fabric top, Gabe Lopez and his band of stitchmen wrapped supple, butterscotch-colored leather around Wise Guys buckets, a modified rear seat, and a custom console. They built smart-looking door and side panels to match, covered the floor with wool weave, and made the trunk coordinate with the cabin. The stock dash was completely smoothed, with a drop-down center panel concealing Vintage Air controls and vents. Custom Rod Gauges were fit into the original instrument opening, just above a Flaming River tilt column. The electronic push-button shifter from Retro Tek Speed was snuggled away in another drop-down panel, while a Retro Tek paddle shifter was affixed to the custom Coddington wheel to control up- and downshifts. Lokar pedals made tidy finishing touches.
Whether by chance or by design, John's Chevy became part of the "American Hot Rod" plotline for several episodes, which meant it was given an incredibly short deadline for completion and was surrounded by all the drama-fired employees, scheduling conflicts, and so forth-that viewers have come to expect. The moment of truth came last February, when Boyd revealed the car for John at the Sacramento Autorama. "He took the cover off, and I was really taken by it," John says. "The car is gorgeous, and it runs beautifully. It's all you can expect and hope for." Hmm, something tells us you won't be seeing this drop-dead drop top out on Sullivan's pre-owned car lot anytime soon.