Top 5 Hot Rod of the Year Finalist – Robin Collier’s Chopped 1934 Ford Coupe
The best thing about having a tight-knit community of hot rod friends is the ability to feed off each other’s talents, enthusiasm, and encouragement. That’s basically how Robin Collier’s chopped 1934 Ford coupe went from a pile of parts into a Tanks, Inc. Hot Rod of the Year finalist in just over a year’s time.
Robin had collected the parts to get the project started, and his friend Joey Hofstrom had built the blown Flathead engine at his shop, Fat Monkey Garage. “We had a couple drinks and said, ‘hey, let’s build a Hot Rod of the Year,” Robin says. And the rest, as they say, is history.
The original steel 1934 Ford coupe body was shipped up to Sam Rambo in Oklahoma for the 5-inch top chop. (Sam, coincidentally, lives near Keith Hill, whose ’33 Ford coupe became the eventual Hot Rod of the Year winner.) The body would then travel to Kentucky for more metalwork, including lots of louvers and a custom firewall and floors, done at CaNe Customs. CaNe’s Neil Pate and Carl Fitzgerald would ultimately handle much of the rest of the build.
The chopped body found a home on a boxed original frame with a drilled 4-inch dropped Dago axle, plated un-split wishbones, and a Winters quick-change rearend located by ladder bars and suspended by a Posies spring. Polished Buick drum brakes in front and Brian Bass-modified ’40 Ford rears were used behind painted ’40 Ford wheels wrapped in Firestone dirt track bias ply tires from Coker.
That Flathead engine referenced earlier made for a beautiful and powerful centerpiece for this project. A polished Champion Supercharger makes the most of the engine’s 239 cubic inches and is fed by a pair of Stromberg 97s, with a Vertex magneto lighting the mixture. Aluminum Navarro heads add compression while adding to the shine and polish. Stainless headers breathe through a custom exhaust system, while a Lokar shifter directs the T5 five-speed transmission. That overdrive gear is perfect to really enjoy the cruise in this 1934 Ford Coupe.
As the coupe came together it was treated to refinements like pearl blue Sikkens paint and custom mocha-colored Relicate leather upholstery, both done at CaNe Customs. The custom burled woodgraining on the dash was done by Jerome Barris and is complemented by a translucent blue wheel by Steering Wheel Kris. Details like Classic Instruments gauges, a Crafty B quick-release fuel filler cap, and a custom curved rear spreader bar help complete the package.
“This 1934 Ford coupe is the culmination of all the things we love in a traditional hot rod,” Robin says. “Old classic speed parts in a car we can drive and hot rod around.” He and his buddies had a great time doing that in Nashville. Isn’t that what hot rodding is all about?
Photos by John Jackson, Damon Lee
