Legends 1936 Calori Coupe

The 1936 Ford Calori Coupe – A Smooth Transformation 

The 1936 Ford falls between the 1929-1934 models favored by go-fast hot rodders and the classic, swoopy 1939-40 editions. Still, as hot-rod fodder, the ’36 Ford was no slouch. Case in point – the legendary custom three-window Calori Coupe, built by Jack Calori, has been a template for future ’36 customs ever since.

Calori hailed from Lynwood, California. He first tasted the emerging hot rod scene in 1939 when a friend encouraged him to take his mildly modded ’29 Ford roadster to the lakes. Despited shaking legs – he was still a teen – he managed 101mph in his four-cylinder-powered machine. A “respectable” speed, he later recounted.

Legends 1936 Calori Coupe

In 1947, Calori picked up an original-owner ’36 three-window, ostensibly to serve as a tow car for the roadster, which he had improved to be a serious lakes competitor.  But it wasn’t long before Calori and his buddy, metal man Herb Reneau, decided the pristine coupe needed a metal message. They agreed it’d be an ideal candidate for a custom makeover.

Working in Reneau’s garage, Herb first sliced off the roof, in preparation for a chop job. When he re-attached the top, it was three inches sleeker. It’s not easy to modify the elegant aesthetics of an original Ford coupe, but Reneau pulled the feat off with aplomb.

At the same time, Calori focused on the chassis. To get the right stance, he Z’d the rear of the frame and installed a dropped axle, resulting in a dramatically slammed 4-inch ride height.

Reneau and Calori were just getting started.

Legends 1936 Calori Coupe

With Reneau wielding the acetylene fire-breather, he stretched the hood three inches and converted it to a clamshell design; he then louvered the side panels. He molded a pair of ’40 Chevrolet headlights into the front fenders, while enclosing the rear fenders with Buick teardrop skirts. A pair of purloined bumpers from a ’41 Ford replaced the stockers. A ’41 Hudson donated its taillights, which flanked a decklid that featured a recessed license plate. The car’s crowning touch was its signature ’39 LaSalle grille. All the metalwork took more than a year to complete.

Similar effort was put into the powerplant. Calori resettled the roadster’s ’46 Merc 59AB Flathead into the coupe, then jacked it up with an array of speed-proven accoutrements. Both bore and stroke were bumped 1/8-inch; a Clay Smith cam, a Lincoln distributor, Eddie Meyer heads, Weiand intake, and Potvin ignition filled out the powerful package

The ’36 being a custom, Calori wasn’t averse to some sparkle. He chromed the oil pan, dipstick tube, water pumps, generator case, and oil filler assembly. A polishing wheel brightened up the cylinder heads and intake manifold. Observers were warned to don sunglasses before peering into the engine bay.Legends 1936 Calori Coupe

When Calori took the coupe to the lakes, all that glitter turned to gold. At a 1948 Rosetta Timing Association lakes meet, the coupe danced over the dusty terrain at an impressive 114.50mph.

There was a slight problem, however. That LaSalle grille may have looked “cool,” but it choked airflow to the radiator. That, combined with a Flathead’s natural tendency to mimic a Yellowstone geyser, meant the car’s practical use was limited. It didn’t help that the compact under-hood area preluded space for an adequate fan. Numerous solutions were tried, even an air scoop under the bumper, but nothing worked.

Tired of it overheating, Calori traded the coupe in for a new 1950 Mercury. The ’36 coupe ended up in Minnesota and after that it passed through multiple owners. Along the way it picked up a fuel-injected Chevy small-block, wide whitewall tires, even lakes pipes.

By 2002 the car was in the hands of collector Don Orosco, who sold it to collector Jorge Zaragoza of El Paso, Texas. Zaragoza, aware of the coupe’s history, reached out to hot rod restorer par excellence Roy Brizio, whose team put it back to original condition – that is, as it appeared on the cover of the November 1949 Hot Rod Magazine (photos by Medley; hey I had to throw that in…) and the Trend Book 102 Hot Rods.

When the restoration was Finished in 2005, Zaragoza and Brizio entered the restored coupe in the Early Custom Cars 1935-48 category at Pebble Beach Concours, where it took home both Best in Class and the Dean Batchelor Award. The next stop was Mecum’s auction block, where Scott Gillen picked it up for a cool $407,000, a record for a ’36 Ford.

Legends 1936 Calori Coupe

 

Famed classic and hot rod historian Ken Gross, who witnessed the Brizio restoration firsthand, once described the Calori coupe for Sports Car Marketplace magazine. “Beautifully restored,” he wrote, “the stunning Calori Coupe set the standard for custom ’36 Fords back in 1949, and 70 years later, it still does.”

And we can add legend to that description.

Gary Medley has been a friend, ally and contributor to the performance community for decades. His interest in cars and journalism was pretty much a genetic imperative, as he is the son of Tom Medley, creator of Stroker McGurk. Medley’s own career path has traveled from the halls of Petersen Publishing to PR director for an Indy Car race to pitching tight-fitting Italian-made cycling shorts and countless other forms of high-speed life. Living between two volcanoes in Hood River, Oregon, Medley will be a regular Fuel Curve contributor when he’s not working to sustain his father’s legacy.