Page 52 - Issue 47

rods. I don’t pretend that this is a
beautifully designed rat rod – that
was not our intention.” The fi rst
thing you notice is how big this car
is. Its butter-smooth ‘53 Packard
straight eight is impossibly long.
A Turbo 350 was adapted and
sends the power out the Packard
rearend. A ‘36 Terraplane chassis
was reworked and stretched
to accommodate them. The
steamroller M/T’s out back and
the dual skinnies up front work
to balance things out visually.
About those front wheels – they
were one of Dave’s ideas. He had
never seen that done before on a
street vehicle. When he fi rst
relayed his idea to the
crew about dual front
wheels, they thought
he meant for them to be
inline, like a Tryell P34
F1 car. As for the big
Packard fi nned drums,
“Disc brakes would have
looked better, but I had
a set of drum brakes...the
discs would have been more
elegant, but that’s not the intent
of the car. The car was designed to
be eccentric from one end to the
other. Rat rodding is an expression
of love and an expression of the cowl are trip lights from a and the car is worth far more in
automotive enthusiasm, which is classic Packard. The one on the pieces than together,” says Dave.
lacking, and justifi ably so these roof is hard-to-fi nd-aftermarket “It’s way more fun to have it like
days. And it’s fun.” piece from an old roadster, and the it is now, than to have all the
Most rat rodders scour one buried in the bottom the ‘38 parts stashed away on shelving
junkyards, fi elds, and friends’ yards McLaughlin/Buick grille is a backup somewhere.” And not all of the
for parts from Chevys, Dodges, light from a Duesenberg. An parts are from classic cars. Dave is
Fords, and the like. The Guild’s honest-to-goodness Duesenberg. also known for his love of planes
rat rod features parts from cars Out back is a gas tank from a ‘36 and owned the remnants of a
that routinely fetch six to seven Cord. “It’s not hurting the parts – Douglas A26 Invader, which was
fi gures at auction. The lights on the parts are not compromised, a bomber used in WWII. While

52 RAT ROD MAGAZINE ISSUE FORTY-SEVEN

50x53 Canadian Guild.indd 52 12/15/17 11:48 AM