These ’55 Chevy “gassers” prove that old-school tech will always strive...

In a world of high-tech flash, it seems as though the more grassroots arts of hot rod-building have faded. Very rarely do you hear anyone talk about three-deuce carb setups or straight-axles. Every now-and-then, however, you do run across that rare breed who do pay special attention to the more “country bumpkin” methods of building, and every now-and-then, an automotive writer like myself has to cover it.

As a matter of fact, Rick Del Gado, when Hot Rod editor Steve Magnante first approached him for an interview on his ’55 Chevy gasser, was actually surprised that the magazine wanted to cover his car. The reason that Del Gado was surprised was because he didn’t believe that a performance-enthusiast venue like Hot Rod would be interested in covering a “gasser” build like his ’55. As Del Gado himself claims, “This didn’t really interest me [getting the car published in the magazine] because I’ve always felt that most people don’t seem to like this style of car anymore. Nonetheless, this is the only way I like them, so I decided to spread the word and if people enjoy it, that’s great.”

Del Gado’s astonishment at Hot Rod’s coverage of his straight-axle ’55 makes quite a statement about the hot rod craft, as it currently stands: “old-school” builds involving such primitive auto tech as three-deuce carbs and Powerglide transmissions take a “back seat,” as the very style itself slowly falls into a tightly-niched market, and the “rat rodder” philosophy becomes a romanticized rarity. But even though the straight-axle, rat rods of yore are becoming increasingly niched in a world where electronics dominate, there is, apparently still a great demand for this kind of custom conversion.

In fact, Brad Barrie, owner of another ’55 Chevy “gasser,” talks about how his post sedan endured quite a history from its beginnings as a project car in Canton, Ohio. According to Barrie, the ’55 had been a race car since it had first started being built in the early ‘70s. During that time, three brothers from Canton had started the project, which lasted from ’73 to ’76. The paint (orange post sedan above), as it is today, was sprayed in ’73, and the car would eventually be fitted with a 4.56 12-bolt rear from a ’69 Nova. The car would receive its most important implements between 1975-76, including a built, Turbo 400 trans and a “Banana,” 3,000-RPM stall converter from Canton’s own, BUDCO H. P. Parts. In April of 1975, an L-88 427 motor, purchased from Morhofer Chevrolet in Stow, Ohio for $819.52, was installed.

What seems to be rare about these kinds of cars is not only the philosophy behind their construction, but the budget window in which these kinds of hot rods reside; “rat rodders” are unique in their ability to take $500 worth of parts/accessories and make it look/work as if $1000 were spent. “Gassers” and other low-budget hot rods are part-of a niched corridor within the hot rod/high-performance market, but it’s a “corridor” that is at the very heart of the birth of hot-rodding here on the West Coast, as well as the rest of America.

- Sal Alaimo Jr., B. A. (5/7/11)

S. J. A.