NERVOUS SURGEONS

Nick had a brief flirtation with chopping the roof on a 1956 Ford Pop and then more sensibly in partnership with his brother Johnny purchased and subtley customised a 1959 PA Cresta.

This car had chrome 5 spoke appliance wheels, twin electric aerials,a tigers tail hanging from the rear view mirror, which incidentially Nick rarely got to look through as he still had to pass his driving test,and the obligatory Jack up kit with Cherry Bomb silencers, which is a contridiction in terms!

The PA was subtle but still was invited to be one of the display cars at a Bank Holiday, Custom Car show in Cardiff, possibly the Brothers proudest moment with the PA, that and the request to leave their Hotel by management because they and the other exhibitors were making to much noise at night. 

Johnny eventually sold his share in the car to Nick to finance the purchase of a seriously chopped Beetle bodyshell. This left Nick to slot in a Rover V8,E-type rear, welded up back doors and banded steel whells running Pro Trac N50's

The PA was however to suffer at the hands of thieves when it was stripped one night whilst it was parked outside a workshop waiting for some welding to be done! After the remains had been picked over by the PA Owners Club the shell was sent to that great car leveller, the scrap yard!

The image on the far right was taken moments after Slingshot saw the 57 for the first time. The car was being stored in a car parking area near to the Real Steel Headquarters and this was to be the next step in the Hot Rod world as Slingshot had progressed from using a Chevy Blazer as his (Revell) Company car  to purchasing this 1957 Pillarless 4 door Belair from "Real Steel", this was back in the days when they quite regularly imported cars.

 In this shot it is wearing the less than pleasing Turbo Vec wheels an the white lettering should really be inside the wheels, but hey it was the early 80's! The rims were eventually replaced although not during Slingshots ownership. The car was sold to assist with buying a flat as real life came calling, the new owner did a fantastic job in returning the car to fresh from the factory condition and capped all his work off by re-registering her as 57 KAL and he went onto enjoy showing her until he tragically passed away. Current whereabouts unknown!

                                              A very youthful looking Chris with his fresh import       

The bug had bitten deep and the only way for itch to be scratched was for Chris to replace the 57 with the ultimate Tri-Chevy a 55 2 door. This one was located and shipped back to the UK for Chris by Roger Butterworth and Bob Holland, (renowned Chevy enthusiasts and acomplished Chevy Hunters). It arrived on these shores in grey primer and this shot shows it after it had been painted and just before Chris took her on his maiden drive. During this excurtion the wheel nuts fell off and the exhaust system decided to join them, this was a welcome to the world of modified cars. This car was eventually sold to Nick and this was the start of a trend which is explained in another section of this website.

       55 following its respray by Bob Holland

Chris & Johnny, Chris is pleased that the handbarake is working!                                                                                                                       

With many Pop's already under his belt Jim turned his attention to building his first American bodied Rod. Jim chose a package from the Rodshop this included body and chassis into which he stuffed a Chevy Small Block backed up by a Turbo 350, with a back end of the 8" Ford variety, however with the project 75% done Jim was enticed into selling the 5 window as he had heard through the Grapevine that Real Steel were living upto their name and had some Real Steel that they wanted to sell! So the car was sold in order to finance his next project an all steel 1935 Ford pickup. (details of this can be found elsewhere on this site) The 5 window did get finished and ended up being light blue with flames and was last seen at Billing in 03.

Check out the Odds & Sods page for a picture of the finished car in blue!

With his 5 window sold Jim had the neccessary funds to visit Real Steel and hand his wad of folding over to them, in return they gave him the keys and the logbook for a steel 1935 Ford pickup. Jim could see beyond the faded paint and in a short space of time had begun his plans to turn this truck around and into a reliable rod and start enjoying driving it! You will note it appears that it was a legal requirement at that time for any cars imported from the US to be running Turbo Vec wheels and if you closely you will see Jim's children in the cab, his daughter recently got married, so just how old is this photo Jim?

The Pick Up before the tear down commenced, returning home? 

Jim's Pick Up cab part way through the process

"63 RNM" had sat in Slingshots garage for over a year when Snake persuaded him to sell the 55 to him. The deal was done and Snake set about getting the 55 roadworthy again, he replaced the braking system and upgraded the car to disc brakes on the front, as without these it was a kin to trying to stop Super tanker quickly, impossible! The next job was to replace the tired and cracked slot mags with a set of Centerlines all round. An MOT soon followed and the 55 attended several; cruises and shows before the 350 small block cried enough is enough when the oil pump shaft snapped, this resulting in a seized engine, at speed,OUCH!!! The engine was stripped and transported to the late Tony Dickson who cast his magic spell over the engine rebuild. This at the expense of Nick's carpets as he diverted the money for these to the rebuild!With the engine ready to go back in Nick turned his attentions to the gearbox and replaced the Muncie with a shift kitted Turbo 350, this swap stopped Nick from over developing his left leg calf muscles as the Muncie was incredibly stiff in the clutch pedal department! I said "Clutch" not crutch! The engine and box were reinstalled and the 55 then slowly drifted into the Bermuda triangle (Snakes garage)as more and more of it was cut away before being put back together and it was not to emerge for several years and this time when it reappeared it was dressed for Pro Street!

Geoff Hauser built rear end awaiting shafts and diff

Here is the new chassis for the 55 nearing completion, the rear chassis work is done and the front although it may appear complete is yet to be reinstalled as the wheels are just mocked into place, the brand new American Racing mags set it off and the Micket T's also add to the overall affect.

Chris purchased this Model A with the money he received from Nick when he sold him his 55. This was the 1st Model A body to be pulled from the moulds at Dave Palmers "Rodshop" business, the car was placed onto an original Model A chassis and used in the companies promotional literature. The car featured a 2 litre Pinto and auto box transferring the power to a Taunus back end, whilst the front end was also original Model A. This was however replaced by Chris & Nick with a Posises I beam as Chris set about improving the car. The Slot mags were eventually replaced with American Racing mags and a Roll cage installed by Hauser's to ensure maximum security for Slingshots boys! The Model A was finally traded to Nick in a swap for Nicks 68 RS Camaro the second time that the Chris & Nick had been involved in car deals between themselves. The Question is will it be the last?

                  Early shots of the Model A with and without its bonnet running the increasingly retro slot mags.

UNK 882 was Dave's first MK1 and it was of the Consul variety and was made in 1955.

Dave paid £45 for the car in 1978 but it did not look like the photo on the left. Originally the Consul was all black and nowehere near as straight and clean as it was when dave finished off restorring her in 1980. By then she was two tone black and Dorchester grey and had many period features like the sun visor, appleton spotlight and thin banded white walls.

Dave sold her on in 1981 for what now seems the rediculously low sum of £1000.