Hot rods tend to be highly subjective to each person’s style and tastes, but a well built and nicely executed build can resonate with any car nut. Take reader Jay C’s 1938 Chevy Sport Coupe Rumble Seat hot rod, it is nicely done and isn’t so over the top as to be polarizing, yet still has enough custom flare to be eye-catching. Jay has decided to part ways with it to buy his late father’s 1932 Ford Roadster from his brother. So, if you’ve been looking for a sweet ’38 Chevy, be sure to take a closer look at this one and make Jay an offer!
Jay might have left the exterior of this Chevy looking fairly original, but things take a more drastic turn under the hood. The original straight-six has been supplanted by a V8. It’s an LT1, so it’s still a Chevy, and it produces some dependable performance. It’s out of a 1994 Corvette and is paired to the 4l60E automatic. With 300 horsepower and 340 lb-ft of torque, this has to be one heck of a machine to drive!
Thankfully, Jay upgraded the front end with a Mustang II front end, disc brakes, and installed a 9 inch Ford rear end to better cope with the added power. With the Ford front end, he was also able to add power steering and a tilt steering column. To keep the install as clean as possible, he mounted the brake booster and transmission cooler on the frame rails. To keep the engine cool, there’s an aluminum radiator with an electric fan installed in the grille. It appears to be a well planned out and implemented build that should be a blast to drive.
The interior has all the bells and whistles that we’ve come to expect in modern hot rods. It looks clean and comfortable. Jay notes that the car was incredibly solid before he built it and can provide photos of it prior to paint. The body and floors are all original steel.
This Chevy sure looks great and I really like the route Jay went with it. The exterior does a nice job of hiding what’s underneath and that LT1 really has to make it a pleasure to drive. And being one of 2,700 or so built with the rumble seat, it really is a unique find. So, if you’d love to hit the street in this Coupe, be sure to make Jay an offer and leave any questions in the comments below!
- Asking Price: $40,000
- Location: Deerfield, Ohio
- Title Status: Clean
- VIN: 14HA0320286
List your car here on Barn Finds for only $50!
Nice!
I don’t usually like custom cars, but this one is truly BEAUTIFUL! Congratulations to the builder… I love it.
It’s good to see a car that the builder took some pride in when building it!!! Still he kept some originality to it like the break pedal going down through the floor instead of the easier way of going up with it!! It also kept the vacuum booster and master cylinder off the fire wall!! A much cleaner look and it shows attention to detail!! Good job!!!
I’ve always thought of this color as trim or second color choice. I really like the way it looks on this car. Great choice. If I was in the market I would be making arrangements to look it over and be enjoying the trip back to Texas.
Good luck with the sale.
Speaking as a purist, this is one beautiful piece of work. Well done that man. It’s also good to see that to make a decent Chev the builder has had to use some Ford parts. Makes a pleasant change. If I were younger, and into hot rods, I would build a Chevy bodied hot rod with totally Ford underpinnings, engine, gearbox, rear end, front suspension etc, and when that was finished, the whole interior would be Ford. That should bring out some interesting comments at Cars and Coffee evenings.
Heavily modified hot rods are a great way to go with the older cars. More power, modern safety upgrades and you can be as creative as you want to be with how you want it to look. The one drawback is when it comes time to sell your creation, you have to find someone who likes what you did. I really like this car as the builder went the resto-mod route for the most part keeping the mostly original look of a ’38 Chevy. I’m a big fan of the wheels, too; they look great on this car.
I have been watching the market on hot rods like this and it seems like the market is very soft. Like was already said you have to find someone with the same taste that’s willing to cough up the money. I do like the body style.