When Randy went to look at it, he discovered that it was in fact a ‘36 Chevy coupe, and a very solid original one at that. He drove if for about a week and then blew it apart. The body was soda blasted and the car was set up with a Currie-equipped ’57 Ford 9” with 3.90 gears and a spool. He held it in place with a set of stretched Alston traction bars. True to old school tradition, he scooted the axle forward 3” from the stock location for better weight transfer. A 4” dropped axle was sprung up front and capped with a set of Chevy brakes. Out back are a set of Americans, wrapped in a pair of Hurst piecrust slicks. Once the car was mocked up and in the roller phase it was brought to Custom Works in Paso Robles to be fleshed out. The finishing touches were put on by David Bond with Lucky B Design. David lettered the entire car, and scalloped the roof. Randy’s shop is called Famoso Speed Shop, with full machine shop capabilities, he’s working in conjunction with Custom Works to build gassers for clients. They currently have five in the works.

While at Custom Works, the interior was graced with an eight point roll cage, a handmade “Randy Winkle Shifter” (patent pending) and a sweep tach. The talented Mike Silias in Oildale whipped up the killer tuck-n-roll interior that covers the floors, side panels and headliner. Randy says that a guy by the name of Ted Pardee is responsible for the taillight, and the red-tinted glass was installed by Oildale Glass.

The heart and soul of any gasser is the motor. Since Randy is a Chevy man, nothing else would do. He worked with BDS and Isky to put together a blown 383 stroker that would live on the strip and the street. Yes Martha, this car is a driver. A set of aluminum heads were added, along with a special “no name grind” Isky cam. The 6-71 blower, 750cfm carbs and pistons all came from BDS, and it was machined and assembled by Randy at his Famoso Speed Shop. The exhaust is handled with a set of fenderwell headers from Speedway. Backing the motor is one of Racer Browns’ legendary “Kamakazi Turbo 400” automatics with a 3500-stall converter and a trans brake. This works well with the line-lock for killer burnouts. It’s kept cool with a Be Cool aluminum radiator and two fans. Thanks to a Vintage Air unit, it also has working A/C.

As stated before, the car was built to drive, and Randy set a goal of getting 15mpg with the blown motor and 3.90 gears. How’d he do? Well he averaged 12.5 mpg on a recent 240-mile round trip from Bakersfield to Ventura and back. That’s better than some new SUVs, with three times the coolness factor!

He says that the goal was to build a durable gasser that looked like a well-sponsored A/GAS car back in the day. A higher dollar show-n-go machine along the lines of the Orange Crate or the Mazmanian efforts. The fit and finish on the ’36 is impressive, and the time spent on detailing certainly shows. The paintwork and gold leaf lettering are top notch.

This car was also featured on the cover of Traditional Rod & Kulture Illustrated issue #10.

The car is located in Bakersfield, CA. You can contact Randy Winkle with an offer at 661-201-1369 or email: zombie@rodandkulture.com