'34 Ford Coupe still has its story to tell

WILSON CREEK — They lined Railroad Street from top to bottom, through the main drag all the way to the park. Each car had its own story of glory and transformation, taking the hundreds that came to see look back to a time when American muscle cars were the showcase of American ingenuity.

The chrome sparkled like diamonds in the sun. The polish shined with a sense of pride and purpose of a bygone era where cruising with your best girl was a sign of the times. Back to a day when American-made meant tough, durable metal built to last a lifetime, not plastic formed in Japan.

There in the midst of the ’66 Mustangs, Crown Victorias, the Pontiac GTOs, the Chevrolet Camaros, and assortment of other classic cars at the fourth annual Little Big Show, was a chopped, open-wheeled 1934 Ford Coupe that seemed to come to life as the noonday sun created sunbursts on the chrome grill and black polished exterior.

It was a far cry from what it looked like when it rolled off the line back in 1934 with its body panels, headlamps and bumper looking correct for model year. It had the deluxe treatment with chromed window frame twin horns, and cowl lamps, along with full fenders and running boards.

This particular model took on a life of its own when hot-rodders turned them into the muscle car of the day in the early ’60s as they exploded into fame and fortune with the Beach Boys’ “Little Deuce Coupe,” and the racing film “American Graffiti,” turned it into an American icon.

This particular car didn’t have a story of street races or lightning-quick starts, but it had a story of its own. Kim and Debbie Clark drove it down from Electric City. The engine is an original motor out of a 1964 Buick Electra.

“I’ve always like Buick motors,” Kim said. “It’s got a Ford rear end. I built the whole thing, did all the body work. It was already chopped when I got it. I like the way it sits, its stance. I like that chopped look.”

It’s not necessarily built for speed, but it has been around. That V-shaped crack in the windshield came on a trip to California when a semi kicked up a softball-sized rock that bounced off the glass.

The ‘34 Ford Coupe was featured in a big show in the Tacoma Dome, but mostly it makes its way down the road to smaller shows, like the one where it sat on Railroad Street in Wilson Creek on a day where close to 200 American automobiles took center stage in a one-horse town.