A 1955 Thunderbird gasser at SEMA 2019

The Arc Audio outdoor booth at the 2019 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) featured an unusual subject for a “gasser” style build, a 1955 Ford Thunderbird, built by Street Toys Mexico, based in Ciudad Juárez in the state of Chihuahua.

This heavily flaked candy gold metallic painted beauty converted into a roadster style body with shaved door handles and a chopped yellow Plexiglas windscreen. The bumpers are removed with a Moon-style tank out front. 

  

The Thunderbird is powered by a supercharged Chevy small block engine that sports Cobra valve covers and white painted fender well headers visible under the clear plastic hood.

The Spartan white and black trimmed interior is dominated by the lightning-rod style Kilduff shifter connected to the TH350 transmission.

The car maintains its gasser stance perched atop ribbed five spoke chrome wheels with pie-cut slicks from Coker Tires.

Founded by owner and CEO Demitrios Karabinis in 1988, Arc Audio specializes in car audio amplifiers, speakers, subwoofers, sound processors, equalizers, and electronic crossovers.  ARC Audio has more than 80+ USA designed products in their product lineup. Check them out at https://www.arcaudio.com/

A pair of Willys Coupe hot rods

In 1937 Willys-Overland Motors (correctly pronounced "Will-is") introduced the model 440, an economy car powered by a 4-cylinder 148 cubic inch 65-horsepower "Red Devil" engine. Although sedan, pickup and very rare station wagon body styles were also produced, the 2-door coupe body style has always been a favorite choice of hot rodders, as they wedge V-8 engines under the hood in place of the original anemic 4-cylinder engine.

The author found a pair of beautiful Willys coupe hot rods at the Moraga (California) Community Faire car show held on May 13 at the Rheem Valley Shopping Center

This all-steel 1941 Willys ‘Americar’ coupe owned by Mick and Elaine Coyne was built in the drag racing gasser style, nose-high, with a huge supercharged big-block Chevrolet engine and fenderwell exhaust headers.

Wayne Baker’s 1940 Willys 440 coupe  hot rod was parked directly across the parking lot. Baker built  his Willys in a different style, low and smooth and in a unique fitted with the original style chrome bumpers.
 

All photographs by the author