EVIL '36

Chris Van Eekelen’s scary-cool street rod coupe...

- Chris and Jacqui Van Eekelen

Ever since he saw ZZ Top’s Top Eliminator ’33 coupe, Chris Van Eekelen has wanted to own a hot rod. Having grown up in Ballarat, Chris spent much of his youth at the local drag strip, racing a motorbike. This stunning ’36 Ford coupe is the Marsh Rodders club member’s first hot rod.

Trevor Breese at Vintage Rod & Custom in WA originally built this “Evil ’36” coupe for Jeff Meakins. The first time we laid eyes on it was at the 2016 Hot Rod and Street Machine Spectacular in Perth, where the coupe scored very well with the judges, taking out Top Undercarriage, Top Interior, Top Engine, Top Coupe and Top Hot Rod Overall! Jeff ended up selling the car to fellow West Australian, Richard Kais of Custom Chrome, who then pulled the motor out to rectify an oil leak issue and ended up going through the whole car, checking and fixing any problems it had.

Chris’ love for the ZZ Top Eliminator coupe enticed him to test drive a similar car, but it didn’t quite suit his stature, so the hunt for his first hot rod continued.