Henry's '39 Ford Coupe

McClure’s Voodoo Blue Deluxe...

When a hot rodder has been around the scene for a few years you can generally bet that there is a list of previous projects in their life story up to that point. You can count Henry McClure amongst that lot. He has been around cars for years, starting out with an Aussie favourite, an FX Holden sedan with a hot grey motor and four speed Datsun ’box, a popular combination for the era. By the time he had finished with that car it had a 3.5 Oldsmobile alloy V8, four speed gearbox, HR disc brake front end and a HR diff. You can bet Henry learnt plenty working on his first major project.

That initial project was followed by an EK Holden panel van with a modified grey motor and a ’70 HG Monaro with 253 V8 but otherwise stock with a four speed gearbox. Next a HZ 308 V8 ute with four speed gearbox (seeing a trend here?) that he still owns but admits it needs rebuilding.

Having tackled all of those projects Henry was ready to get started on a street rod by the 1990s. A ’40 Ford pickup filled the bill in that regard with 4.0 litre Rover V8 and, you guessed it – a four speed gearbox. Other features were a HR Holden front end fitted with P76 discs and Toyota rear end. It was finished in time to attend the 2001 Geelong ASRF Nationals and Henry still has it in the fleet.