CON'S COUPE

THE FAMOUS SOLD ATOS ’36 FORD FIVE WINDOW...

- AL O'TOOLE

Con Soldatos’ “Pro ’36” Ford coupe was one of the first pro street style hot rods in Australia and one that certainly grabbed people’s attention, be it on the street or launching off drag strips. We featured the car in ASR issue 37 back in 1984 when Con completed the first build, but it’s come a long way since then. After more than 20 years in storage, this iconic Aussie hot rod has been rebuilt for street duties, but it still retains much of its racing heritage.

“I bought the car from Craig Bernie in Mildura in 1982, brought it home and built it with a tubbed rear end, a narrowed HR Holden front end and a 427 big block Chevy. It first hit the scene in 1984, I took it to the Adelaide Hot Rod Show then drove it for a bit before taking it to the drags in 1985.”

Just to clarify, before building this car, Con had a chopped ’36 Ford coupe that was also red, but this is not that car. He bought his first ’36, blue with flames in 1979 from Gus Gursansky in South Australia. Con painted it red and sold that car back to a South Australian rodder in 1982, then he purchased this coupe and started from scratch.