With strong influence from his father, who was the service manager at their local Chevrolet dealer, Dickie Lowder began messing around with cool cars when he was only 14 years old. He started with a 1955 Chevy, and over the decades has built dozens of street rods, hot rods, and race cars. Though steered toward Chevrolet early on, he was equally attracted to Chevy’s perennial cross-town rival, in part because of his long career as service manager at a Ford dealership.
Around 40 years ago, after completing several 1955 Chevys and 1932 Fords, Dickie began looking for a car he lusted after for a long time, but never happened to cross paths with—a solid ’33 or ’34 Ford coupe.
“I got the word out that I wanted a ’33 or ’34 coupe,” he recalls, “and one day in 1980, a guy came into the dealership and told me he had a 1933 Essex Terraplane coupe at his body shop. Without knowing what an Essex Terraplane coupe was, I followed him to his shop in Pageland, South Carolina, to look at it.”
The Terraplane was completely disassembled and piled up in a corner of the shop, making it somewhat difficult to evaluate. Dickie saw enough of the body, however, to envision its potential. “I could see the car’s lines and liked its proportions and the way it flowed. It was complete except for the grill, garnish moldings, and panel between the rear fenders, and the metal was in excellent condition.”
Denne historien er fra May 2020-utgaven av Hot Rod.
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Denne historien er fra May 2020-utgaven av Hot Rod.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
What Is Pro Street?
You know it when you see it.
Pro Street in Pure Vision
Builder Steve Strope weighs in on the Pro Street look and what he would build today.
THE GAS ERA LIVES ON
These vintage race cars chart the evolution of technology in the early days of drag racing.
MOTOR HEAD FOR LIFE
Scott Sullivan is one of the original Pro Street pioneers. He still builds cars today out of a small shop in Dayton, Ohio.
BRINGING BACK PRO STREET!
David Freiburger and Roadkill Garage built a Pro Street Nova.
SWEET ASPIRATIONS
Jerry and Matthew Sweet added an 800ci Pro Stock mountain motor to chase HOT ROD Drag Week's Pro Street NA Record.
Making Bad Decisions Badder
Bradley Gray's 1970 Nova is a Hybrid! It's a streetable Funny Car.
ART PROJECT
This Rad Rides by Troy-built '63 split-window Corvette went from restaurant prop to ripping up the street!
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
THE PRO STREET ERA PEAKED IN THE '80S. ARE WE IN THE BEGINNING OF A RESURGENCE?
Making Connections
Project T-top Coupe: We install a Terminator X Max for big power.