rod BUIlDING

1934 Ford Coupe Ute, Geoff Knape, Castlemaine, VIC

- AL O'TOOLE

Geoff Knape has owned a few ’34 Ford coupe utes but this is the only one he has kept to build for himself. He used to take his coupe with tandem trailer in tow up to Mildura for vintage tin hunts. He never made a lot of money out of it but made a lot of friends, saved some cars and earned a buck here and there that would pay for fuel.

“One day, during the mid-seventies, we were staying with Roger Harrison and he took us for a run on the Friday night. We went ’round and ’round in circles and next thing I know there’s a ’34 Ford coupe ute there and a ’36 Ford sedan. When I asked who owned it Roger told me it was Crown land, so the next morning we drove around until we found it, put the ute on the tandem and took it home. We then came back the next weekend and cut the ’36 up. At the next Greensborough Swap Meet Roger was leaning on all these ’36 parts saying, some bastard knocked off that coupe ute and cut the ’36 up, and he was leaning on the stuff!”