SECRET SAUCE – DARRYL WILLIAMS 1934 FORD COUPE
Remember those Remington Shavers’ advertisements from the late 1970s, in which American entrepreneur Victor Kiam declared that he was so impressed that he bought the company? We introduced Darryl Williams from Detroit Chassis just a few editions ago, and while the acquisition of the Deuce Customs brand after the build of his own 1934 Ford coupe isn’t quite the same, it’s easy to see that when the opportunity came his way, he had no cause to hesitate.
“We’ve had this for 20 years, probably even longer than that,” says Darryl about his Deuce Customs-bodied ’34 Ford coupe, raiding his memory banks. The ‘we’ includes his wife, Marion, whose kin played a critical role in bringing the hot rod to fruition.
“Her family had a service station; her old man was a mechanic, and she has three brothers. Two of the boys were mechanics, and one was the spray painter and panel beater out the back. She was the schoolgirl who worked behind the counter after school. I’m probably the least car-orientated person in the family!” he laughs.
“My brothers-in-law were all building hot rods, and I was doing all their welding. I thought, ‘These are pretty cool; I might do one of these myself.’ About that same time, Duck was working with me contracting.”
John ‘Duck’ Wood and Darryl have formed an unbreakable partnership over the last two decades, both personally and professionally, and it’s John who became an invaluable ally for Darryl’s first pre-49 project. A lifelong enthusiast, John’s expertise had been proven in his own company, California Street Rods, from which he’d retired in a quest for a different vocation.
Living in Ferntree Gully and smitten for a three-window ’34, there was really only one choice at the time: Deuce Customs. As a local, Darryl had become quite familiar with the local hot-rodding network, including Rod City Repos, who optioned the restored chassis with one of their independent front ends and triangulated four-bar rears.
“We bought an original rolling chassis off one of the guys from the Thunderbirds. We stripped it down, and I just boxed it all in. Back in the day, you’d just give it to Rod City, and they’d put their front and rear ends in it. That was the go at the time.”
As Darryl became more invested in his day job, John handled much of the build, which included calling upon his experience with fibreglass to broaden the rear fenders in preparation for robust rubber. As a result, an additional 48mm has been added to each rear guard, but you’d be hard-pressed to pick it. The running boards were tapered out at the rear, and the leading edges of the rear fenders tapered in to meet them, effectively creating a wedge if were to look down from above.
“It was a lot of work, but you’d never know the guards have been widened,” adds Duck.
The remainder of the body is straight out of the mould, enhanced with a steel Rootleib four-piece hood and a one-off stainless grille hand made by Duck. There’s no fancy title for the red finish; in fact, Darryl admits it was a hasty choice but is no less pleased with the outcome.
“We planned to go more like a Lokar maroon. My brother-in-law, Perry, rang up and said his spray booth was empty. I had all the parts sitting on the trailer, ready to go, so we whizzed down and threw it in the spray booth. About an hour and a half later, he called to ask what colour we were painting it. I said I don’t know, I just wanted it in! This is what we came up with.”
While the ’34 is no animal, it does pack a punch with a 454 Chevy under the hood, partnered with a Turbo 400 transmission and obligatory nine-inch rear. The engine was built to run LPG, but that never eventuated, so it’s quite happy living on unleaded. The only change since day one is the Holley Sniper EFI, now in place of the original four barrel.
“My brother, Shane did all the work on the motor and screwed it together,” reveals Darryl. Duck adds that it’s not even run in yet, with only a couple of thousand kilometres on the odometer!
Many of the trinkets and accessories were purchased during Darryl’s first visit to the NSRA Street Rod Nationals in Kentucky.
“It was my first exposure to the Nationals. I spent a couple of days just in the trade hall, buying stuff and extra suitcases to bring it all home. I’ve been back half a dozen times since then.”
Trying to keep things a little timeless, Darryl didn’t do anything radical inside, selecting a Camel hide for the Honda prelude seats. He laughs about the Pioneer head unit, which starts up with a New York skyline (Twin towers included) on its digital display.
“It was the best you could buy from the Mexicans at the swap meet,” he laughs.
While family and friends got the nod for their input, it’s Duck that’s had the largest input, working on the car almost full-time as the project concluded.
“It was great, having John there,” concludes Darryl.
While the cool coupe hasn’t scored as many street miles as it deserves, it does prove that a quality build will stand the test of time.
