If any car is quintessentially Californian, then it is a traditional bucket-bodied hotrod. And it doesn’t come much more traditional than Guido Brenner’s stunning metalflaked ride. Guido built the car he calls ‘the stinkin’ hotrod Lincoln’ from the ground up, piecing together an original steel body from a 1923 Model T Ford, a frame from a 1930 Model A. The rear end comes from a 1939 Mercury and the grille is from a 1937 Cadillac “She’s a real Mutt, Guido tells me, and while the finish is not 100 perfect, to me that is perfect, because she’s a traditional hot rod and in the ‘twenties there was no such thing as perfection.
The beast was hot out of the paintshop when I met Guido and car outside the Armory in San Francisco, where he works as the resident petrol head.
The thing about the Hot Rodding community here in California (and pretty much all over the world), is that knowledge is hard-won, and passed down from person to person. At least the good stuff.
“Some of the old guys don’t let everything out, you know, but I was able to prise out the sort of info about which frame might go with the right rear end, and what transmission would work with any particular engine.”
One thing is sure, weighing in at just a little under 1000lbs with an V12 flathead engine from a 1941 Lincoln Zephyr, the little ride flies. “It’s not too loud when she’s idling, he tells me, but when I put her out on the freeway it just roars, man!”
The idea of such a huge V12 (with pistons that are actually pretty small), was that it could produce a smooth but long-legged ride, perfect for longish distance cruises to car shows and club meets.
“There is an extensive network of car clubs here in the Bay Area. I’ve been kicked out of two of them.”
The perfect rebel car for the perfect rebel rider.
If you do have a Hot Rod, call Adrian Flux for your insurance on 0800 089 0050.
