November 2010 Under Construction

1964 Plymouth Valiant Signet 200
Flip-Flop
As a teenager, four years is a long time to wait for something, but Eric Baxter patiently awaited his first build that would start when he was 15. A couple of friends helped him acquire a local '67 GTO that had been sitting in a front yard he passed everyday to and from school. "This car started my long love affair with classic cars and old-school big-block muscle," Eric says. He was eager to take the Pontiac racing, unfortunately the heavy right foot of the 16-year-old proved too much for the Pontiac's drivetrain. Some older kids at the track pointed him in the Mopar direction, and his interest quickly followed. The GTO was sold, and a '68 Barracuda took its place.

After graduating high school, Eric and a fellow enthusiast started a company called J&E Motorsports, where they tricked out mostly GM A-bodies long before the Pro Touring style was hot. Most of the work was bolt-on, so in order to take the business to the next level he began his schooling at the local community college to get a two-year degree in motorsports technology. He worked as a welder and fabricator in the aerospace industry, while putting himself through more school. By the time he graduated, he was making so much more money where he was than if he were to go back to motorsports, so he stayed put.

Now 25 years later, Eric wanted to get back into the scene with his new company, White Trash Speed & Engineering. This '64 Valiant is a product of two-and-a-half decades of automotive deprivation. With a healthy piggy bank from his day job, he can finally afford to do what he loves and what pays the bills: turnkey Mopar builds and aerospace engineering.

'54 F-100 PickUp
Long Awaited Build
Air Force veteran Randall Kelly thinks back over the first 58 years of his life: "My interest in automobiles began in my high school's auto shop class in the '60s. Like so many other people, because of military service, marriage, family, and all of life's ups and downs, I was never able finish a hot rod of my own." Randall has bought projects over those years, but for one reason or another was unable to complete them. In 2007, he found this bone-stock '54 F-100, and decided to spend his much-deserved free time working on it. The 6V battery cranks the original 239-inch overhead-valve motor that replaced the 109hp flathead version the year before. Though an improvement, Randall has 302-powered dreams for this truck.

With his six children grown up and moved out, he had time for himself. They weren't totally uninvolved though; one son and his friends helped Randall construct his 24x32-foot garage, complete with central air and heat to build his hot rod in. With this space, Randall could start on his first project, replacing every wire from bumper to bumper with a new harness compatible with a 12V starting and charging system. The rest of the plan is to switch to disc brakes, update the steering box and column, and to fit a custom digital gauge set that he and his son are designing. Randall wants to keep as much of the factory appeal of the truck as possible, while updating the things that make it fun and easy to drive. Though the custom spray-at-home paintjob Randall has in store for the pickup isn't factory, it's much like how hot rodders would have painted it back in the day.

'68 Torino GT
Simple Racer
It all began with Eric Wracker's uncle backing out of the driveway after a visit, and proceeding to spin his '70 Cuda's tires until there was nothing more than a plume of smoke where the car once was. Young and impressionable, Eric set out to get a muscle car of his own. He got a '73 Mustang with an engine on its last leg. His dad wasn't much into cars, so Eric took it upon himself to research how to build an engine. The '80s weren't the best time to crank out a performance engine, but somehow he managed. When it came time to pack up for college, Eric needed a more economical and reliable vehicle, so he had to sell the 'Stang for a Toyota pickup-a whole separate story, he says.

Eric bought and sold other projects along the way, most of them he regretted. In 2008, his friend Jim bought a '68 Torino that Eric and his fiancé picked up in Memphis. It was a running S-Code 390 car with three-on-the-tree shifting. It needed so much attention that he quickly realized he had bitten off more than he could chew. He found a second Torino that seemed to be in much better shape, but long story short, by the time it got to his house, it was on a tow truck. They worked hard swapping the good motor into the good car, leaving the first blue Torino roller outside to sit. After a year, Jim signed the car over to Eric. "We pondered what to do with the car for months and decided to make it a no-nonsense open-track car: no carpet, no radio, no BS." His son, Connor, is now 12, but looks forward to being able to drive the car when he's old enough, and spending evenings and weekends wrenching on it alongside dad in the meantime.