68704: THIS neat little Ralph Malph-inspired roadster
pick-up started life as a tourer when Bill picked
up a chassis and a pile of steel panels when he
was 19. It’s been on the road now for 15 years
and runs a stock 327 with a Powerglide and CM
Valiant diff. “I got busy with other cars so Dad
took over the build, then gave it to Ashley, who
loves it and will make sure it stays in the family.
He’s nearly on his open licence so will finally be
able to get out and enjoy it.”
05: HOW cool is this? Bill wanted a dodgem
car for years and recently scored this late-
60s all-steel version off eBay. His 11-year-old
step-son Parker (pictured) immediately claimed
ownership and it is soon to be repowered with
mobility scooter underpinnings. I’m loving the
Mongoose Motomag BMX in the background;
it was the holy grail that a 12-year-old Bill could
never afford, so he built it for his son’s 12th
birthday. “Vintage BMX is an expensive hobby
all on its own; that part of my life is a story in
itself,” Bill laughs.
06: BILL’S dad had a 1949 Plymouth as a
15-year-old when he lived in Canada. “He was
back there visiting friends in 2001 and spotted
this blue Special Deluxe two-door sedan in their
backyard,” Bill explains. “He had to have it, so
sent it home and we swapped out the flathead
six and three-speed manual running gear for
a Hemi 265, auto and BorgWarner diff, and
dropped it super-low. Dad gave it to me and I
was going down the gasser path with a 572-
cube Hemi and beam-axle front end, sorted by
using a Dodge truck chassis from the firewall
forward. I recently bought a 1950 Plymouth, so
I’ll do a chassis swap and put the ’49 back on
the road with airbags and a stock 318, and turn
the ’50 into the gasser.”07: WHEN Bill’s mate Richie put his ’36 five-
window up for sale, Bill moved heaven and
earth to make it his. The 496-cube roller-cam
donk is good for around 500hp and is backed
by a Turbo 350 and a Bill-fitted, 3.7-geared
31-spline Ford Explorer diff. “The first day I hadit, I picked up my partner Louise and we took
it grocery shopping. The power to weight with
this thing is insane and it was a wild ride on
crossplies!” The original chassis-black paintjob
was looking pretty tired, so Bill buzzed it back
and resprayed it in grey primer as a stop-gap to
a royal blue respray it’ll score soon. “I want it to
look like an old-style hot rod that someone like
my dad would have driven to school. Well, at
least until you hear it fire up, anyway!”08: WITH the Asphalt Demons’ 7th Invitational
being held on 21 October this year, Bill and
Ashley are pulling out all the stops to get this
Morris Oxford ute ready to thrash. “I bought it off
Gumtree for 500 bucks and so far we’ve built a
three-quarter chassis and fitted a ’28 Chev front
axle. Running gear will be a 408-cube small-
block Chrysler, full-manual 727 transmission
and a Ford Explorer diff. It’ll be nice to have a
fun car we can thrash and enjoy without having
to be so pedantic about cleaning the mud out
of,” Bill laughs. s45