Brent Devine — 1928 Chrysler

With close to 500 cars on show on Saturday, we knew it was going to be tough to find a top contender for our pick, but, after a good walk around to see what jumped out, we found that Brent Devine’s Chrysler stood above all others — well, that’s not exactly true, as Brent’s ride sits so low that you almost trip over it before seeing it. It’s one of those cars that belongs in its own category, as it’s not exactly a rat rod and not exactly a hot rod. So, you might be asking, what is it? Well, it left the factory way back in 1928 as a Chrysler four-door and, at some point in its journey, ended up in a dry riverbed with a tree growing out of it. That’s when Brent entered the picture; he pulled it out and took it home. What is really interesting about this build is that, apart from final body prep, which was done by his brother, Tony, Brent did the entire build himself. The rear door area was cut away and the rear panel moved forward and welded in to form the pickup body. This was then mounted to a Holden WB chassis, into which the rear suspension from an AU Falcon XR8 was grafted. Power stays true to the car’s heritage, though, provided by a 400ci Chrysler V8 with a 727 TorqueFlite transmission. That beer-keg gas tank is a great choice, and the engineering is awesome — something that must be seen in person to be really appreciated. This is one of those cars where the more you look at it, the more you see. With it now finished, Brent makes sure it sees plenty of street use — not bad for a backyard build from Westport!