WAIHI CAR: AMERICAN PSYCHO

PATCH’S SMOOTH ’55 CHEV MAY BE DAPPER ON THE OUTSIDE, BUT IT’S A MONSTER UNDERNEATH

While plenty of new cars are imported into New Zealand every year, very few have the stance and style of this ’55 Chev. And the ones that do often have the old spot-it-on-the-net-and-click-buynow backstory, but that doesn’t apply here. No, the Chev’s owner, Patrick ‘Patch’ Jenden, and his family were living in the States at the time, and actively scouring swap meets for the right cars to take home to New Zealand. Not a brand-focused family, they were looking for the perfect family car regardless of breed, and, when they spotted the Chev at the Turkey Run in Georgia, they immediately knew it was the one. Sitting low, with immaculate paint and trim, it had the right look and the angry-sounding V8 they were looking for. Judging by the way it looks here, it’s no wonder they fell in love with the tough Tri-5, but how it came to be built this way is a story in itself! The ’55 was a freshly completed car built by a hot rod shop owner, and all-round car enthusiast, for his brother. The plan was to build him a classic that looked stock(ish) but drove like a modern car, with all the new-car luxuries — oh, and power to burn, of course. Buying the old Chev as a rolling wreck from Daytona, the family and a few friends dragged it back to Georgia and quickly got stuck into the transformation. Now, when one of those friends is a bloke called Art Morrison, it’s no surprise that one of his state-of-the-art chassis would find a new home underneath. With all the usual bells and whistles that you’d expect with one of Art’s chassis, the ’55 also got treated to a massive set of Wilwood brakes. The diameter of the discs probably isn’t much smaller than the original wheels, necessitating new Schott 18-inch rims up front and 19s on the rear just to clear the calipers! With the chassis and brakes sorted, an appropriate engine was needed, and nothing fills up a Tri-5’s engine bay better than a big block. A healthy 427 was built and topped with an Edelbrock dualquad arrangement, to be backed by a Tremec five-speed. Out back, a Ford nine-inch was the sensible choice, along with Moser 28-spline axles and a Detroit Locker centre — no weak links here! Inside, two ’63 Thunderbird seats flank the custom centre console, which houses the stereo and a raft of other mod cons, including the Vintage Air system, electric windows, and even GPS. This was certainly a no-expense-spared build, with the receipts supplied by the previous owner adding up well into six figures — in US dollars, no less! Once the ’55 was completed and presented to the owner, he was too scared to use it, and it spent its life stored away and trailered to shows. Whether it was the power of the 427 or just the fear of a scratch or stone chip, it was hardly driven, and was offered for sale at the Turkey Run with just

700 miles on the clock. Once the car was in Patch’s hands, the miles quickly increased, starting with a run from Daytona across to Orlando, before it took part in plenty of car meets, Christmas parades, and anything else that allowed Patch to drive it. When the ’55 arrived in New Zealand last year, Patch tasked the team at Real Rides Ltd with getting it road legal here, trusting them to undertake the required upgrades to get it through our certification system without undermining the quality of the original build. Real Rides was more than up to the challenge, hiding a new brake booster behind the smoothed and filled dash, welding in seat-belt anchorages, and carrying out numerous other small touches that most of us would never notice, such is the quality of the company’s work. Patch speaks highly of the work done by the team at Real Rides, and, thanks to their efforts, he is now out enjoying this subtly enhanced Tri-5 that drives and handles like a modern muscle car but packs an old-school punch. Having driven it all over the US, Patch’s only plans for the old Chev involve putting even more road miles on the clock at home!