GMP 1/18 1934 So-Cal Coupe 14104

1934 So-Cal Coupe

Jim Gray and Russell Lanthorne of SO-CAL Speed Shop built the highly modified ’34 Coupe to run at Bonneville in 1951 and also to run at the dragstrip. From there, I’m sure the two men had no idea what an enduring and checkered history their creation would have. In 1952, Alex Xydias bought the coupe, dropped in a super-charged ’48 Merc flathead and ran it in 1953. It topped 177-mph on the flats, setting the C Competition Coupe/Sedan record. At the drags, it ran 121-mph quarter miles, setting the NHRA B Modified record. In 1954, with a more radical chop and new Ardun heads, the engine made 460 hp and turned in 132-mph quarter mile runs. It was dubbed “The Double Threat Coupe” by Hot Rod Magazine. Then, tragedy struck and the car burned due to a clutch explosion, along with driver Dave DeLangton, who later died from his injuries. Xydias sold the car to John Moxley, who repaired it and ran it as “Miss 400” at Bonneville. In 1956, the coupe was then sold to Jerry Eisert, who kept it until 1969 and sold it to Jim Travis. Travis ran it at the drags in the late ‘70s and at Bonneville until 1996! Before it was retired, the amazing coupe ran a respectable 236-mph, running with a blown Chevy engine. Its competition days were not done, however. Sold once again to Don Orosco, it was painstakingly restored to its 1954 specs, including the Ardun heads. In 2001, at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Historical Hot Rod Coupe Class, the veteran road warrior went up against Art Christian’s Model A and the Pierson Brothers Coupe. Not surprisingly, fifty years after it was first pushed into life on the Bonneville Salt Flats by its service truck, the little coupe won its class.

LTD Edition and hard to find.

Scale 1/18

14104