STORY by Simon Major
Hard rocker Clifford Hoad beats on the hot rod drum to create Australia’s ultimate show’n’go Model T
“I JUST woke up one day and said: ‘to hell with everything, I’m gonna build a real T Bucket’,” explains Clifford Hoad, owner and builder of this drop-dead gorgeous Model T. “I’ve since learnt that there is no ‘immediate’ when it comes to building a hot rod so it took a little
longer than most (laughs).”
A cool fifteen years to be exact. Best you stop now and take a look at the pics; not just a casual glance but really focus in on the details. There is not a square inch of this car that hasn’t been caressed, pored over or otherwise deliberated about by Cliff. Throw in the fact it was built predominantly with basic hand tools – a vice, hacksaw, drill, files, grinder and polisher – and the end result is even more remarkable. Seeing it in the flesh does help, but you really need the guided tour to achieve maximum awestruck. If the name Clifford Hoad sounds familiar it is because he carved out a solid reputation as a founding member and drummer for hard rocking Aussie band, Kings of the Sun. The band achieved International success including six years living in the States, the down time of which was spent by Cliff indulging in his other passion – Mopars. “I’ve always loved Chryslers and when I lived in the US, bought myself a ’70 Plymouth Road Runner with a 440 6-pack. Rock’n’roll and hot rods go hand in hand, so have long been a fan of T buckets as well. As a kid I was obsessed with the buckets of Dick Knuston and Norm Longfield, not to mention Tommy Ivo’s, and remember seeing a T on a rotunda at a hot rod shop on Vine Street that knocked me for six; I drooled down that window like a kid!”
Skip forward a few years and Cliff was back home with the Road Runner now an Aussie citizen. “I rolled it heading to the Nambour Swap in ’98 and well and truly wrote it off. So I licked my wounds then pondered the 440 now at my disposal - I felt guilty for crashing the Plymouth and wanted to make a good from a bad. That’s when I had an epiphany and chose to build a T. Truth be told, I had actually been collecting parts since the 70s so it was always on my dream list.” That was early ’99 and Cliff made a beeline for Ian Cameron at Designed Chassis. “I wanted mounts for the 440 and Ian said: ‘Well I suppose rego is out of the question’. I wanted to build my dream car and the only way was to bypass criticism from the governing bodies who make everything a no-no. You can’t chrome this, you must muffle that, you can’t run drag slicks on the street (laughs).”
Ian set to work, outfitting one of his chassis’ with a transverse leaf, four-bar front end and dropped I-beam axle dampened via Rodtech shocks, while a Kombi steering box does its part to offset Cliff on the loud pedal. A nine-inch mounted via a four-bar and Aldan coilovers sorts the driven end and packs 3.7 gears. HQ calipers clamp DBA sport rotors at the front while Ford drums were retained for the rear. The wheels are a story of their own – the front ‘Hodads’ use centres hacksaw cut by Cliff from 10mm plate before being chromed and mounted to 4.5-inch VW rims, while the rears are 16x10 magnesium Halibrands that began life fitted to Ash Marshall’s ex-Ampol Fueller! A 440 six-pack is no slouch in a heavy B-body Mopar, let alone a ‘glass Bucket, so tromping on the gas is like driving on butter. Kevin Kent gave the big block a freshen, stretching it to 452 cubes and replacing the six-pack setup with twin 750 Carters on an Offenhauser intake. Eight 2-inch stainless pipes packed with Harley baffles pretend to be an exhaust system, while a tried and proven Mopar Performance electronic ignition and transparent Zebra leads add show for the spark. A 727 Torquelfite trans was fitted with a shift kit and 2200 stall, while a drastically shortened ’57 Chrysler tailshaft was chosen for its period trunnion joints. When it came time for the body Cliff was adamant about one thing – “It had to be narrow like a real Model T, I can’t stand the larger bodies which look like a whirlpool bath on wheels. We dug up a battered but genuine real-steel 1922 bodyshell and took a mould from it. Proportion is everything, no matter what car you build, so it was the only option.”
The fibreglass bucket was prepped and initially painted pearl white by Dan Maddison who then laid down the split-tone blue and red. “A hot rod should be red but I love blue. In the end I couldn’t decide but the car started dictating to me what it wanted and we ended up with a ‘split’ decision (laughs). It nailed the look I was chasing, is true to form for a 60s styled show rod and has just planted an identity like no other. I had my heart set on acrylic but Dan talked me into two-pack. I think it’s the first time in my life I’ve just said ‘ok’ about anything.”
The results speak for themselves and the split colours adorn the chassis and masterstroke 3D glasses-style rear windows. The roof is a mix of traditional ‘T’ rake with Carson-style usability, and uses a frame handbuilt by Cliff and covered in white vinyl. The interior features more of Cliff’s handiwork; the seat frames custom made with the help of Michael Maunsell and diamond tufted by Martin Churchill in black and white English Leather. The floor covering is a rabbit fur – an old blanket swiped from Cliff’s Grandmother – while the Stewart Warner instruments are flanked by a homemade, square mahogany and kwilla wheel affixed to an original Model T brass spider. “Oh the wheel. Well, I literally cried making that; the madness of this project had finally hit me (laughs). I was sitting there with a small file grooving out the slots for the spokes and it was just the most tedious and painful job. I said to myself: ‘This is just fu**ed. I had spent so many hours working on this car, deep in my own thoughts, that I felt it was never going to end. It was a lonely road, but I had to stay steadfast . Especially over such a long period; a lot can change in that time with car styling and what’s ‘cool’, but I homed in on the era from the start and stuck with it, I didn’t want to build a bitsa’. Cliff’s tenacity paid off when Splitt Decision was deemed ‘completed’ late in 2014. “It is a dream come true, no question, but my wife, Lisa, got me over the line. She was instrumental in me finishing the car when I had run out of steam and inspired me to continue the fine detail right through to the end. Our son, Zen, joined me for its maiden drive to Cooly Rocks 2015 and I could see Lisa balling her eyes out at the traffic lights so know she is proud. It has been a massive journey for all of us but am glad to have my weekends back to share with them. And my libido is back too; that has been a huge bonus lol”
