Fast FRIDGE

TERRY PYLE HAS HAD A STRING OF TOUGH CARS OVER THE YEARS, BUT THIS LS7-POWERED HOT ROD TOPS THE LOT

- BORIS VISKOVIC

TERRY Pyle reckons everyone paints their hot rods either red, black or purple, so he was just trying to be different by building a white one. He admits it took some convincing to bring the painter around to his way of thinking, but he got there in the end, and he couldn’t be happier. If you’re wondering, this particular hue is off the new Mustangs and is called Oxford White. “When I bought the chassis and body, I told them I was going to paint it white and they said: ‘Terry, you never see a white hot rod.’ I said: ‘I know; I just want something different.’”

The colour isn’t the only point of difference with this ’34 Ford coupe. With its tough LS powerplant and wheel/tyre combo, it borrows a lot from current street machine styling trends – which isn’t too surprising, as Terry has a long history in that scene.

“I’ve always had cars and always chased the drag racing scene since I was 16 years old,” he says. “I’d be a millionaire by now if I hadn’t spent all my money on cars.”

This isn’t his first hot rod, either. “I had a really nice ’32 tudor, it was a killer car,” explains Terry. “I was at the drags and popped a good wheelstand in it, and then a bloke walked up two seconds later and said: ‘Do you want to sell the thing?’ Biggest mistake I ever made!”