Unlike many of our feature car owners, Mike was a bit of a late starter to the rodding scene. A once regular visitor to the Chelsea cruise and the drags he never quite found the time to really get into the scene apart from a brief flirtation with a couple of muscle cars when he was in his twenties. At the time he was concentrating his efforts into running his own company, one of several that he's been involved with, and then there was marriage, houses, family etc. You know the story.

Mike's always liked quick cars though and as time went on he had fair his share of sporty stuff as daily drivers, but it wasn't until he visited one of his youngest sons who was living in the States for a while that the idea of owning a rod came about. To be precise it was at a Goodguys meet in Columbus, Ohio, in 1998, when the seed was sown. He decided after taking in all the various years and body styles on show, that it had to be a '34 coupe and nothing else would do!

Mike went away with a very long shopping list of parts, which he intended to purchase in its entirety before the car's intended build start date in January 1999.

Mike's brief to Paul was simple: "Build me a high tech, turnkey, quality street rod capable of high mileage that drives like a modern car! And I don't want any shiny parts 'cos I can't be arsed with polishing!" And if that sounds like street rod sacrilege to you, then at least credit Mike with an honest and refreshing approach! Then again, isn't it what loads of 'low-buck' rodders have been doing for years?

As Mike had already decided that this car was to be, in US mag parlance 'a reacher,' ie. a rod capable of covering long distances, good fuel consumption was an important factor. It was for this reason that Mike decided against installing a Chevy crate motor, instead opting to go for a tuned Rover V8. To this end he contacted Dave Ellis of DJE V8 Developments in Nuneaton to build him an efficient fuel-injected lump that coupled with the electronic overdrive gearbox he had planned would provide the reliability, economy and of course the power!

What Dave produced for him was a '99 cross bolt mains 4.2 litre block built to DJE specs with full flow 4.6 cylinder heads which have been ported, polished and treated to a three-angle valve job. The valves themselves are stainless jobbies on triple springs and the lifters are by Rhodes. The engine has been lightened and balanced and uses a TVR crank, pistons and con rods. In addition, it has had a Crower cam installed with a matching set of gas flowed headers, which, in turn, lead into a custom built exhaust system built by Custom Chrome (also in Nuneaton). The Rover EFI injection set-up features such DJE mods as a mass airflow system and a chipped ECU, terms which although common in Max Tosser magazine are, we have to admit, not often mentioned in this particular organ! (Who shouted hooray - KH?)

callipers. A Fiesta rack is used and mates up to the column via some Borgeson joints. At the rear we find a Volvo axle running a 3.7:1 ratio, while Aldan coilovers are used all round. Although Mike hates polishing, the rod does wear a set of polished American Racing wheels, though Mike admits to not spending much time bonding with them with a rag like some folk do! (In fact the first time a polishing rag had been near them for two years was outside our studio before this shoot - ed!)

The real inspiration for the car was the rods Mike had seen in Columbus, in particular the style of tech-meets-trad employed by US builder Bobby Alloway, and this was the look Mike was aspiring to. At this time Mike was spending most Saturdays at the shop with Paul, even taking his photos of Alloway cars down with him to compare with the project in their search for the perfect stance. In the end, the body was not only cut and shut widthways, but it was channelled 2in in the rear as well, in order to get it dead right, as you see it here. While you are looking at the photos, check out that tyre to fender clearance. No accident, that! One of the most unique features of the car and one that's never seen is the steel floor. A plasma cut 1/4in thick steel plate was sandwiched with soundproofing felt, and bolted through the 'glass floor and into the chassis. This alone adds 80kgs to the weight of the car but has the advantage of eliminating all the rattles and shakes and road noise common with 'glass cars as well as pre-loading the springs for extra stability. The secret's out now, soon everyone will have one! The body fitment and construction was finalised with the addition of an aluminium hood assembly necessary as Mike wanted louvres. These were duly hand punched for firm of coachbuilders in Hampshire.

The shakedown run for Mike was a pleasant run of 300 miles to the 2000 SpringNats where the car cruised straight into the Top Ten circle. On his return, the trophy was handed to Paul Burnham and the boys in appreciation of their efforts, a noble tradition of Mike's that continues to this day, some 20 trophies later! Not into trophy hunting, Mike doesn't even like 'Show and Shines,' and although not built as a drag racer, his favourite event is firmly the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals where his best time to date is 14.03 in 2003. He feels sure that a 13 second run is not far off, blaming himself for not yet getting a handle on the wheel spin off of the line! Incidentally, the ECU has a very handy 6500 rpm limiter, useful for those missed shifts!

Mike would like to say a big thanks to Paul, Jay, Keith and Sacha at Burnham Autos, Dave, Kev and Dave at Townley Panel & Paint (Dartford), Stuart Blayney for the flames, Dave and Joan Ellis at DJE V8 (Nuneaton) and to his solicitors who stopped his ex- wife selling the coupe during his recent divorce!