Bob? is art on wheels

AUCKLANDER Jack Cooper celebrated his birthday last week, and the birthday present he treated himself to arrived at his home on schedule.
The gift was "Bob", an absolutely stunning yellow 1955 Ford F100 street rod specially built for him by a remarkable Masterton company, Magoos Street Rods, owned by Lloyd Wilson.
Cooper, one of Australasia's leading fabric wholesalers and husband of millionaire designer Trelise Cooper, who dresses the likes of Julia Roberts, Michelle Pfeiffer and Angela Bassett, has been a customer of Magoos in the past and along with the rest of the New Zealand street rod fraternity knows their product is about as good as it gets.
But this was by far his biggest commission, and a real challenge for the team of highly-skilled craftsmen at the Masterton company.
The F100 was originally a shop truck in Wanganui. Cooper, a member of the Pukekohe Hot Rod Club, bought it in Rotorua and had it delivered to Masterton. He had some fairly firm ideas on what he wanted, even down to the colour, and he and Lloyd remained in close contact throughout the project, with regular exchanges of photos and emails.
Some changes, and delays in the delivery of overseas components, meant the deadline got moved a few times, and getting the car to Cooper on time involved a few seven-day weeks at the end.
But they did it.
"I thought I was getting away from stress when I left Trust House," Lloyd grins.
Despite the prosaic name ? "I don't know why he called it Bob: Jack gives all his cars nicknames," says Lloyd ? the finished result is simply sensational, and even before it ever turned a wheel Bob had been lined up to feature in New Zealand, Australian and American hot rod magazines.
So what's Bob got that other cars haven't?
The most obvious things first.
- Yellow Limone and Fuschia (chassis) paint;
- A power-activated "coffin lid" rear deck;
- Cab with 1956 big rear window option;
- Air Ride air suspension;
- 429 Ford engine built by West Auckland Engine Reconditioners and topped by an Al's Blowers supercharger (all highly polished and reflected in a polished bulkhead);
- Billet Specialties Hustler wheels with Potenza 275/30/ZR20 rear tyres and Bridgestone 225/45ZR18s at the front.
There's a million tricky bits, including electronic exhaust cutouts, flame throwers with custom gas tanks (just the thing to grab the attention in downtown traffic); GPS security system (pinch this sucker and they'll be all over you in a flash); a 48-inch highstop light display.
Other features include air conditioning, doors converted to power-operated single glass, modified repro steel front fenders, custom running boards and splash panels, widened rear fenders, scratch-built wellside with Canadian oak bed, scratch-built tailgate including Ford logo, independent front end, 9" ford diff, triangulated 4-bar rear suspension and Wilwood disc brakes.
The men who worked on the F100 were Ian Woods (engineering), Scott Wildman (panel) and Derek Butcher (paint). Magoo's other permanent staff are Glynn O'Hara and Brian Callister
A number of Masterton companies were involved in the project. They included Mitre 10 Automotive, E.D.Engineering, Waimec Electrical, Firestone, Enzed Wairarapa, Wairarapa Radiators, Lynn's Auto Services, Progressive Engineering, Stevens Marine, Cheers Automotive, Lambert Engineering, Repco, O'Brien's Refrigeration and Astrolite.
An obvious question with a project like this is what did it cost?
"Honestly, I have not totalled the hours or the cost," says Lloyd. "All of our customers have budgets which we have to try and work within. The object of the exercise is to create a personalised and unique vehicle, essentially an art object, and I don't know how you can place a true value on that," he adds.
That translates to "heaps", and worth every cent too.
And you'd think that after an effort like Bob, the team would celebrate, sink a few tinnies and so on.
Not so. Bob had hardly left the premises when attention shifted to the latest project, due to hit the road in time for the Street Rod Nationals in Rotorua at Labour Weekend.
FOOTNOTE: A final note from Lloyd Wilson ? "Jack has both rung and emailed me this weekend ? he is absolutely blown away and advises that the end product has way exceeded his expectation."