Chas Cochran of Shaw Custom Rods sent us these photos of the replica model that he built of the 1961 Chevy Impala that was featured on the show.

There were 4 cars built. The first of 4 cars that was built was given to our father at the GoodGuys Nationals in Columbus Ohio back in 2007. The car also won an award in the model car show at the same event for Best Pro Street.  The second car was given to Lee Hayes, who was Roy the metal masters helper. Chas was able to build this replica with the help from Todd Emmons, Greg, and the guys at the shop with photos. The paint is from Denver Custom Color so it matches exactly to the original car. The interior was done in high density foam and all hand made. The engine has every detail done to it that could have been done to make it like the original.  This car also was on hand at the GSL XXII which is compared to the world nationals of model car building and it was able to get a 4th place in class. It also won the Goodguys Rod and Custom “Model D’elgance” award.  Since May 2009 it has also taken two more 1st place awards and will be put into the Model Car Museum in Salt Lake City UT in August of this year.

Chas did a really good job and we hope to see more from him.

A few weeks back I headed over to Poor Boys Hot Rods in La Habra to see what Dan Sobieski was up to. Dan worked for our dad for a number of years and has opened up a shop in what was our dad’s old body shop. Dan had a little secret hidden in his paint booth that was a really pleasant surprise. Amidst all the hot rods and muscle cars was a gem right out of American automotive history. A 1941 Chrysler Thunderbolt. A concept car which was only 1 of 5 ever built and only 1 of 4 known to exist. The car belongs to long time Boyd Coddington customer, Dr. Gerard Depersio. Doc had brought it over to Dan’s after having it for some time to get some special treatment and to get it finished and ready for Pebble Beach.

Dan first went to task on getting all the exterior trim hand fabricated and fit. This was the only car to have the copper bumpers and trim with the 2 tone copper and green paint. After it was hand formed it was brushed and clear coated to lock in the soft brushed copper finish. The electric top was re-designed and fit. After finishing up with the engine and the front and rear suspension the stunning exterior paint was finished.

I knew when I saw this car that it was something special. When we live in a time where large scale CNC machines cut out huge blocks of foam into full blown vehicle mock ups and concept cars are put together in weeks and not years it’s really special to sit back and look at a car like this built 68 years and appreciate all the work that went into making just five of these to present to the public for it’s one chance to become a production car. If you want to get a chance to see this Thunderbolt in person you can go to  Pebble Beach this August. If your looking to buy don’t let the name of the shop fool you. The asking price is 2.9mil.

Poor Boys Hot Rods can be reached at

Poor Boys Hot Rod

851 E Lambert Rd

La Habra, CA 90631-6177
(562) 694-8013