Black Bettie

I've always been a bit of a petrolhead, but have confined that in the past to old British motorbikes. I've owned 4 or 5 Triumphs (1956 Thunderbird, 1964 Tiger, 1970 Tiger and 2003 Bonneville) along witha couple of BSA's (A65's). I still have the Thunderbird, partly dismantled, in the garage, sitting next to three tea chests which allegedly hold a Royal Enfield Continental GT.

The trouble with motorbiking in England, is our poxy weather! I reckon I got out on the new Bonny no more than half a dozen times last year; being a biker by choice, not necessity meant I didn't take it out in the pouring rain or freezing cold - been there, done that, got the frostbite!

So earlier this year I decided it was time for a change - time to look for something with four wheels instead of two which I could enjoy most of the year round.....

"Awesome '32 Ford Coupe For Sale........."

I was really hoping to find something that had been finished and which I'd be able to hop in to and start enjoying straight away (did I mention that I'm an impatient s-o-b?), but such cars are few and far between and there was something about this one which looked really good. The previous owner had been working on it for 14 (yep, fourteen!) years but due to domestic reasons hadn't got to finish her off - the work he had done was pretty stunning and all that was left to do was finish off some of the engine/running gear, get the interior done and finally get her MOT'd.


Sadly, while loving all things mechanical, I am to engineering what Stevie Wonder is to interior design or, as Donald Sutherland said in the movie Kelly's Heroes: "I don't fix 'em, I just drive 'em". So with this in mind it was always going to be a project for my good friend Al to do. Al runs Al's Classics, a car restoration business and he has hundreds of resto' projects under his belt, along with a great reputation for custom work.

Engine is a fully re-built 302 Ford V8 with a C4 auto gearbox. 330BHP of grin-factor.


Even as we were loading the car on to Al's trailer, we both looked at the wheels and said "they'll have to go". They are nice wheels, but they just didn't fit with the traditional style I was looking for.

The paint job is immaculate - 11 coats of Porsche Carrera Black and just needs finishing off with some pinstriping; one along each side, some on the radiator cowl and then some on the boot lid around the handle. To finish things off, she'll be named 'Black Bettie' with the name on the boot, just above the right tail light.

Interior wise, another local company are taking the car next week and doing the full tuck 'n roll black/red on the seat/doors. Black/red carpeting and building a full length parcel shelf with hidden glove box which will take the CD player. Speakers will get mounted in the firewall behind the seat so everything remains hidden.

Meeting the pin-striper ("Benny the Brush") next week to go over the paint job I'm looking for. I like the old skool type pin-striping in the Kafka/Von Dutch style. Probably in just two colours - red and off white.

I'm still undecided on having a graphic painted on the boot. I really like this Dave Stevens Bettie Page image and was thinking of having that airbrushed on, with her leg draped between the words Black Bettie. Will keep pondering that one, see whether Benny thinks he can do it justice and if not, maybe take the lid off and run it down to a custom guy in Portsmouth who reckons he can do it.......watch this space!

As things progress I'll post some updates. Other than buying the new wheels and whitewalls and painting the rims in the shade of red ('Carmine') I wanted, there's been little happening. Things should start moving next week........