Local men build car from scratch
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“I’m a Fortune 500 dropout,” he says, “Accounting degree from the University of Michigan, MBA from the University of Dallas, but I always wanted to run my own business.”
That dream came true in 1992 when he started Painter’s Supply, Inc., an automotive and industrial paint distributor located here in McMinnville.
“We don’t just sell paint,” he says. “We work closely with customers to analyze their needs so we can provide them better value.”
But now that his painting supply business is established, he has taken on a new challenge – building automobiles from the ground up. Toward that end, Taylor, with the help of his associates Kelvin Woodley and Wayne Page, recently started Single Source Enterprises, Inc.
Jokingly he says, “We are Tennessee’s third largest automotive manufacturer. We manufacture 1939-40 Ford three-window coupes. Kelvin and Wayne were instrumental in bringing this car to production.”
The cars are being built to appeal to a comparatively small, but very enthusiastic, segment of the car buying public, those who love to own and drive street rods.
When people think of hot rods, they usually think of them in terms of their heyday in the 1950s. They invoke images of guys in jeans and T-shirts, usually with a pack of cigarettes rolled up in the sleeve, slicked back pomaded hair, and attitude.
The cars they built and drove were an extension of that attitude. Unable to afford the ever more expensive and elaborate automobiles coming out of Detroit, they bought junked cars from the ’30s and ’40s and fitted them with souped-up engines and transmissions. Most of the work was done by hand and the cars that resulted bore little resemblance to the ones grandma and grandpa used to drive.
The popularity of the hot rod was not ignored by Detroit, however, and the ’60s and ’70s saw the big three building their own versions of the performance automobile.
Cars like Chevrolet’s Corvette, Ford’s Mustang, Dodge’s Charger, and the Oldsmobile 442 started to come out of Detroit. They were powerful and fast straight from the factory and America’s increasingly affluent car buying public began snapping them up almost as fast as they could crank them out. They weren’t called hot rods though. They had their own unique designation.
They were called muscle cars.
But due to the fuel shortages and changing economics of the late ’70s, their reign was relatively short-lived. But the hot rod subculture never really died. Enthusiasts of all ages and occupations still demonstrate their love of the hand-built performance car on America’s streets and in countless car shows and gatherings across the country.
The car Darrell Taylor is currently building is such a machine.
The body style is based on a 1939/40 Ford three-window coupe. But instead of sheet metal or fiberglass, it has a one-piece integrated monocoque body made from a molded composite material formed from epoxy resins.
Taylor is using this material in his car because of its rigidity and strength. No wood is used.
“Two chassis will be offered,” Taylor says. “Both are high tech compared to the originals.
“This is a better chassis than Mr. Ford made in 1940. It’s got a Mustang IFS suspension up front and a Ford nine-inch rear end in the thing. It’s set up for a 350 Chevy Ramjet with fuel injection. A 700 R4 transmission will go into it. This will be a little cruiser.”
And though it’s designed for performance, safety hasn’t been ignored. The car will boast a concealed roll bar and shock-absorbing bumpers hidden behind the fenders. The doors will also have reinforced steel frames with metal posts inside for added protection.
Taylor has been working full time on the car since last September, and it is slated for its first public showing in Knoxville the first weekend in May.
The Standard will be following Taylor’s progress as he builds his own car from the ground up.