Doug O’Brien’s labour of love, Tango, is powered by a 300-hp Corvette LT1 engine and has won numerous awards.
It turns out it can take more than two to "Tango," but somebody still has to lead.
Some of the intricate steps involved in building Tango, named last week the Gold Medal winner in the seventh annual Canadian International Auto Show Cruise Nationals competition, involved the talents of some diverse and remarkably talented craftsmen.
But the vision and the pure hot-rod artistry that went into the creation of this cleanly and simply styled version of Ford's little deuce coupe - painted Hot Hues' Tango Pearl and Champagne Fizz - came from veteran rod-builder Doug O'Brien of Brampton, Ont., who finally got around to "doing" the car he'd dreamt about since he was a teen.
Tango was one of 10 finalists chosen from 60 vehicles singled out, at a CNE season finale last fall, from among hundreds that turned up at regional Cruise National events last summer in Southern Ontario.
Silver medal winner was Bill Budd of Goodwood, Ont., and his subtly modified and highly detailed 1949 Ford F47 pickup, which is powered by a classic 255-cubic-inch flathead "mill" with four-barrel carb and Offenhauser heads.
The bronze went to Bob Train of Hamilton and his Black Pearl and hand-rubbed lacquer 1959 Mercury Monarch, built from an intricately integrated assortment of ancient and modern parts in true old-style hot-rod fashion. Its original dash is fitted with digital gauges, for example.
Visitors to the Canadian International Auto Show can see all 10 cars on the 800 Level of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre's South Building (the auto show ends Sunday).
Tango's creator O'Brien, now 63, grew up in Toronto and, despite his father "being as far away from a car guy as you could get," turned out to be one himself. As a youngster he built models, read all the car magazines he could find and started searching out projects of his own at 15, just missing out on a '32 Ford 3-Window coupe, the model made famous by the Beach Boys song that Tango is based on.
He went to look at one with his father that was already being hot-rodded by a pair of young guys. "Dad figured if he bought me this thing, it would keep me quiet for a couple of years," says O'Brien.
But then one of the teens made the mistake of firing it up. "It was a 426 Hemi with virtually no exhaust. He heard that monster, looked at his 15-year-old son and said, 'Well, this isn't happening.'"
Dad might have been discouraged, but the younger O'Brien wasn't, acquiring an Austin A40, something definitely mild-mannered enough to pass parental scrutiny, and then a '56 Ford he customized, a '53 Chevy, '56 Chevy and a number of other cars.
But by the end of his teen years, and with a junior hockey deal signed, he was stricken with an illness the complications of which have dogged him ever since. But this didn't stop an obviously strong-willed O'Brien from raising a family with wife Chris, working in heavy truck sales until his retirement last year and building a bunch of hot-rods - which he now does on a more or less full-time hobby basis with friend John Bonney, often helping others complete "stuck" projects.
The first hot-rod he built, in his early 20s, was a '31 Model A, "a bunch of junk dragged home on a wagon." Then came along a '23 Ford T Roadster, a '26 T sedan, and a '29 Ford Sedan Delivery, followed by a hiatus from hot-rods, an interlude that included late-model stock-car racing and boating.
Back in the car game again, he built up a '69 Ford pickup for his son and recent projects have included an award-winning '69 Camaro RS and a '48 Chevy pickup that will be finished in time for the Performance World car show in Toronto in March.
He and Bonney were recently involved in finishing '32 Ford, a '40 Willys project and have just completed a '34 Ford Coupe.
The Tango project kicked in a few years ago when O'Brien says the aches and pains of age started to become more apparent. "I told Chris, I'd better do a '32 now, or I never will."
Acquiring an original car as a starting point was out of the question, he says. "You'd never find one. But even if you did come across one rotting in a field and barely recognizable, you'd need $50,000 to buy it. It's ridiculous."
What he did instead was hire an artist to create a rendering of the car that had developed in his mind over the years. This was tacked to the garage wall and a search begun through the catalogues of specialty firms that now reproduce virtually everything you need to create a '32 Ford hot-rod - from the frame rails and dropped I-beam front axle to the nine-inch Ford rear end.
But that just gives you the basic building blocks. The artistry is in how they are put together and integrated with custom-fabricated pieces, by people like O'Brien and some other master craftsmen involved, such as the guy who stitched the "blow-your-mind" beige leather and Ostrich hide interior. You'll also find DVD and Nav, Kenwood audio and Bluetooth voice activation systems in there and a 17-inch TV monitor in the trunk.
Tango, which is powered by a 300-hp Corvette LT1 engine, was finished in early 2008 and has won number of awards since, but O'Brien says it wasn't built with filling a trophy shelf in mind.
"We use it. We drive it. There's 6,000 miles on it," he says. Racked up while he and Chris attend local fair car shows, rod runs and cruise nights, with many a long haul away in the United States.
"If you don't drive it, leave it at home," he says. "I don't even own a trailer."
Trophies may not have been the goal, but O'Brien was more than happy to receive the gold cup for top spot in the Cruise Nationals event. "This is one of the neatest things we've ever been involved in. Very professionally run and organized and a lot of fun."
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