Mike Pocquette's 1937 Ford Cabriolet (from Volume 12, Issue 130) Hot rodders have been trying to put a new slant on old cars for as long as the term “hot rod” has been around. Be it by chopping the roof, pie-cutting the hood, channeling or sectioning the body, frenching headlights and taillights, or louvering various body parts....hot rodders will find a way to tweak things. Fiberglass bodies were first used to replicate the old classics, but more and more these days they are their own art form - taking a classic style and giving it a new twist. Such is the case with this 1937 Ford Cabriolet, which was manufactured by Coast To Coast Street Rods. Haines City, Florida resident Mike Pocquette has built around 20 hot rods over the years, but when we asked him how he decided on his current ride he told us he always wants a convertible. I guess one with a stylistic twist was a good place to start, and from there he did all the work himself except stitch up the seats. Underneath the Coast To Coast glass body resides a TCI chassis, which has one of their Mustang II front end packages, a 9” Ford rear end with 3.73:1 gears, and disc brakes all around. A modern Air Ride suspension gives the car good road manners, and allows it to be lowered way down when parked for a very nice stance at the shows. Cetainly the personalized license plate, which reads “LOW 37”, is fitting indeed. Under the hood is a 350 Chevy engine topped with a 600 cfm Edelbrock carb, and wearing Billet Specialties brackets and pulleys for an attractive appearance. The combo puts out about 350 horses, which pass through the 700R4 overdrive automatic. To give the car an eye-catching appeal on the exterior Mike went with House of Colors tangerine and root beer colored paint in a tasteful two-tone scheme...which he applied himself. The colors complement each other nicely, and in the bright sunlight really give off a beautiful glow from the cars swoopy modern looking lines. Furthering the flashy feel are a set of Billet Specialties rims, with 17-inches up front and 19-inches in the back. With the tan canvas top down the interior takes center stage, entered through the pair of suicide doors with power windows. A set of Teas Design seats were used, then covered in taupe colored leather. Everything was kept clean and uncluttered looking with a long slit of digital gauges, and a console running down from under the dash. Stylish door panels, a polished tilt steering column, billet steering wheel and various billet accent pieces round out the appealing accommodations. While Mike did the lion’s share of the work himself, he also wanted to thank his pals Mike and Gabriel who have helped him work long hours to fit and polish the car. As we were talking, Mike also wanted to point out that he does not trailer his ‘37 Cabriolet, but instead drives it around to all the shows. This included our own Beach Blast 11 held May 15th, 2005 at the Holiday Inn Cocoa Beach Oceanfront Resort, where the car took Best Paint honors and caught our attention for this month’s feature. Based on the crowd it drew all weekend plenty of other people agreed with us that it is indeed one very cool take on the classic ‘37 Ford styling....executed with taste and quality. CN