(Photos by Charles Wickam) – See, when I saw this stunning 1935 Chevy coupe parked in the car show section at Beech Bend Raceway during the Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion, I immediately shoved Charles Wickam out of the moving golf cart and demanded he shoot a feature on it. At the time the owner wasn’t there and I made a couple trips back to the car during brief announcing breaks to try and find him, to no avail. So frankly, I am kind of light on details here but the car is just so damned beautiful, we need to share it.

What so struck me about this car is just its sheer beauty. To me, it looks almost stately sitting there. Lots of gasser style cars are done in either an over the top manner with the front end nine feet in the air or with period-ish appearing paint work, or with some comedic touches to play on the whimsy of the era when they were the door slammer heroes of  strips around the country. This car though is finished nicely and no too nicely if you know where I am going. To me, the green ’35 is just spectacular enough to love and appreciate but not so over the top that you couldn’t uncork the headers and hammer the throttle down the strip, or do big fun burnouts with it on a quiet country road. The blue tinted glass is a fantastic touch completing the exterior aesthetic as well.

There are touches on this car that often come across as contrived on other machines. Take the spun aluminum tank on the front end. Often those just seem out of place or put there as some kind of “prop” on gasser type cars. Here, it is nicely nestled between those great rounded front fenders of the Chevy. The same goes for the artfully simple rear tube bumper. Of course in the gasser competition days, those pumpers would be filled with lead shot or other weight to help aid in traction, here it is just a finishing touch to make the rear of the car complete.

Speaking of traction, the pie crust slicks don’t stand a chance against the healthy Oldsmobile engine that is mounted in the front of the car, open for all the world to see. The pair of Holley carbs rising up on top of the cool Offenhauser intake manifold, the white headers with oval shaped dumps under the front fenders, and white firewall are all just as right as rain. Mounted in the trunk are the mondo, old school Delco “energizer” batteries that were used by so many racers to again, shift weight to the back to the car and plant the tires for drag strip launches in the 1950s and 1960s when gassers were loved by throngs of fans.

The interior largely follows the exterior’s theme with simple but cool aluminum inner door panels, body colored dash and steering wheel, and a simple pair of white bucket seats. Dig the old school flashlight mount and light under the steering column! We’re thinking that is a good thing to have if a late night street race breaks out and the starter is in need of something to send the cars off with! The front and rear suspensions are period perfect with the beam axle using small lift blocks up front with leaf springs and the rear axle with leafs, blocks, and simple square tube traction bars providing the lifting force to plant the ‘crusts out back.

Cars like this are exceptionally easy to over do and you can see those cars all over the place. This build is clearly the case of someone who went in with a clear plan and saw it out. The results are magnificent and everyone who saw the car at the show agreed, it is a great piece. Now, hopefully the owner will see this so we can give him proper credit!

WE HAVE AN AWESOME GALLERY OF CHARLES WICKAM PHOTOS TO ENJOY OF THIS BITCHIN’ ’35 CHEVY! HIT THE LINK BELOW TO SEE THEM!

GASSER GALLERY: