Classic recollections: Halloween hot rods

Changing leaves and dropping temps can signify only one thing in the Chicago area: Fall is here with winter fast approaching. And if ever there was a group that stays intimately in tune with the slightest in climate change around them, it's the classic car community.

When the red mercury drops, so do the multitude of garage doors across the suburbs, covering up those gorgeous and classy machines we've grown so accustomed to admiring during our glorious summer months. Autumn may mean the sad end of cruising for the year, but it's the perfect time to appreciate these seasonal rides.

1939 Ford Cabriolet

Street rods tend to be wild by definition and Bob Armstrong's 1939 Ford Cabriolet is no exception. The Crystal Lake resident purchased his completed cruiser in 2009, and despite being built 13 years ago, it looks just as fresh today as it did when it rolled out of Dan's Custom Exhaust, a shop in Marengo. Dan Christiansen was the mastermind behind this project, starting with a silky-smooth fiberglass body manufactured by Coast to Coast and choosing to bolt on everything else that resides underneath it. Power comes come a GM-sourced Ram Jet V-8, delivering a reliable 350 horsepower and 400 foot-pounds of torque. Disc brakes are at all four corners, hidden behind Boyd Coddington wheels. The glossy exterior comes courtesy of House of Kolor's Sunset Pearl paint, but even in the twilight afterhours, this hot rod still shines brilliantly. Mounted beneath the frame and in the engine bay are neon lights, as well as four 50-watt spotlights hidden at each corner. "At night they do a fantastic job of illuminating the car and really making it stand out."

1970 Dodge Challenger RT/SE

Scott and Sue Brown's 1970 Dodge Challenger was busy serving as an ambassador of U.S. street muscle across our northern border when the couple came across it in August 2008 in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. After exchanging the proper currency, a sale ensued but before they could get it back to their Algonquin garage, they were forced to prove its stateside ancestry. "We had the car transported to Toronto and then on to Detroit, where it had to go through customs. In order to retrieve it, we had to get a letter from the Walter P. Chrysler Museum, essentially proving its citizenship. Weird, but they had to know it was in fact a U.S.-built vehicle and to U.S. (safety and emissions) specs," Scott said. Since that time, in true red, white and blue fashion, they've boosted the numbers on their 'Go Mango orange' machine, commissioning Opel Engineering in Streamwood to replace the 440 powerplant with a brawny 478 Hemi. With 578 horsepower on tap, a four-speed transmission and no A/C, this muscular four-wheeled Yankee has adjusted just fine back in its new home.

1970 Chevelle SS

Rich Schaefer's 1970 Chevelle SS tribute appeared to have been driven through a war zone when he came across the Army green Malibu in 2008. "There was a ding, a dong or a dent in every single panel on the battered car. It looked as if it had gone down a gravel road and back a thousand times," the West Chicago resident said. Schaefer purchased the California-sourced car and wasted no time in getting the bow-tie down to Addison Auto Body where its metal maestros massaged the cratered steel panels back into arrow-straight shape. They then sprayed on a coat of tantalizing Hugger Orange paint. You'll find a stout 454-cubic-inch V-8 underhood, mated to a four-speed transmission. "Shifting your own gears meshes you with the car and gives you something to do. With an automatic, you're just a passenger behind the wheel," Schaefer says. Schaefer is also entertained by his functional cowl induction hood, which he happily enjoys seeing open every time he mashes the gas.

1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme

Orange isn't a color offered regularly by manufacturers and Jeff Parcell's Flame Orange paint on his 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme could only be had for just one year. When he spied the convertible in Lansing in 1996, he knew he had to take it home. "I've always loved Oldsmobiles but what made this one so attractive was the rare color combination. I've been to countless shows since and can't find another one quite like it," the Des Plaines resident said. The drop-top had been bought new in Maine and went on to spend time in Mississippi before coming to Illinois. Despite its soggy East Coast past, it wears all its original metal and still packs the factory Rocket 350-ci V-8, showing a barely-broken in 80,000 miles on the odometer. "The car has largely remained untouched, having no rust anywhere. The most difficult challenge so far has been replacing the convertible top."