1929 Chrysler 75 Roadster Hotrod

No, you’re not hallucinating; you really are looking at one of the most distinctive – and downright impressive – cars we’ve ever featured: a 1929 Chrysler 75 Roadster hot-rod.

But not just any Chrysler 75 Roadster because this one has been fitted with a newly rebuilt 1960’s 327 engine (built to a mild state of tune), three new Rochester GM two-jet carburettors, a newly rebuilt 700R4 transmission, an independent front suspension from Heidts, and a four-link Ford 9″ rear suspension with new Currie axle. Braking is courtesy of Wilwood discs on all four corners.

It’s got a lift-off canvas top too, and the chassis is in a rust-free condition thanks to a body-off restoration. It also has a freshly fitted interior and it has been fully rewired and fitted with new dashboard gauges.

Beautifully finished with re-chromed headlights, new driving lights, a new gas tank and a 2½” custom exhaust, this really is a ‘must see’ car.

And, in case you think we’ve lost our minds, we should tell you that the price of the Chrysler 75 Roadster has substantially increased in value over the past few years, so it might make a canny investment too, especially when you factor in their eligibility for classic motorsport events such as the Mille Miglia…

The two-tone bodywork might be minimal, but what there is has been beautifully fitted and painted. The bulk has been finished in a wonderful copper colour, with the wings, running boards, door tops and windscreen surround being picked out in a deep metallic brown. As you can see, despite having been done a few years ago, it looks sensational, especially with the roof removed and the matching tan leather upholstery on view – but then that’s what a £6,000 - £8,000 paint job gets you. The seller has stated that he considers the paint to no longer be "completely perfect", but then he is a complete perfectionist, and it still looks damn good to us. 

It’s all in great shape too; only recently finished, the hot-rod simply hasn’t been used enough for it to have suffered the sort of stonechips and other minor damage that even the most carefully curated car collects. It’s still fresh, vibrant, and the overall fit and finish stands as a testament to the skill of those who invested hundreds of hours to build it.

The long, elegant boot hides a small ‘dickey’ seat, vastly increasing the car’s flexibility and providing the perfect place to seat your children or grandchildren while you’re treating them to the ride of their lives; balance is important in all things, and while it is right that they should appreciate the effect we have on our environment, it’s also only fair that they should be able to enjoy the visceral delights of a barely silenced V8 engine.

Their seat is as beautifully trimmed as the rest of the interior, and the body-mounted rubber-faced, Chrysler-branded steps on the offside rear wing they’ll use to gain access are typical of the attention to detail that runs through this spectacular vehicle.

As is the neatly carpeted area just ahead of the rear seat passengers’ feet. Accessed via a beautifully installed side door, it enables you to slide luggage in without having to open the entire boot to the elements.

The bonnet and side panels are designed to be removed when the car is being used, so have been left unfinished at this time. There only to protect the engine while it is being stored in your garage, they are in great shape and as free of dents, dinks and damage as the rest of the panels. Of course, painting them to the same standard as the rest of the car would be a straightforward job should the new owner be something of a completist.

The dark-brown canvas roof is lined with a tan leather headlining. It is a ‘lift off’ design rather than one that furls and unfurls and is, like the rest of the car, beautifully finished and in an excellent condition.

The body-coloured steel wheels are adorned with chrome hubcaps and rim trims. In an unmarked condition, they’re shod with matching whitewall tyres, all of which still look like new.

The chromework is, as you’ll have guessed by now, excellent.

Problems? Well, there are some rubbing marks inside the nearside front door and dickey seat cover, plus the odd minor blemish to things like the interior door handles and one of the door tops but there is nothing there that would concern us at all.

The tan leather upholstery is a game of two halves; the front bench seat, complete with central armrest, is where you’ll be spending most of your time but, as we mentioned earlier, the rear ‘dickey’ seat is just as nicely finished and extends the Chrysler’s usefulness exponentially.

The entire interior has been very well trimmed indeed, with an obsessive approach to getting it all to line up properly – including the stitching – and to fit perfectly.

It nicely set-off by the full-width painted dashboard, which has been fitted with chrome-rimmed, white-faced Stewart Warner dials for speed, fuel, battery charge, oil pressure and coolant temperature.

The driver’s toolkit also includes billet stalks and a matching gearlever plus a leather-and-chrome steering wheel. The whole lot looks fabulous and blends old and new very successfully.

One of the joys of building a car as simple as this is that you can expend a disproportionate amount of time and money on the details, simply because there aren’t many of them. So, you’ll find some of the most beautiful pedals we’ve ever seen, exquisitely bound carpets, and some very neat switches.

There is minimal work left to do, but a fastidious owner might like to tidy up some of the under-dash wiring. It’s a little more visible than we would like, but that would be a very easy, quick job and a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

The mechanical specification includes a newly rebuilt Chevrolet small block 327 engine. Built to a mild state of tune and fitted with a serpentine belt system, it features three new Rochester GM two-jet carburettors and a very clever linkage that allows just the middle one to be used when you want to pootle about, but all three hose fuel into the engine when you stab the throttle.

It starts on the button, runs beautifully, and breathes through a custom-built two-and-a-half inch exhaust.

It channels its considerable power to the new rear Currie axle via a newly rebuilt Chevy 700R4 transmission. Offering four-speeds (three plus a 30% overdrive) it can handle up to 258lb/ft of torque with complete reliability, all the while allowing the driver to concentrate on enjoying his machine with the faff of having to change gears himself. (It goes without saying that anyone buying a car like this is confident enough to be able to yield control of the gear-changing to their machine…)

The front suspension is all-independent and comes courtesy of Heidts, while the back-end is a four-link Ford nine-inch set up. Cooling is taken care of via a new radiator, fans and shroud, and braking is courtesy of Wilwood discs and calipers on all four corners.

Of course, a large part of the reason you buy a car like this is for the noise and, as you can hear in the video, this one is especially epic and howls like a pile-plagued devil passing a turtle; there really is nothing like a minimally silenced, normally aspirated Yank V8, is there?

The underside is, incredibly, just as good as the rest of the car. Honestly, it’s a work of art under there and a credit to those who created it.

The Chrysler doesn’t have a current MOT certificate, and while it is exempt by virtue of its age, we would strongly encourage the new owner to have the car re-MOT’d at the earliest. The cost of an MOT is a small investment when offset against the purchase and upkeep of any classic car, and it gives an independent, third-party assessment of the car’s condition, which not only provides reassurance to the owner (and any subsequent purchasers) but might also be invaluable in the event of a bump when negotiating with the police and any interested insurance companies…

It comes with a letter from the DVLA dated the 13th of November 2017 confirming that the appropriate VAT and duty have been paid. Now due to be road-registered, the only other paperwork is the State of North Carolina ‘Certificate of Title’ from the 30th of August 2017.

The seller has sensibly chosen to allow the Chrysler’s new owner to register the car for use in the UK, due to the options available: Chrysler? Hot Rod? Something else? - You decide………

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing to see this paperwork.

If you’d like to inspect the car prior to placing a bid – something we would encourage – then please use the Contact Seller button to arrange an appointment.

NB. We know that many of you will be limiting your social exposure over the coming days and weeks, so if you’d rather not come to see the car in person, please give the vendor a call and ask him if he can shoot a personal video of the car honing in on any areas you’d like him to concentrate on. 

Look, we know that this is not a car with mass-market appeal, and if you don’t get it then there is nothing we can say or do that will change that.

But, if you do get it then this is one of the best and most meticulously prepared hot-rods we’ve ever seen. Finished to an astonishingly high standard, the cost of the parts alone would come to our lower estimate, meaning you get the car and all the labour – and there have been an awful lot of man-hours thrown at it – for free.

Viciously quick, yet docile around town, we think this iconic sliver of ‘Murican automobilia will sell for somewhere between £26,000 and £40,000. And if you think that sounds like a lot of money we think that recreating one would run up a six-figure bill faster than you can empty its tank of gas. (God, it’s contagious…)

Or, you could buy it for its eligibility in some of the world’s most exclusive classic motoring events alone, and convert it to a different specification altogether. You could even sell off the bits you remove to recoup some of your outlay. Worth thinking about, isn’t it?

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with the seller in Hull, East Yorkshire; to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

If needed, please remember we have a network of trusted suppliers we work with regularly and can recommend: Classic & Sportscar Finance for purchase-financing, Footman James for classic car insurance Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car and AnyVan for transporting it.

BORING, but IMPORTANT: Please note that whilst we at The Market always aim to offer the most descriptive and transparent auction listings available, we cannot claim they are perfect analyses of any of the vehicles for sale. We offer far greater opportunity for bidders to view, or arrange inspections for each vehicle thoroughly prior to bidding than traditional auctions, and we never stop encouraging bidders to take advantage of this. We do take a good look at the vehicles delivered to our premises for sale, but this only results in our unbiased personal observations, not those of a qualified inspector or other professional, or the result of a long test drive.

Additionally, please note that most of the videos on our site have been recorded using simple cameras which often result in 'average' sound quality; in particular, engines and exhausts notes can sound a little different to how they are in reality.

Please note that this is sold as seen and that, as is normal for used goods bought at auction, the Sale of Goods Act 1979 does not apply. See our FAQs for more info, and feel free to inspect any vehicle as much as you wish.