Purchased in September of 1998 and only recently completed, the “Time Bomb” 1936 Ford Roadster has been a labour of love for its owner/designer John St. Germain.

Projects of this scale/nature are always full of frustration and delight, triumph and tragedy, joy and sorrow, achievement and constant second-guessing. John has attested to all of these. Despite this, John has emerged from this project with an all-steel 1936 Ford Roadster that is a testament to his unique sense of customization, elegance and harmony of components.

John has taken his time with this car - over seven years in fact. In speaking to John, he emphasizes that you can’t rush these things when you want to “get it right”. And, John has gotten this car right.

When you first look at this car as a composition, and without a stock ’36 roadster for comparison, you have a hard time imagining that this combination of traditional custom styling cues, art deco elements and hot rod touches didn’t emerge, as it is, straight from a designer’s sketchpad.

With three years in body work alone, John has forged what is, all at once, funky, cool and, dare I say, a pretty car that looks gorgeous standing still and will look bloody awesome going down the road with the Smithy’s barking. John WILL be driving this car as he has with his previous creations.

The front view of the car is influenced by a ’41 Packard grill that has been modified to fit a custom made shell. From this nose, the handmade hood transitions back with the sharp upper corners of the grille fading away subtlely. The front end is also complimented with ’37 Packard headlight pots fitted with modified ’36 Ford lenses and narrowed rings. Sitting perfectly beneath the headlights are ’50 Ford interior pillar lights that have been modified to act as turn signals – sweet.

The side panels are handmade as are the side panel inserts which feature vertical elements that mimic both the slope of the grill and windshield, which has been chopped a little over two inches but looks lower thanks to the laid back posts and the very nice side profile of the convertible top.

The running boards are fitted with ‘36 Ford side trim and the handmade skirts are embellished with ’37 Packard trim and beautiful custom V8-styled emblems that are laid out horizontally and accented by three spears. The V8 element in these emblems also appears as a hood ornament and trunk detail.

Speaking about the skirts, the front radius, instead of terminating in a line perpendicular with the lower horizontal line of the body, wraps around slightly to end in a curve. Nice detail. At the rear bottom of the skirt, the tapered tip is filleted into the fender. ANOTHER nice detail. Which takes us to the extremely sexy rear end.

To say that there was a lot of work related to the creation of the entire rear section of the car would be an understatement. All of the lines and panels have been reworked or handmade such as the trunk lid and rear deck. The fenders have been lengthened with beautiful fit with the body and lower panel, which is inboard of the fender, tips. ’39 Hudson taillight lenses are utilized along with custom made bezels. The lower valance is punctuated with a “bumper” that was formed from a heavily sectioned ’37 Plymouth front bumper and fitted with modified guards and a custom license plate frame and light bezel. Having seen the car without the bumper, it finishes the rear perfectly. The final rear end details are ’57 Olds dash clock bezels that have been modified for use as exhaust tips – endless details.

Moving inside, there’s oxblood tufted leather covering a custom seat that offers up lots of comfort and, under foot there’s Mercedes wool carpet. And, speaking of details, here’s a line up of some of the interior features: ‘29 Marmon interior lights and bezels, ‘40 Mercury dash shortened to fit, ‘40 Mercury dash insert with stock gauges, ‘49 Ford door garnish trim modified to fit clock, ‘50 Meteor stars on middle glove box door, ‘51 Ford ash tray handle for glove box pull-down, ‘51 Ford Crestliner Deluxe steering wheel, ‘47 Lincoln door openers, ‘40 Ford steering column with locking mechanism and start switch, ‘49 Ford turn signal switch, ‘49 Ford dash knobs, and a ‘53 Chevy armrest. Other items include handmade brake and clutch pedals, gas pedal and shifter knob. Hidden away is an Alpine 2000-watt system c/w subs – perfect for listening to some 12-bar blues.

Under the hood, we find, in addition to a just right white firewall (that continues under the full length of the car – a nice surprise when viewed on a hoist), a beautifully detailed Len Hurley stroker flathead outfitted with a full race cam, Navarro intake, a Ford 91 flanked by two Ford ‘97’s and Edelbrock heads painted red in the valleys. Exhaust flows through Fenton headers, custom piping and Smithy’s. Power is transmitted through a Ford toploader and terminates at a Ford 9”.

Bearing the load is a boxed ’37 Ford frame and air bags with front end duties being handled by an independent MII. The underside of the car is a tasteful combination of red, white, polish and chrome with nice attention to detail in bracketry and arrangement of components. By John’s admission, he expects the underside to get down and dirty going down the road.

Did we mention that the car was black? As it happens, a perfect choice.

Congratulations John. A true custom and a beautiful car.

Before moving on to some photos, John acknowledges:
Dave Remian and Brinn for all metal fabrication and panels
Peter Laabs for all lead work, hand filing and finishing and coach building finesse.
Roy Gibeault for all final body prep and panel straightening, primer and 1st stage paint
Painters Edge for chassis prep and paint
Steve Schneider for final prep and paint
Glassuritz Paint
Carl at Queen city plating
Hal Rowe for the powdercoating
Bill Snow @ Snows Hot-rod shop for chassis mods, suspension and interior body mods
Dream Machines (John Edwards) for chassis, building, engineering and fabricating skills
Dave Mainland for assembly of final components and 7 years of support and fabrication and unlimited help
Len Hurley for a fabulous flathead
Wayne Edwards for the very cool interior and top
Richard Fallows for the hood ornament
Carb for custom made pedal pads, accelerator pedal, bumper mods, license frame, rear window frame, rear view mirror, side mirrors, taillight bezels, machining of one off pieces
Al Webster for all the hard to find pieces like the Packard grill
Steve Manchee for the interior leather
Tom at 400 Auto Wreckers for bits and pieces
Gary Doucette for help in design and custom ideas
Paul Fernly for Merc dash parts
Mark Chapman for selling the car (when it wasn`t for sale)
Mark Morton at Hop-up magazine for his approval and confidence during the build.
Bill Jagenow for all the info and help anywhere, anytime, anyday, always on call
Rod Akey for the glass treatment on the headlights and windshield
Terry Hayes for the funky taillights
Tony Fisher for all the black walnut treatments for the trunk and shifter
Mike Kleba for his incredible work with pot-metal and prep for plating
Chuck and his wife at Mayfair Plating for being always on time, always fair and for the quality work
John Walton for his hot-rod help, knowledge and support