After you’ve built several hot rods – including the standards like the Ford Model A, a 1936 Ford pickup, some 1955 Chevrolets, a few Tri-Five Chevy hardtops, and a couple of mid-fifties Crown Victoria Fords, what’s next?

Paul and Linda Steffey of Casper, Wyoming, are true blue oval fans, and Paul really likes mid-fifties Fords. He has built quite a few over the years. Owning up to that, the only logical next choice would be to build the perfect old-school style 1956 Ford two-door hardtop.

In 2004, Paul started looking for and found a local candidate to be a project car, and began the build process. After many months of bodywork, fabrication, paint, and refurbishing stainless trim, the period-perfect old school custom “Vicki” rolled out of Paul’s shop. The Vicki sported a 292 Y-block dressed  with three-deuces, wide whitewall tires, four-bar flipper hubcaps, fender skirts, an retina-searing white interior, and two-tone paint.

How It Got Started

The build proved to be very popular with many enthusiasts, and after many car shows and awards, the build-something-else itch returned. Paul’s wife, Linda, decided he should build her a car to satisfy the itch – this time, it would be a 1956 Crown Victoria. In 2007, the same meticulous process brought about a beautiful restomod Ford Crown Victoria, which made the wife happy.

Despite the domestic bliss, that follow up project was still not enough to satisfy the itch, and Paul wanted yet another project. The question was; What to build this time? Was building the ultimate 1956 Ford an impossibility? Not really. With the experience Paul gained throughout the years of building Fords, why not do a 1956 Sunliner convertible? The plan was set in motion to make it the crown jewel of all ‘56s out there. Nothing but the best was used in building this one. According to some, the best part of the build is the 427 ci Roush engine.

Building an ultimate anything is easier said than done. To start with, it is much easier to dream about finding a convertible in decent shape to begin the process, than to actually find one. Suffice to say, that major problem took a few months. But after an exhaustive effort, Paul finally found one in Arkansas. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot left of it. The convertible body had a clear title, but the lower parts of the body were badly rusted. Undeterred, he bought it anyway, hoping he could find patch panels to put it back together.

The floors were gone and the fenders were so rotten that they were literally coming apart and flying out of the trailer on the way home. But the important bows for the convertible top were still there, and sadly, that was really all the donor car was good for.

Back in his shop, he realized there wasn’t enough left of the car to work with, so he decided to search for another. As luck would have it, another candidate was found in Kansas, a bit closer to his home state of Wyoming.

Putting The Pieces Together

Rust, the ever present nemesis, had been consuming it for several years, and no amount of patch panels could save this one either. Figuring that both cars offered the best start he was going to find, Paul started cutting and fitting. Eventually, extra body parts occupied most of his shop, and the best ones would be used to make one perfect, complete unit.

During the process of building the convertible, Paul acquired several parts cars, and it got to the point he finally had enough to finish the car. Fortunately, over the years, he’d squirreled away extra parts from his previous Crown Victoria builds, and kept a lot of hard-to-find parts. That was a key factor in completing the ragtop.

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Minor body mods see the exhaust tips exiting in front of the rear wheels, the antenna frenched into the rear quarter-panel, and the removal of hood and trunk emblems, as well as the door handles.

Paul kept the stock frame, but made a few modifications. The front suspension features Fatman 2-inch drop spindles, Wilwood disc brakes, and an Air Ride suspension. To the rear, he added a 9-inch Ford rearend with a Truetrac spinning a 3.50:1 gear ratio. The rear brakes are also from Wilwood.

When the mods were done, front wheels were added – Intro 17 x 7 with Kingsman 235-45-ZR tires.  Nitto tires‘  295-45-ZR 18 radials occupy the rear on the same style wheels.

Once the frame and suspension was complete and mobile, the body work began in earnest. Soon enough, the body metal was straight enough for paint, and the car went into the paint booth. The paint choice was PPG Deltron Flaming Aztec Red basecoat with PPG Concept 2021 clearcoat over the top.

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The interior features Cadillac buckets, a hand-built console running the length of the interior, and Classic Instruments filling the dash.

Even though the body mods were kept to a minimum, the car really doesn’t need many to make it stand out from the crowd. A simple nose and deck job was sufficient, and an antenna was frenched into the rear quarter. The grille, headlights, and taillights were kept stock, and the stock bumpers had the bolts shaved, and then were rechromed.

In the interior, which was handled by Steve Mannon of Kimball, Nebraska, showcases a hand-built center console that runs the length of the interior, and the seats were removed from an ’06 Cadillac Eldorado, and then covered in leather. The stock dash has been modified for the Classic Instruments  All American Series gauges. The steering column is an ididit telescoping unit with a Billet Specialties steering wheel atop it.

As we alluded to earlier, the center piece to the car , is the Roush 427 ci engine with an electric fuel injection unit from Mototron. Looking a lot like Inglese injection, the Weber-style eight-stack injection sits atop the engine like a king’s crown. The entire unit is polished to a high luster, and matching the Roush valve covers and a front runner serpentine belt system finish it off. The engine boasts a tire-frying 566 horsepower.

Internally, the Eagle crankshaft is made of 4340 forged steel, and Eagle also got the nod for connecting rods. The heads are Roush-ported aluminum pieces with stainless valves. The intake valves are 2.08 inches, and exhaust is 1.60-inches. The transmission is a Bowler 4R70, and the torque converter has a 2,400 stall speed. The radiator is by Performance Rod and Custom, and the fan is by Flex-a-lite. Moving the exhaust are headers that were created by Jardine.

The car was completed in the spring of 2016, and as Paul stated: “We built the rag top, and two million man hours later, Shazam, instant hot rod. And it goes fast.” Paul and Linda have put a lot of miles on the car traveling to several Goodguy’s events across the country.

But now what? Start over again? Maybe build another Model A? Yep, sure enough, the pursuit of perfection continues. Paul and Linda are now in the midst of building a 1931 Model A sedan with a blown Ardun flat head. The second version of perfection is only a few months away.