![]() The tradition and history of hotrods started in California in the 1930s, but really took off after the Second World War ended in 1945, with people racing their modified cars on the miles and miles of dry lakes in the southern part of the state. I’m 40, and I’ve had people say to me that they’re glad to see young people still building hotrods,” Sonnenberg said as he laughed. “People are kind of surprised that I’m building a hotrod. The transmission will be a four-speed, A-833 and the engine he had built is a 1956 Dodge Hemi 270, nicknamed a baby Hemi, but Sonnenberg added, “she’ll have triple carbs.” The doors are new too, made just a little bit longer. So far, he has straightened the frame, crafted new wheel tubs, taken out the old firewall and made a new one from scratch as he did with the cowl - the panel between the car’s hood and windshield. Sonnenberg's 1929 Chrysler Roadster sits inside his shop. “When I bought the English wheel, I started learning on my own, practising, watching YouTube videos and ordering books from some of the top builders who do this stuff for a living, and I just taught myself,” Sonnenberg said. One problem: he didn’t exactly know how it worked. His repertoire of vehicles includes a 19 Chevrolet Bel Air, and a 1991 Chevy Suburban, all sold.īut with the Roadster, Sonnenberg wanted to step up his game, and that’s when he bought even more hardware, including an English wheel, which is a metalworking tool that lets the operator shape metal in many different shapes while keeping a smooth surface. It’s one thing to have, and then follow your dream, but you also need the know-how, which Sonnenberg has with his knowledge of welding and metal-shaping. And then we decided to move back to Manitoba to be closer to family, so I built a shop and here it is under construction,” Sonnenberg said. “We drove down to Haslet, Texas, bought it, and took it back to Colorado, but I didn’t touch it for about a year or so. Sonnenberg, a Manitoban, was working in Colorado when he saw the Roadster for sale on Craigslist, so he made the 18-hour return trip to Texas to have a look. ![]() This 1929 Chrysler Roadster was purchased by Westman's Doug Sonnenberg and is now being rebuilt into a hotrod. “I want a black hotrod car with big, big whitewall tires, and pinstripe flames through the whole thing.” “I’ve always liked the old school hotrod look, so this vision has been in my head for years,” Sonnenberg said. In a shop about half an hour northwest of Brandon, Doug Sonnenberg is building a hotrod almost from scratch using a 1929 Chrysler Roadster that he bought a few years ago when he and his family were living in the U.S. What do you get when you cross an old Chrysler Roadster with a guy who’s a fan of old school hotrods, with the drive and determination to combine the two?
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