1966 Chrysler Town and Country Station Wagon

My next door neighbour recently bought and shipped to the UK a 1966 Chrysler Town and Country Station Wagon as a restoration project. When he received the Chrysler, it was drivable but needed a lot of work doing. So far he has replaced the fuel tank, the brake servo, some of the suspension. It now also has a UK number plate. Still to work on is the paint work and some of the electrical items, he has all the parts it's now a matter of finding the time to do the work. The interior all around is in good condition as is the dashboard which has the biggest speedometer I have seen. This car is a monstrous 19 feet long and comes equipped with a 372ci Edelbrook Small Block V8 engine that produces 274BHP. The gearbox is automatic with a column shift gear selector. It has leaf springs and drum brakes. It weighs around 2.5 tonnes. So what is this car like on the road? This car was not built for speed, it was built for long distance cross country driving so the seats are very comfortable. In the case of speed bumps you barely notice them and the engine sounds great as you cruise along the road. The acceleration is not the quickest and its best to plan corners and take them slowly due to the size of the car. There is a fair amount of body roll and squealing tyre's if taken with moderate speed. Braking is also best done slowly due to the size and weight of the vehicle. Below are more photos of the car and these will be updated as more of the restoration is complete.

Valley Gas Speed Shop

Valley Gas Speed Shop is a hot rod shop founded by owner Jimmy Hibberd in 1999. They were originally based in Newbury but relocated to Andover due to the council wanting to knock the area down to build flats. 

They have the ability to work on English classic cars, standard American cars and they have built award winning hot rods and rat rods. They are also able to build race engines and custom exhaust systems. They have even been commissioned to build concept cars. Everything they do is made by hand for the customers needs, from the metalwork, fabrication and panelling to engine builds, suspension, interior and brakes. Jimmy's love of cars began when his American uncle was stationed in the UK as a U.S. Airforce pilot. Jimmy's uncle owned a red Mk1 Cortina 1500 GT. Once Jimmy's uncle returned to America he would send Jimmy photos of him racing his twin engined Ford Torino called the Green Machine. Jimmy then took an apprenticeship in Mechanics then worked his way through various welding and fabricating jobs. While out driving one day in his Rover V8, Jimmy saw Ken Brooks Rebellion (a modified Austin 7) and wanted one. Jimmy then bought a Ford Consul, chopped it and completely rebuilt it. He took it to Ken Brooks garage for an MOT. Ken was impressed at the workmanship of Jimmy's car and they became good friends. From then on Jimmy bought and rebuilt cars working seven days a week. Jimmy's most famous creation was a 1940's Willys drag racer called The Boston Brawler that could do the quarter mile in just over 9 seconds. At a drag race in Hockenheim in 1999, Jimmy's car first carried the Valley Gas Speed Shop logo and he never looked back. Jimmy's team Micki, Steve, Steve "Banger", Gary, and Ben, Colin, Rob, Jimmy's wife Eloise and Amy share Jimmy's passion for cars which is a good thing as very often hours are long and hard to get cars finished for their customers. 

Parked outside is the Valley Gas Speed Shop is their van and  a Chevrolet Pickup truck.

At the front of the Valley Gas Speed Shop is the shop where car parts can be ordered along with a range of clothing and car parts and accessories. 

Valley Gas Speed Shop has a 7,500 square foot floor area and is equipped with a folder, a guillotine, a fly press, a roller swagger tool, a chassis gig, an English wheel and many others. Below are some cars currently being worked on.                                                                                                         

This kind of a hot rod will cost around £65,000       

                                 



And this one around £55,000












All of the fabrication and welding is done by hand






 

This will be a drag racer

Jimmy and Elouise's car

 Inside the engine room

 This is replica of the car made by Esdel Ford and will eventually look like........






This







                                                                                                                                                          If you want to get in touch, please find below a link to their website:  www.valleygasspeedshop.com

I would like to thank Jimmy for taking the time to show me around and giving me his time