Jimmy Smith drew his first hot rods when he was three years old. We're guessing that the concept was box-shaped and bristling with machine guns and rocket launchers. Luckily, his style evolved over the years, especially as he has worked with hot-rod shops and individuals around the country. Squeeg's Kustoms, Pinkee's Rod Shop, Boyd Coddington, Rick Dore, and many others have tapped Jimmy to bring their brainstorms to life.
Illustration by: Jimmy Sm...
Illustration by: Jimmy Smith
Unfortunately, designing takes much of his time, which means that his own projects have to wait. Take the truck on this spread as an example. Jimmy said that this 1964 F-100 is based on his truck (except that the one on these pages is finished). This majestic beauty looks like it was sprinkled with gold fairy dust. (Those would be wee people from the other side of the tracks, tattooed and wielding arc welders like wands.) Its glittery pearl-satin-lime-gold body capped by a flaked roof rides on old-school American Racing five-spokes in Radir drag slicks. What you can't see is the 351ci Cleveland V-8 purring songs of speed to the C6 automatic. A narrow 8-inch rear rides on a triangulated four-link suspension, while up front a Volare sports its adjustable crossover torsion bars.
Illustration by: Jimmy Sm...
Illustration by: Jimmy Smith
Retro styling has been hot on both the OE and custom sides, inspiring Jimmy to come up with this hot-rod family hauler. This remixed 1953-56 F-100 panel samples a '46-'48 sedan and a lot of notional contemporary ideas. The final cut has four doors, a super-aggressive stance with new-old 22x8- and 22x10-inch wheels. Stretch the imagination and you might see all-wheel drive in this picture. Jimmy calls this new way forward a 2010 F-SUV. Hey, is anyone from Ford paying attention to this?
Jimmy Smith Hot Rod Design is the brainchild of Jimmy and his supportive wife, Rachel. Most of his work is rendered with traditional methods. (Those would be paper and pencil for you post-analog types out there.) His Mac helps with the digital projects, particularly logo and T-shirt designs. He said he loves nothing more than to get his latest thoughts onto paper for all to see. And we sure like looking at it.