There is something magical about meeting a skilled hot rod builder. More often than not, the really talented artisans are humble about their abilities. For every famous professional designer and builder like Chip Foose or Roy Brizio, there are many more who fabricate stunning creations in their home shops.
While attending the Goodguys 12th Southeastern Nationals in Charlotte, North Carolina, last year, we met Dennis Frings of Concord, North Carolina. The '44 Chevy highboy pickup he premiered at the show was as awesome a machine as we've ever seen in our years of custom vintage truck and car worship. Dennis shared with us that, "I've been interested in cars since 1950, when I was 15 and bought my first Hot Rod magazine." His dad liked racing, so by 1952, father and son built and ran '37 Ford coupes at the local circle tracks in his childhood home state of Wisconsin.
Since 1967, Dennis has specialized in building tube-frame race cars at Frings Chassis. Dennis moved to Concord 19 years ago. His race car-building winning ways include NASCAR champions, quarter-mile Circle Track luminaries, 24-Hour at Daytona winners, 12-Hour Sebring GTO class champs, and 24-Hour Le Mans France 2nd place in class finishers. Drivers including Terry LaBonte, Gene Felton, Darrell Waltrip, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, Ricky Craven, and Jaimie Aube have all won piloting Frings-built tube-frame race cars.
In 1992, Dennis retired to start building his hot rod collection. His retirement goal is to build one car a year. Though his '44 Chevy highboy pickup took 18 months to create, we don't consider it a failure. After learning more about the hauler, you likely won't think he missed his goal either.
Dennis purchased the cab, doors, dash, and 1944 title at the 2004 Spring Charlotte Auto Fair. The truck came from Kansas, and apart from an extremely rough roof, the cab was in decent shape. What with all the fabrication he did to the original body components, even enthusiasts are hard-pressed to guess the truck's brand. Most people think it's a '30s or '40s vintage Ford.
Not long after hauling the components home Dennis had lopped 5.25 inches from the rear of the cab's top and 5 inches from the front. He did this to make the top of the door-window opening parallel with its base. By doing so, the one-piece roof became four pieces. For the cowl, more than 150 hours went into welding holes closed. He also added a pied and tapered reveal to the bottom of the cowl, which he mirrored on the doors, the back of the cab, and the lower bedsides. Dennis shortened the hood 3.25 inches and welded a long, narrow pie section down the hood's middle to achieve the desired proportions. He welded the hood back together and got the sought 9-degree angle down from the hood's peak.
As you can imagine, the same fastidious attention to detail that goes into the construction of championship race cars makes its way into every vehicle Dennis creates for his growing hot rod collection. For example, consider the front suspension of Frings' fabricated custom chassis. He employed a Magnum 5-inch dropped tube axle that's 48 inches wide. Spindles from a '39 Ford with Speedway Motors' 4-inch dropped steering arms, '60 Buick brakes with finned aluminum drums, and circa-1970 backing plates from Frankland Racing Equipment in Ruskin, Florida; hubs from a '39 Ford; a front spring from West Branch, Iowa's Chassis Engineering; and front shocks from Pete and Jakes of Pecular, Missouri, all went into the construction of the front steering and suspension system. We forgot to mention the front of the chassis steps up 1 inch. For raising or lowering the foundation, an adjustable suicide spring perch was employed. To accommodate the height change, the lower shock mounts offer three settings. Dennis built his own lower batwings because the frame was so low, and fabricated the hairpins from stainless steel. Do you think he could have ever figured out how well these different used, new, and owner-made components work together if he hadn't been a longtime racecar designer, engineer, and builder? We don't think so either.
With all the ingenuity, time, and effort Dennis spent on creating his '44, we'd need to devote an entire issue of CCT to do justice to the truck. Regrettably, we don't have the space. Instead, we'll let large photos tell part of the tale. Dennis, we appreciate making your acquaintance and look forward to seeing, photographing, and writing about your next hot rod hauler project. Please let CCT feature your next truck.
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 Rolling the righteous hauler...  Rolling the righteous hauler are aluminum circle-track racing wheels by Goudy Racing Wheels in Los Angeles. The front wheels have a 3-inch backspace and are 15x6 inches. In the rear, they're 15x8 inches and wear a 3.5-inch backspace. Diamond Back Classic Radials wrap the wheels, 195/60R15-inch for the front and 275/60R15-inch in the back. |
 Eddie Brown of Harrisburg,...  Eddie Brown of Harrisburg, NC, applied the artful red-over-white pinstriping, which enhanced the owner's two-tone DuPont paint job. Dennis fabricated the parking-light stanchions, which mount '33 Ford cowl lights. Of unknown manufacture, the headlights are swap-meet items that are approximately 2 inches longer than the aftermarket ones currently available. |
 Utilizing a core from Howe...  Utilizing a core from Howe Racing in Beaverton, OR, the owner fabricated the aluminum radiator. Three Stromberg 48 single-barrel carbs atop the Offenhauser intake feed the Hemi mill a healthy supply of fuel and air. Poteats milled the intake so the carbs' mounting surfaces would be level. |
 A '52 Ford truck rear window...  A '52 Ford truck rear window he narrowed 2.5 inches with the top chop provided the best proportions in Dennis' artistic, engineering, and execution-oriented brain, so he made it so. From any angle, Dennis Frings' '44 Chevy highboy truck is way beyond cool. Perhaps that's why his pickup won a CCT Top Ten Trucks award and a Meguiar's Magnificent Masterpiece prize its first time out at the Goodguys 12th Southeastern Nationals 2005 in Charlotte, NC. |
 Dennis painted the pickup...  Dennis painted the pickup DuPont Chroma-One Black and Dark Charcoal basecoats and applied the clearcoats. To achieve such a rakish stance, the owner made the rear of the custom-built chassis, from the bottom of the toeboard back, go up a gradual 4 degrees. |
 Located in the owner's town...  Located in the owner's town of Concord, Earl Talbert trimmed the '80 Mercury Lynx bucket seats in gray vinyl. Dennis left the door panels stock but used gray wool carpet to cover the floor, exclusive of the aluminum trans hump. The photo also reveals the louvers in the panels beneath the bedsides, as well as the continuation of the lower cab reveal--subtle touches abound in this first-class pickup. |
 Except for an 80-pound GMC...  Except for an 80-pound GMC oil pressure gauge to replace the stock 30-pound Chevy instrument, Dennis refurbished the dashboard and gauges to factory-new condition. A '73 Pontiac wheel and ididit non-tilt column well accomplish the steering duties; these attach to a much-modified Vega steering box. |
 From .063-inch-thick aluminum...  From .063-inch-thick aluminum sheets and 1.75-inch square-tube stake pockets, the owner built the 44-inch-long bed. Dan Carpenter's Specialties in Norwood, NC, put the roll in the tops of the bed panels. An aluminum 11-gallon fuel tank from Mas Racing Products of St. Paul, MN, resides in the front of the bed. |
 Installed with aircraft streamline...  Installed with aircraft streamline tubing, '37 Ford taillights were used. To locate the 3.05-inch final-drive ratio helical-cut change gears comprised Halibrand V-8 quick-change, Dennis utilized a triangulated four-link with drilled Ford wishbone lower links to give the suspension an old hot rod look from either side view. The rear brakes came from a '48 Lincoln, shrouded by '60 Buick drums on '39 Ford hubs. All the rod ends are lined with 4130 Teflon. The rear shocks are QA-1 coilovers with progressive-rate springs, 100/200. |
 Power comes from a '54 Dodge...  Power comes from a '54 Dodge truck 241ci Hemi engine that Poteats Engine Service in Kannapolis, NC, bored .030-inch over. Hot Heads supplied the oil filter adaptor and the TH-350 trans adaptor. For better ground clearance, Dennis fabricated and replaced the Sanderson Header outlets. The owner also made the engine mounts and the water pump adaptors to accept a Weiand Short B.B.C. water pump. |
 The frame is comprised of...  The frame is comprised of 2x4x.120-inch-thick steel with mandrel-bent kick-ups in the rear. Boyce Industries of Melrose Park, IL, performed the mandrel bends, while the owner constructed the chassis. Halfway up the kick-ups, the frame-rails taper to 3 inches. Starting at the front crossmember, the 'rails begin to taper down, until they reach 2.25 inches in width at the very front of the chassis. The taper begins at the pie cut, located at the bottom of the cab's toeboard. |