Shaun Miller's 1934 Ford

A photo of Shaun with the coupe taken in May of 2021. Shaun purchased the old hot rod from a fellow in Plantsville, Connecticut in May of 2021. "The seller hadn't had it too long," Shaun told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama. "Said he got it from his friend, who had it a long time but didn’t build it." Photo courtesy of Shaun Miller.

Built back in the days, Shaun's coupe featured a heavy channel job and a 1932 Ford grille shell when he bought it. It ran motorcycle-type fenders up front and bobbed and molded-in fenders in the rear. Photo courtesy of Shaun Miller.

"The floors are brazed all the way around, and the dimples are hammered in. There are nicely built brackets for everything, and the brazing/welding is very well done. Someone spent some serious time on this car," Shaun told Sondre. Photo courtesy of Shaun Miller.

The top was unchopped, and it was dressed up with 1959 Cadillac taillights. The taillights and the license plate were set into a rear grille opening. Photo courtesy of Shaun Miller.

Photo courtesy of Shaun Miller.

Photo courtesy of Shaun Miller.

Photo courtesy of Shaun Miller.

Photo courtesy of Shaun Miller.

When this photo was taken, Shaun had purchased a chopped 1934 Ford grille for the coupe. "Supposedly it came off a heavily channeled 34 roadster from the East coast." Photo courtesy of Shaun Miller.

Late 2021, Shaun reached out to the fellow he bought the car from. "I guess he was in the spirit because he finally gave me a name," Shaun told Kustomrama. "He said that a Tom Staback out of Southington, Connecticut built the car, but drove it very little. He then parked it next to his house under a tarp for years." Unfortunately, Tom passed away a month after Shaun got the coupe. Shaun then did some detective work himself, and a satellite photo on Google showed what looks like a coup under a tarp at Tom's address. "It seems Mr. Staback owned a Mobil station and Toms Auto Service in Southington. I’ve talked with his long-time girlfriend's son, who worked for him but doesn’t even remember the coupe. He did however say that Tom was very quiet and didn’t share much."

A photo of Shaun's Coupe taken in March of 2022. He rolled it out so he could stand back and see how it looks from a distance. A great source of motivation, according to Shaun. The red 1933 Ford 5-Window was a car that Shaun got when he was 18. It had been sitting in a swamp for 50 years, and he got it fr $400. Photo courtesy of Shaun Miller.

The third Pontiac 389 engine that Shaun had tried to use for the coupe was at the machine shop when this photo was taken. It looked like it was in a good shape, so Shaun was hoping to be terrorizing the streets with the coupe that summer! Photo courtesy of Shaun Miller.

Photo courtesy of Shaun Miller.

Lost and Found

1934 Ford 5-Window Coupe owned by Shaun Miller of Wilmot, New Hampshire. Shaun purchased the old hot rod from a fellow in Plantsville, Connecticut in May of 2021. "The seller hadn't had it too long," Shaun told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama in May of 2021. "Said he got it from his friend, who had it a long time but didn’t build it."

Channeled and Unchopped

Built back in the days, Shaun's coupe featured a heavy channel job and a 1932 Ford grille shell when he bought it. "The floors are brazed all the way around, and the dimples are hammered in. There are nicely built brackets for everything, and the brazing/welding is very well done. Someone spent some serious time on this car," Shaun told Sondre. It ran motorcycle-type fenders up front and bobbed and molded-in fenders in the rear. The top was unchopped, and it was dressed up with 1959 Cadillac taillights. The taillights and the license plate were set into a rear grille opening. The front wheels were Radir wheels and the tires were all brand new, from back in the 1960s or the 1970s, and they still had the nubs on them.

Pontiac Power

The coupe was powered by a 1960 Pontiac 389 engine that had been bored .060 over and hopped up with Isky roller tappets, an Isky RR3 "Super Street" camshaft, an aluminum flywheel, an Edelbrock 2x4 intake, and a Hurst mount. "Unfortunately, it looks like the motor and trans need to be pulled and at least the engine rebuilt. Planning to do a mechanical resto while it's out, but leave the body pretty much as-is. Doors open and shut beautifully which is hard to believe," Shaun told Kustomrama. The engine was hooked to a T10 4-speed transmission and a Pontiac rear end with positraction.

Do You Recognize Shaun's Coupe?

Shaun's survivor coupe came without any info or history to go with it. He tried to get more info out of the seller, but he wouldn't give out any. Shaun is currently trying to trace the history of the car. After buying it, he got a tip that said it came out of a Joe Eichner Sr/Jr's Auto Body Shop in Colombia, Connecticut. He followed that lead, but it didn't pan out as he reached out to one of them that could confirm that it wasn't the car. Shaun is not sure that it ever saw much road back in the days. "The Speedo shows 21 miles, and everything is wired to function, but only had that fiberglass bucket bolted in. No evidence of inspection or registration. Doesn’t look like it was set up to drag race either. Maybe it was a show car that never got finished?" The windshield glass is marked 1967.

Tom Staback? Another Lead Comes In

Late 2021, Shaun reached out to the fellow he bought the car from. "I guess he was in the spirit because he finally gave me a name," Shaun told Kustomrama. "He said that a Tom Staback out of Southington, Connecticut built the car, but drove it very little. He then parked it next to his house under a tarp for years." Unfortunately, Tom passed away a month after Shaun got the coupe. Shaun then did some detective work himself, and a satellite photo on Google showed what looks like a coup under a tarp at Tom's address. "It seems Mr. Staback owned a Mobil station and Toms Auto Service in Southington. I’ve talked with his long-time girlfriend's son, who worked for him but doesn’t even remember the coupe. He did however say that Tom was very quiet and didn’t share much." Did you know Tom? Or do you recognize this East Coast survivor coupe? Please get in touch with Kustomrama at mail@kustomrama.com if you have any info to share about Shaun's coupe.