This 1934 Ford Tudor Sedan has been a family staple in the Guynes family since 1964. It began life as a family vehicle for Russell Guynes's parents after they tied the knot. Russell has fond memories of working on the '34 with his dad and brother throughout the late 70's. In their spare time, they would disassemble the car into pieces for repair and collect parts from junkyards, magazines ads, and wherever word of mouth took them.
In June of 1985, tragedy struck the Guynes family. Russell's father passed away at 43 years old. The family downsized and no longer had room for the family Tudor. The car, 454BBC, and the remaining pieces were moved to a barn for storage, completely disassembled except for the doors attached to the body. In 2013, Russell's brother wanted to try to get the project going again. He retrieved the 454BBC motor from storage and had it rebuilt and bored to a 468CI by his uncle once again. Life took another unexpected turn, with Russell's brother passing away in 2016, again leaving this family project at a standstill.
The project was still on his mind, especially realizing his children and niece, ages 7 and 14, were growing up fast and were at a similar age as he was during this part of the project. Russell retrieved the motor and headed out to the barn as soon as he could to see if the '34 was still sitting in storage. Like it had been frozen in time since they dropped it off in 1985, the family Tudor was still intact. After hauling the pieces of the former hot rod back home, it took some time for Russell to realize the project was more than he could take on. He went looking for a local builder and came across Murpho's Rods and Customs in Buda, Texas. This was a top to bottom restoration for the Murpho's team. The suspension was dressed up with chrome dropped I-beam straight axles up front, RideTech adjustable coil over shocks in the rear, a narrowed Ford 9" with 3.89 gear, and a Detriot TruTrak differential with parallel 4-link front and rear.
Along with the family engine, the transmission was upgraded to a Tremec TKO600 5 Speed OD and classic instruments vintage gauges. Duel Holley double pumpers sitting on top of a Weiand tunnel ram intake, topped off with aluminum open chamber heads and Sanderson headers, gave the engine an upgrade. The Tudor was also tubbed, the hood custom cut to fit the intake scoop, and late 30's Zephyr taillights for a kustom touch. Murpho painted this car a beautiful crimson candy. The interior was completed by Zach Black Customs, with only one request from Russell's mom – that it be tucked and pleated, just like it was in the 60s.
Murpho and his team were able to make Russell's dream of a 1960's era hot rod come to life. Russell praises Murpho and everyone at the shop involved, saying the car exceeded his expectations and wants to convey how special the car is to him. It was so important to Russell to pull out all the stops to finish this project so he could take his mom, uncle, wife, niece, and kids for a ride. He realized he needed to seize the moment to get the chance to share this car with his family. Now, every time he fires up the engine, Russell is taken back to being a 12-year-old kid, behind the sound and feel of that 454, who was always ready to go on a crazy hot rod ride.
