The 20 Best Hot Rods Of all Time

August 10, 2017

The ZZ Top “Eliminator”

Base car: 1933 Ford Coupe

Billy Gibbons lives what could very easily be described as a dream lifestyle. A guitarist for one of the top bands of the 70s and 80s, proprietor of the Cadzzilla, and also the owner of this monster. A fixture of 1980s culture, and star of several music videos, the Eliminator is based on a 1933 Ford Coupe, and was built by Don Thelan, of Buffalo Motors in Paramount, California.

Featuring a redesigned hood, three inches chopped off the body courtesy of Thelan, Ford tail lights from 1939, and ZZ Top graphics, so everyone would know whose it was, it looked like a dream. It drove like one too, thanks to a 350ci Chevrolet engine from the So-Cal Speed Shop, the camshaft from a Camaro Z-28 and Chevy (once again) Turbo 350 transmission. Combining a classic Ford body with updated Chevrolet components, the Eliminator successfully mates two American legends.

Like a lot of Restomods, Billy found the Eliminator’s original form sitting unloved in a suburb.
“The car that the world knows as the Eliminator coupe came from a little old lady in Tucson, Arizona. She bought it new, and she parked it, and that’s where it stayed—pristine, untouched, unblemished, and ready to go,” he told Gibson. Its story, its build, and its looks all ensure it a place on this list.

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