The Renaissance Roadster: a tailor-made dream on four wheels!

Reading time 3 Min.

The world of custom cars has many successful vehicles, but only a few reach the perfection of Renaissance roadsters. It started as a vision of Nancy and Buddy Jordan from Portland, Oregon, who created the tuner Steve Frisbie and his team from Steve's Auto Restorations commissioned to make a dream come true. Inspired by one 1933 Ford, however, the similarity does not go beyond the concept. Almost every component of the car is from the ground up handmade. The body is made of hand-formed 3003 aluminum, while the frame is out sheet steel and Round tube was constructed. By the way, we think the unique ones are particularly successful Headlight inserts, the modified 1934 Chrysler lenses and modern HID Halo LEDs house.

2017 Renaissance Roadster

And there's a monster hidden under the hood: a fantastically tuned one 427 CID Chevy Big Block V8 made of aluminum, coupled to a GM 4L60 automatic transmission. But it's not just the technical things that are impressive. The interior, of course, complete handmade, shows up with CNC machined pedals and steering column as well as special Show. The red and black leather interior from Dan's Auto Upholstery of Portland installed, is consistent with the two-tone red/dark red of the exterior, which is a custom-made combination of GM and Tesla colors. By the way, the rear axle suspension is based on one Ford Mustang IRS system and is CNC machined Chassis components and a special one Differential cover equipped.

awarded the 2017 Ridler Award

The Brake from Wilwood all around completes the overall package. Of course, such a level of perfection does not go unnoticed. The Renaissance Roadster was launched with the 2017 Ridler Award awarded, one of the highest honors in the custom car scene. But that was just one of many awards the roadster collected over the course of the year.

The word “Renaissance” refers to the rebirth of culture and style. And Chris Ito and the team at Steve's Auto Restorations have achieved exactly that - they have created the timeless design of the Ford Model 40 revived and given it a modern twist. The Renaissance Roadster is much more than just a car, it is a Artwork on wheels.

Renaissance Roadster – the key data:

• Body:
  • completely handmade
  • 0,063-inch 3003 aluminum alloy
  • All parts, including grill, bumpers, hinges, body, windows and rims are made in-house
  • Unique headlights (modified 1934 Chrysler lenses and modern HID halo LED)
• Landing gear:
  • 0,1875-inch steel plate
  • 1,5-inch round tube
  • Remote shock absorbers
  • Front split-beam independent suspension
  • Mustang based independent rear suspension
• Engine:
  • Chevrolet Performance 427-ci (7,0-liter) aluminum big-block V8
  • about 500 PS
  • Aluminum intake manifold with three injections
  • Parts such as the oil pan, valve cover, air filter housing and the beltless water pump are special CNC billet parts from SAR
  • GM 4L60 automatic transmission
• indoor:
  • handmade
  • CNC machined pedals and steering column
  • unique instruments
  • Red and black leather seats and door panels from Dan's Auto Upholstery
• Rear suspension:
  • CNC arms/carriers, semi-axes etc.
  • special differential cover
  • Wilwood brakes all around
• Design features:
  • Hood openings with chrome look
  • two-tone paint (dark cherry metallic – mix of GM and Tesla colors)
• Construction project:
  • 20.000 employee hours
  • 42 months of construction
  • Completely new build, no old Model 40 as a basis
• indoor:
  • new dashboard from a 1930 Nash
  • Retro style ads of Classic Instruments
  • Seats in two-tone leather to match the paintwork

other related posts

Even more classic news and more tuned Young and oldtimers there is in our Tuning classics category.

2017 Renaissance Roadster: tailor-made dream on four wheels!
Photo credit/source: Steve's Auto Restorations et al

tuningblog.eu - the tuning magazine