Street Feature: Larry Shoemake’s 10.80 second 1937 Chevy

1200-6Larry Shoemake of Bremerton, Washington, has owned this 1937 Chevy for 33 years, but it sat in his garage for nearly half of the time that he owned it. It was at that point, after 17 years of storage, that Larry made the decision to turn it into a racecar. “It didn’t look anything like this when I got it,” Larry explained. “It had fenders, chrome, and a straight-six!”

Now, instead of an inline six-cylinder engine, it has a 355 cubic-inch V8 with Edelbrock aluminum heads, a Comp Cams camshaft, a Holley carburetor, MSD ignition, a powerglide automatic transmission with a B&M shifter, and a Ford 9-inch rearend with 4.11:1 gearing. This ’37 Chevy four-door is capable of running the quarter mile in just 10.80 seconds.

1200-4The ride on this has been improved with Mustang II front suspension and disc brakes all the way around. Larry had the forethought of adding stopping power when he built his car with a drivetrain capable of making it go so fast. With safety in mind, Larry also added a roll bar, and to complement the drivetrain performance, the instruments are now all made up of Auto Meter gauges.

The unusual headlights on this car are actually not headlights at all, nor are they simple headlight deletes or covers—they are even simpler than that! “I pulled an 18-inch wheel stand and when the front end dropped back down, the headlights popped right out,” Larry explained. “These are BestPie pie tins.” The decorative stickers that are displayed over the pie tins are a small addition from Larry’s granddaughter. Not a bad touch at all, we like it.

The Mustang II front suspension (far left), the dash with Auto Meter gauges (second from left), and the original 1937 headliner and door panels (second right and far right).

If you want your car or truck to be a part of our Street Feature series, all you have to do is shoot us an email and tell us about your ride and we will make it happen.

About the author

Kyler Lacey

A 2015 Graduate from Whitworth University, Kyler has always loved cars. He grew up with his dad's '67 Camaro in the garage and started turning wrenches at a young age. At seventeen, he bought his first classic, a '57 Chevy Bel Air four-door, and has since added a '66 Plymouth Valiant and '97 Cadillac Deville to his collection. When he isn't writing for Power Automedia, he's out shooting pictures at car shows, hiking in the forests of the beautiful Pacific Northwest, or working on something in the garage.
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