Who doesn’t enjoy rompin’ down the quarter-mile in a Tri-Five Chevy with a high-winding small-block? Now, imagine if that ride were longer than one-fourth of a mile. Danny Parker gets to enjoy that with every twist of the key in his high-nosed ’55 gasser.

Danny will admit that his car was not built to be a strip bruiser, but rather, for enjoyment on the street (as evidenced by the proper registration out back). For many enthusiasts, that is just as much fun as cutting a low e.t. at the track. In fact, if duration of the ride is the judge, we’d say the fun-factor is almost unlimited.

The car as Danny picked it up. Hardly considered a gasser, but Danny saw the potential.

Danny’s ’55 started out as the typical six-cylinder, three-on-the-tree, post car. While the drivetrain might not be prime pickin’ for a hot rod, the rest of the car was pure gold. Danny acquired the car from an elderly woman whose husband had passed away, and she simply wanted the car out of their shop. The car’s overall condition was quite satisfactory as a foundation for a hopped-up Tri-Five.

In Danny’s own words, “We never touched the outside, we just rebuilt the bottom side of it.” Sounds a lot like how the guys made their gassers back in the day, since those cars were economical, used autos that had been passed over as a daily driver for more modern versions. Danny will tell you that the car had been repainted once, likely back in the ’60s, but other than that, the car was “all original”.

While it made for a great foundation, the bulk of the transformation was achieved with a lot of help from Danny’s friends Keith Durden and Doug Bailey. To that end, the guys swapped out the trusty six-cylinder for a high-winding 327 that was originally destined for a rat rod. The previous owner of the small-block decided not to use the engine, so Danny felt that it would make the perfect powerplant for his high-nosed hauler. Of course, all the necessary cues of a respectable racer were added. Items such as the towering two-four intake with requisite Holley carbs catches your eye, but then you notice the equally audacious fenderwell headers. The super-bright Accel coil and wires help sell the brash performance-minded character of a proper gasser.

Outside, the characteristic high-nose attitude is carried out with a set of spacers, and a chassis that was rebuilt using Classic Performance Products (CPP) components. Out back, a 9-inch now resides with 3.89 cogs to help heat up the hides on those chrome reversed rims. Since the car was originally a manually-shifted model, a Muncie M21 was merely a few bolts away from finding its way under the car. The transmission brings grabbin’ gears in a gasser to a whole new level, and allows that 327 to come to full-song before the next shift changes the tune.

Just like the rest of the car, the interior was much like it should be, except if you’re wanting to put out a gasser vibe. So, the guys changed a few things as Danny saw fit without removing any of the car’s street credibility. The main thing you’ll notice is the oh-so-sixties sparkle-riddled steering wheel. While debatable whether it brings an ounce of performance to the table, there’s no denying that it slams this shoebox squarely into the gasser era. Of course, the vintage Moon tachometer is also a throwback to when horsepower and RPM both grew to unprecedented levels, often surpassing the tachometer’s limits of 8,000 rpm.

All in all, Danny’s ’55 is set to have fun in that by-gone era of the gassers. The fact that it retains its streetable acumen, ensures that Danny can enjoy all that fun, as often, and as far as he chooses.