1932 Tudor #193C

1932 Tudor #193C

On loan courtesy of Dennis Varni:
We were standing between the two hot rod coupes that we had just driven to California for the second time—we were still surprised at the commotion they had caused—when this guy with an easy smile walked up.
“Just wanted to tell you I bought Peter Vincent’s calendar, just for the cover. Never opened it, just hung it over my desk.”
We had started getting used to our 15 minutes of fame, but when he came back the second time with a quick-change under his arm, he said, “Take this home with you.” We just looked at each other and said, “Damn, these California guys are friendly.”
It wasn’t until the third time we asked his name, while he was setting down another armload of parts, that he answered: “Dennis Varni. You guys are gonna need these to build me a Rolling Bones hot rod.” The Rolling Bones Hot Rod Shop was born, it was just that simple.
Three weeks later Dennis was in our shop looking over a 1932 Tudor body and frame that Keith had. Within an hour, we were shaking hands, and he said, “Let’s build this.”
Dennis’ Tudor is powered by a 251 cubic inch, 250 horsepower Baby Hemi. It was hooked to a five-speed transmission and an early V8 quick-change, both of which he supplied along with many great ideas and advice. We had turned down offer after offer to sell our hot rod coupes, and although a few asked if we would build them one, we never really considered it.
That is until Dennis told us we were going to build him a “Rolling Bones Hot Rod,” a term we heard for the first time. Call it “fate,” “the hot rod gods” or just plain “meant to happen.” Dennis was the perfect guy to start this, and without him, we doubt it would have happened.