It Was Love At First Sight
Photos & Story by Ed
Zimmerly
OverDrive Hot Rod News Feature Model, Elena LeBlanc…(This
Month’s OverDrive Hot Rod News Feature Car Owner Norm Schmidt’s
Girlfriend)
Click On Photo For
Slideshow
Whenever this month’s OverDrive Hot Rod News feature car
owner, Norm Schmidt, cruises in his ’27 Ford roaster, he gets a
lot of attention. It’s usually because his girlfriend, Elena
LeBlanc, is sitting right next to him. They’ve been a couple for
about five years. Never one to do anything halfway, Elena is
quite the fifties Fashion Queen. She is always styled to
perfection. Needless to say, they (she) brighten up any car show
they attend. I also suspect that’s one of the reasons why Norm
gets as many trophies as he does….just my opinion.
Norm’s a retired trucker who grew up in San Diego. And as
a teenager he got started early playing with cars.
The way he bought and sold cars back in the sixties
easily qualifies him as one of the original flippers. Norm
estimates that during his teenage years he bought and sold over
200 cars. Yes, the
number is staggering, but, let’s face it, the dollars involved
were a lot less back then. So
much so, he remembers buying complete paint jobs for just twenty
bucks. He also admits that some of his cars could’ve been
considered collectable, but many weren’t.
As the years have gone by Norm’s changed the way he
scratched that “need for speed” itch.
He may have started out with street rods, but he
eventually got into the world of off-road racing. He and his
brother Smitty were well known in the desert racing community.
This dynamic duo won the Baja 1000 in 1980. In fact, he still
has two of his vintage VW racecars. He may not race as much as
before, but he and Elena never miss attending a few races during
the off-road desert race season. In fact, a few months ago they
attended the Annual Mint 400 Off-Road Race outside Las Vegas,
Nevada. As local Off Road Racing Photog Legend, Ron Muller (and
close friend to Norm), says this about Norm “Once a racer,
always a racer, it’s in his blood”.
ABOUT THE
CAR: It’s a
traditional looking hot rod from the word go. A fiberglass ’27
Ford roadster that many of us would love to hit the car show
circuit in. Brilliantly covered in bright PPG Gold, it sports a
cut down Deuce radiator shell and windshield. A 350 cubic inch
Chevy powers Norm’s vintage ride down the road. It has the
classic tri-power set up with three deuces mixing the
combustibles. The customary 350 trans makes for smooth Friday
night crusin’ on the interstate, as well as, anywhere else
around town. Wildwood disc brakes, up front, drums at the rear.
A nine-inch Ford rear-end completes the drivetrain. The
simplified suspension design has leaf springs on the front end
and coil-overs at the rear. A Corvair streering gearbox keeps
everything on the straight & narrow. On the inside you see a
clean and tasteful white pearl Tuck & Roll naugahyde seat along
with pin striped wood dash panels that continue to reinforce the
authentic fifties hot rod stylization. John Hurst and his son,
Jason handled most of the custom pin striping adornments. Wide
whites married to 1953 Oldsmobile hubcaps are just the right
combo in keeping this rod period correct.
As I mentioned earlier, this roadster is a trophy winner.
Norm took home the Speedway Traditional Homebuilt Award at the
Goodguys National, here in San Diego in 2010. The following year
at Goodguys Del Mar he was awarded The Real McCoy Award…finally
in 2013 Good Guys awarded him the Best Wide Whites trophy.
If You