When we think of a Speedster, the mind naturally wonders to the one used by the bearded guys from ZZ Top in their videos. It was pretty cool back in the day, but it can't hold a candle to the 34 Speedstar Spyder "Black Widow" built by Fat Jacks Garage.
The first eye-catcher is the tall grille, which consists of 29 individual elements that were cut out by hand using a saw and then sanded down. The side vents are also original and look like they belong on a classic airplane V16 or something of that exotic nature.
But nothing compares to what's under that sexy automated bonnet. Ford, GM, HEMI? No, it's an American-made 5.6-liter aluminum V8 made by Nissan that purrs like a lion. It's been available in numerous car and SUV models, including the QX56 luxury SUV made by Infiniti. We say that because this is the donor of the differential.
Speaking of donor cars, a Mazda Miata provided this amazing custom machine with its folding roof. Remember, the Speedster was designed to be a pure roadster, not a convertible. The MX-5 mechanism had to be widened at the back and narrowed at the front to match that hot rod look, while a special electrically operated hatch creates storage space behind the driver.
While the owner of the car, Jack Taylor from Knoxville, Tennessee, made a custom drop for the steering wheel and fabricated the pedals by hand, he needed outside help for the upholstery. Still, do you know of anybody else who put together his own 6-speed manual gearbox in he garage?
If's not often that we have the time to watch a 15-minute description of a custom car on Youtube, but this particular Speedster is totally worth it. We also believe its mild mannered creator deserves more credit than his humble nature allows him to accept. In any case, just check out the amazing 34 Speedstar Spyder "Black Widow" and tell us what you think.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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