Homemade hot rod

Zooming down the Costa Mesa Freeway in a 1935

Miller-Tucker-Ford-style racer, Larry Urey had the biggest smile on

his face.

“Ain’t this fun?” Urey said in a thick Southern accent. “Don’t you

like how it rides?”

Nothing, it seemed, could quell his exuberance.

The sun shined on the car’s cherry-black paint and accentuated its

lipstick-red interior. Urey pressed down harder on the gas pedal, and

his classic car pushed 60 mph.

The wind played havoc with Urey’s hair, because the car’s

windshield is just a low piece of plexiglass.

On side streets, pedestrians gave Urey the thumbs-up sign, and

drivers decelerated to get a good look at the two-seater.

“It gets lots of attention,” said Urey, who has homes in Costa

Mesa and South Carolina. “I hear people hooting and hollering all the

time.”

Before the car was completed, Urey was greeted mostly by perplexed

looks. Few thought he could manage to build from scratch a car that

looks and drives much like a 1930s Indy racing car.

Urey was determined to do it his way. He wanted to keep the car

historically accurate -- from the aluminum dashboard to the removable

steering wheel.

One neighbor knew Urey could do it.

“There are different forms of intelligence,” said Costa Mesa

resident Teresa Patterson. “This guy is a genius. To watch it go from

old car parts to a working car has been so much fun.”

Urey, 62, used to be a stock car racer and has built cars for

driving on dirt. But he had never attempted to build a road car.

Patterson and other neighbors watched as Urey spent countless

hours in his garage, crafting car parts and bolting them into place.

“It blows people’s minds that I did this with the few tools I have

here,” he said, pointing to a small arsenal of gadgets.

A photo montage displayed in the garage shows the entire building

process -- from the time he set the frame in place to the final

stages, when he pasted an Indianapolis Motor Speedway gold emblem on

the car.

About three months ago, he took the 250-horsepower car out on the

road for the first time. In one detail, he found that it is not

historically accurate: While racecars in the 1930s topped out at

about 115 mph, Urey said his vehicle can reach about 140 mph.

Urey said he put about $10,000 into the car and still needs to add

a few finishing touches. He wouldn’t speculate on the car’s value

because he has no plans to sell it.

He’d rather just take his racer on the road.

A week after Labor Day, he and his longtime girlfriend will set

out on a four-day cross-country trip from Costa Mesa to Pennsylvania,

where Urey was born.

He said the car held up fine on a recent ride on the San Diego

Freeway.

Still, Urey said he is prepared for a bumpy cross-country ride.

On a quick highway trip between Harbor Boulevard and the Corona

del Mar Freeway, the car rocked and he felt every undulation of the

road.

The seats are low to the ground, and the sound of Urey revving the

motor is nearly deafening.

One thing is evident: Urey won’t let go of his ear-to-ear grin.

And why should he? He has created the car of his dreams and is

sure to see plenty of gawkers on his road trip.

Not that he takes much credit.

“The good Lord just gave me this talent,” Urey said.