Introducing Darren Bryan And His Beastly Tri-Five ’55 Chevy

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The Tri-Five Chevrolet has stood the test of time, only gaining more popularity with each passing year. However, this 1955 Chevy in particular, stood out from the rest with its monstrous modifications and good looks at the 18th Goodguys Southwest Nationals show in Scottsdale, Arizona.

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The front end is absolutely insane on this ’55 Chevy.

The Mind Behind The Machine

Owned by Darren Bryan of Tucson, this ’55 Chevy has a great backstory behind it. “I’m just an average Joe who built a lot of cars for other people before this one,” he said. “My dream at a young age was to build a ’55 Chevy. I instantly fell in love with this car because a friend of mine had one in high school.”

It was all done in a two-car garage and all of the parts are hand-made and built from scratch.
– Darren Bryan

Purchasing the car more than 30 years ago, he had to put the Chevy on the back burner to raise his two daughters, whom he spent ample time with. “Now that my kids are all grown up and have families of their own, I can focus on the car and finish what I started so long ago,” Darren said. “My thing is that I wanted to keep the car looking as trim and stock as possible, but as muscular as anything. If it’s parked next to a badass musclecar, this car is going to have the horsepower to handle it.”

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Darren did everything in his power to retain the car's original design aesthetics.

Just one look at this custom Chevy and you could say this isn’t your run of the mill Tri-Five build. It’s blown, it’s loud, and it refuses to let its presence go unnoticed when it’s roaring down the street. Darren and some of his buddies formed Dad’s Customs, a collective of hot rodders who each specialize in different aspects of customization. From engine builders and fab technicians, to body and paint specialists, each played a vital role during the build.

“We have no location, it’s just the six of us, and we can do everything,” Darren said. “We take care of each other. It’s a great way to build an expensive car without having to pay for all of the labor.”

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The huge blower up front drew us in to learn more about the custom Chevy.

Painted with several coats of Standoff black paint, Darren painted the car in pieces, sanding it several times, and respraying to hash out any imperfections in the paint. “The car has yet to be buffed, it’s only been hand-waxed and rubbed,” he said.

Finishing the car in February 2015, Darren brought the beast out the following month to the Goodguys Spring Nationals in Scottsdale. “We ran it with no exhaust, just straight open headers,” he said. “Everyone liked that it was so loud. Following the show, we finished the exhaust to quiet down the car a bit.”

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Darren’s logo is fitting for this cool custom build.

Front And Center

Built on an Art Morrison full tube chassis kit, Darren removed the frame and cut the floor out of it, completely rebuilding the car from the ground up. “I kept everything operational in this car,” he said. “I also kept the original glass since my aim was to retain the car’s originality.”

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Even with the full cage setup, Darren managed to retain the original dash without any major modifications.

The chassis kit only had pre-bent tubing, but it was just what he needed to get the job done. Surprisingly, the full tube chassis still supported the original dash. “The body fit right over it just nicely,” Darren said. “We were really lucky that it all worked out with no problems.”

The chop on the Chevy is subtle on Darren's custom, but it's just right.

Not a fan of the bubbly Tri-Five tops, Darren and his buddies chopped the top on the Chevy a subtle 3-inches. “This is how I think the Tri-Five’s top should look since they are so tall from the factory,” he said. “After I chopped the top, I had to build wooden bucks to lay down the moldings and fit them into the new glass shape I picked out,” he continued.

The Chevy sits on offset Billet Specialties wheels measuring 15×16 inches in the rear and 15×4.5 inches up front. “I bought these wheels 25 years ago,” Darren said. “I kind of built around these wheels since this was the first thing I bought for the Chevy.”

The wheels complement the chrome trim that runs throughout the Chevy.

Being blown and running on alcohol, Darren was very straightforward when speaking about power. “It’s easily in the neighborhood of 2,300 horsepower. Up front is a 540 cubic-inch V8, blown-injected with a 1471 supercharger.

The engine setup is amazing. So much power, all bottled up in a classic Tri-Five.

The supercharger is 27 percent overdriven and is fuel-injected on the intake manifold and on the injector hat, according to Darren. It also has a 20-amp magneto and the engine is mated to a Lenco lightning rod shifted four-speed transmission and a three-disc clutch. “You don’t have to work the clutch or anything inside, just simply pull the levers and it will shift into the next gear in an instant,” he said.

It’s the real deal, when you step on the gas it’ll really throw the car around.
– Darren Bryan

What’s more, Darren built the exhaust and the headers himself. “I used an old school style header design that shows the collector just behind the front tire,” he said. “The exhaust points down to the ground. I don’t believe in cutting up the body just for the exhaust.”

Out back, there’s a 22-gallon tank that holds alcohol, complemented with a hand-built five-gallon fuel cell that the alcohol motor drinks from. Fuel is supplied from the back pump all the way to the front, which can be triggered with the flick of a switch inside.

The Chevy sits on coilovers across all four corners with Strange Engineering struts, giving the custom a nice, low stance. The car weighs 3,200 pounds and is simply pleasing from front to back. “It’s incredible, you lose track of what you’re doing at times,” Darren said. “It’s a love-hate relationship with this car, but we didn’t cut any corners.”

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Opening the trunk reveals a 22-gallon tank and a fuel cell that feeds the monstrous engine up front.

Keeping Its Prestige

Striving to maintain the Chevy’s originality, Darren and his friends did as much as they could to retain the car’s factory qualities. Hand-building the entire frame, the caging was able to house the original dash. “We also modified the base of the stock mirror to fit the chassis bar, but it is still the original ’55 Chevy mirror at the end of the day,” Darren said.

As mentioned earlier, Darren said everyone pays so much attention to the mill in front but never realizes the time that went into the inside of this Chevy. He said a majority of the labor was spent on the body, the paint, the glass, and the garnish moulding. Darren even spent 40 hours on a single garnish moulding just to get it right.

The interior may be full of bars, but it still holds its original prestige with its dash and color scheme.

His wife gifted the custom steering wheel, which has a ’55 etched into it. The seats are all custom, built out of aluminum pans with leather inserts. “The inserts are easily removable so that the seat can be pulled if any work needs to be done inside,” he said.

With one of his daughters at the show, she was glad to see her father show off the car of his dreams. “We basically grew up with this car since it’s been around since I was small,” she said. “The story behind it stretches way back and it’s a great one that holds sentimental value.”

A project spanning 20 years, Darren is glad the car is all said and done. “As for future plans, after we show it off, we’re going to ding it and scratch it and throw it down the track,” he said.

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Darren Bryan has finished one incredible custom Chevy that is sure to catch the eyes of not just enthusiasts but also judges.

It must be exciting for anyone who commits to an idea, builds upon it, and completes it. Darren worked strenuously over the years, raising a good family, all the while being patient with his dream car. Now that the dream is a reality, he can enjoy that taste of happiness into the warm Arizona sunset. A Tri-Five with an insane amount of power … other drivers better watch out when this custom is in their rear view mirror.

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About the author

nicaguon

Nic Aguon is a graduate from San Jose State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism and mass communications and holds a passion for sleek and unique automobiles. Serving as a Staff Writer for multiple publications at Power Automedia, Nic pledges to bring readers clean and concise storytelling that hits the nail right on the head. A jack of all trades, his interests range from imports to American muscle, hot rods, and Kustoms.
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