This year’s Chopped Rod & Custom festival was awash with shed-built fun machines, and Andrew Bell’s 1964 Humber Super Snipe was no exception. Built with an AU Ford Falcon powerplant, T5 ’box and BorgWarner diff, the Super Snipe was concocted over a couple of beers in the backyard. You can check out our full Chopped coverage here, and below is our chat with Andrew to whet your appetite.

What made you buy the Humber?

I saw the Super Snipe come up on Facebook, and I was interested. She’s pre-’66, which is one of the regs for Chopped; that’s really the big reason I bought it. I put a standard grey-top Intech in it, along with a T5 manual and an XH Borgie. I got it up and running two weeks before Chopped and made sure everything worked. We ended up driving it there on the day, and she made it there and back home with no dramas.

Why an Intech rather than a Barra?

Look, I’ve got another car – an EL with a Barra in it, plus the T56 ’box – and to be honest, I just prefer the Intech. I reckon they’re a killer little engine. They’re more old-school, with a single overhead cam, and you can’t beat the noise.

Have you got big plans for the car for next year’s Chopped?

Nah, I’ll just leave it alone. Even the paint is all factory; there’s no clearcoat on it. It had been sitting in a paddock for 20 years, so it’s got a good amount of patina on it. She drives good as-is now. It’s got stock brakes, stock interior, stock everything – just with the manual AU running gear. The only other thing I’ve done is put a bit of a lift in the front end.

How did you get into cars? You obviously love your Fords.

My old man’s always been playing around with cars, so I guess we grew up with it. He’s always had a few cars on the go, and we grew up with loads of Falcons. That rubbed off on me. I’ve got the Barra EL, plus an XY wagon that’s just a standard old cruiser. A dream build of mine, if money was no object, would be a worked Clevo in the XY, plus a massive blower out of the bonnet – you’ve gotta have that!