First published in the December 2007 issue of Street Machine

Seventeen years ago, Alan Fleming rocked the establishment with the Dulux Motorvator, an HG Holden which took the van concept to a new level and pioneered corporate sponsorship in the scene. The loss of his son, Jason, in a motorcycle accident in 1994 knocked Alan for six but he fought back from depression and lent his skills to countless rods, streeters and drag cars. Since 2000 he has been working on the LS1-powered J-Rod, a tribute to Jason and a radical reinterpretation of the traditional ’34 Ford roadster.

How did you get started with custom cars?

I was a carpenter and joiner but I’m allergic to western red cedar. In the early 70s, I moved to Melbourne at the start of the van craze. I’d got into spray painting with my brother, so not only could I knock up the archways and cupboards in the vans but I could paint as well. I landed at job at Van Craft. We were customising vans straight from the dealer: Sandmans, Falcons and Bedfords. It was an exciting time; the whole scene was a lot different, there was a lot more crossover between the manufacturers, the dealers and the aftermarket. We did the Easy Roller vans for Coke, a show van for Nissan and also a Torana hatch for a Holden dealer. It had moulded-in guards and this wild denim interior. It looked horn!

Did you have your own van?

Yep, a Ford Transit with a blown 350. It was great for wheelstands!

How did the Motorvator come about?

I had my own business called Fleming Refinishing and I found the van for sale in a half-finished state with these mega-wide Simmons on it. I thought it would be a good showpiece for my business, but I knew that if I was going to do it, I would have to get some sponsorship.

I could see guys like Rex Webster building these amazing cars, getting all these accolades, but having to fork out mega-bucks to build and show them. The idea of getting support to build a custom car was pretty unusual and most blokes said it couldn’t be done, so I stopped telling people and just did it.

How did you pull it off?

I spent a year planning out my sponsorship proposal. I got a very professional presentation made and also made sure I presented myself in the right light. I bought a suit for my meeting with Dulux. I’ve only ever worn it once. I’ve still got it but I’m pretty sure it won’t fit! I even bought a smashed BMW and tricked it up, which worked like a charm.

Where is the Motorvator now?

My nephew Grant Fleming owns it and drives it too. We’ll give it a revamp one of these days.

So where did J-Rod come from?

After the van, I wanted to build a sports car as an ADR-approved vehicle for sale. I got pretty far advanced with that car, got the body done, but then I had dramas with the chassis builder. The project stalled and while I would like to finish it one day, the idea of doing a new-style hot rod took over.

What was the concept?

I wanted to build a hot rod that handled like a sports car, was comfortable to drive, easy to live with and as light as possible. I decided to use a single donor car as far as possible, rather than a hodge-podge of parts. I went with complete VR/VS Commodore suspension and brakes for a few reasons: there are heaps of parts available for them and the rear end sits low and flat, giving you a good centre of gravity compared to a Jag. It also means the car is significantly longer and wider than a ’34, so there is a lot more room in the cabin than a traditional hot rod and you sit in it, rather than on it.

How did you approach the build?

The first thing I did was to go back to TAFE to get my TIG and MIG tickets. Now I can do everything I need to do myself — including the chassis — and not rely on anyone else. I’d recommend that anyone interested in cars should learn to TIG weld; it’s fun, there are no sparks and it’s easy to lay down a clean weld. I then worked with the Street Rod Federation to make sure we’d be able to get it registered.

How did the body come together?

Aden Jacobi did the design concept, then I got a mate’s ’34 roadster and took a mould off that. Next I chopped up the body, sectioned it and lengthened it until I had what I wanted. I made a plug, took moulds off that and made a body. The body is glass reinforced plastic, with a carbon-Kevlar firewall and carbon-Kevlar centre tunnel that runs from the firewall to the diff. The centre tunnel gives the car immense torsional strength — 8mm of carbon-Kevlar is just like steel.

How much industry support have you had?

I’ve had plenty of people help me out, including PPG with the paint and Kees Weel at PWR, who supplied the driveline and cooling system, but in the main this car was built in-house and self-funded. Building the J-Rod has meant a lot of sacrifices and a lot of focus. It’s meant never buying anything for myself and when I ran out of money, I worked as a delivery driver or in nurseries for a while, then started again. I’m not driven by financial gain – I know that if I build an exceptional vehicle, the rewards will come. I want the J-Rod to develop into a strong business as a legacy to Jason. If there is one thing I’ve learned from losing my son, it is to live your dream and never give up.

What’s next?

I’ve almost finished a ute version of the J-Rod and I’ve also developed a pushrod-type front suspension that has a lot more adjustment in it compared to the Commodore. It will look prettier too, so that will allow me to build a high-boy version with cycle guards. I’d like to build a high-boy with a carbon-Kevlar body, a PWR blower and PWR brakes for track events. The car handles very well; a lightweight race version would be sensational.

How are you looking in terms of J-Rods being available as production cars?

We’re still a little way off from that — I want the car to be 100 per cent before I sell a single one. Quality, performance and handling is what the J-Rod is all about. I’m looking at taking the manufacture of the cars to Indonesia. The whole scene over there is just in its infancy but if it pans out, it’ll be much more economical to manufacture J-Rods there than in Australia.

You clearly enjoy working with composite materials — what’s the attraction?

They’re strong, light and getting better all the time. The development in that side of things is astronomical — on a par with computers. Fuel economy is everything now, not just for cars but in trucks and planes too, and they’re using composites in construction as well. That means there’s this massive push to make materials lighter and stronger, so new products are being developed all the time and that flows on down to us.

J-ROD IN DETAIL:

• J-Rod is longer, wider and swoopier than a ’34 Ford but neat styling tricks such as narrower running boards makes the car look deceptively small.
• Suspension is VS Commodore all ’round — McPherson struts at the front and IRS at the back. The tops of the struts are cleverly concealed in the headlight buckets.
• With the engine pushed almost a metre back compared to a Commodore, weight distribution is nearly a perfect 50:50. Overall weight is a relatively svelte 1100kg.
• The J-Rod’s interior is more sports car than traditional rod, with a low seat and plenty of shoulder room for driver and passenger. The engine’s offset 50mm to the left to allow the pedal box to line up with the seats.
• The style of the multi-spoke rims fits in with the traditional vibe, but 17×7 and 20×8 sizes are pure 2007.