RIGHTEOUS REACHER

A cool and sly cost-effective coupe

Text by Ro McGonegal
Photos by Steevo

A “reacher” is street rod parlance for a good and plentiful first attempt by a young builder, in this case Indianan Brandon Weideman. The car may not have all the right stuff but its direction is straight, its purpose is undeniable, and it’s a portent of much better things to come. Unlike legions of muscle riders his age, Weideman has thoughtfully addressed the major mechanicals and left the rest somewhere down the road, when his budget and interest are fatter. What matters is that he’s seen the potential of his ‘89 LX. This is function at its best. Brandon could well be the Muscle Rides poster dude.

            “My dad runs a body shop so I’ve been around cars my entire life. I can remember watching over his shoulder asking a million questions about why he was doing something, how this works, can I try that? Thankfully, he was more than willing to take the time to answer my questions and show me how to do things. This really created a best friend relation ship between us. I can also remember cruising in his ’67 Chevy II. He would almost always stop and do a big, squirrelly burnout before pulling into the driveway. Needless to say, I ate it up! Now, I tell him all the time that my addiction is entirely his fault, and I thank him, too.

            “I... ran across this car on www.corral.net. The owner was geographically close to me so I went to look at it. I think I was somewhat blinded by the fact that this was the first good lead that I’d come across...it was a mass air car, without airbags, tilt wheel, power locks or windows. All things aside, the car wasn’t in terrible shape.”

            When he was teenager, Pop bought him a ’52 Chevy pick-up that he’s continued to work. He’s changed direction on it so many times he’s embarrassed to admit it. So he had the truck but he wanted something he could mess with while still driving it, so he bought the LX. Real soon it was strewn all over the garage. After two years, it’s in the shape you see here. Things were just fine until he attended Run Through The Hills 2 (RTH2) in Pigeon Forge, TN. That little thrash offered another perspective on what he’d been working to accomplish.