There are two ways to approach Ruffian’s superb 1935 Plymouth GT-1. As a hot rodder, you realize just how cool it was to use some of the best aftermarket parts imaginable to preserve a solid, patina-fresh body behind modern MoPar power. As a racer, you lust after the car’s trophy-winning chassis, weight-saving carbon fiber, and serious performance potential on the way to determining it is quite possibly one of the coolest street-legal stock cars ever built. Either way you look at it, this is one exceptional build!
Establishing The GT-1 In Ruffian GT-1
Sure, this classic rides on a race car chassis, but not just any race car chassis. Instead of cribbing some random bones from a shop sale, Ruffian opted to repurpose something race-winning. And by race-winning, we mean the chassis built by Tommy Riggins for David Machavern’s No. 26 Corvette, which claimed 30 races and three championships in GT-1 competition. In short, the Ruffian GT-1 rides chassis components that were used in the all-time winningest car in the Crane Cams V8 StockCar Series. What’s better, those components remain in as-raced condition, displaying all the personality of intense track competition.
Naturally, some modifications were needed to fit the GT-1 chassis to the Plymouth’s tidy proportions. Ruffian assembled a full tube frame, fitted it with big bearings, heavy-duty heim joints, and adjustable, remote-reservoir Penske coilovers, and married it to the Corvette’s wishbone front and three-link rear suspension clips. In true race car fashion, an eight-point roll cage complements an aluminum belly pan that’s finished with a functional ABS splitter and a functional carbon diffuser.
What A Body!
As a builder, when you find a clean 1935 Plymouth five-window coupe that’s lived its life in dry California air, you probably don’t want to go cutting anything up–at least, we assume that’s how Ruffian felt. Even the paint, trim, and emblems on this Plymouth are original, with deep BASF clear, sprayed by Auto Addiction OC, preserving the car’s much-earned decades of patina. That said, a few modifications were needed to serve the car’s new purpose. A slightly reimagined grille houses modern LED headlights from Morimoto. Massaged door bottoms flow into gorgeous carbon fiber fenders that were created in-house at Ruffian. Finally, a cut decklid funnels air into a rear-mount radiator that, in a nod to spare tires of the era, is tucked under one of the car’s original Plymouth hubcaps.
Inside the GT-1, matte McLaren Senna seats float custom covers, stitched by Auto Addiction OC, between custom carbon fiber door panels. The Plymouth’s original dash and gauges are a perfect backdrop for a simple steering wheel and a supplemental AiM digital dash. Original knobs and window trim somehow look natural above Wilwood pedals and fine-knit snap-in carpet. The gusseted cage wears a subtle coat of Mocha paint, and a Jake Palm Pistol Grip Shifter joins toggles for adjustable rear sway to keep control in the hands of the car’s driver.
MoPar Or No Car
Go MoPar or go home, or was it go big or go home? Either way, the pros at Ruffian succeeded with this Plymouth’s rowdy Viper V10. Punched out to 550 cubic inches and fully rebuilt by Prefix Race Engines, that forged stroker mill turns 803 dyno-proven horses into 741 lb.-ft. of dyno-proven torque on pump gas.
Power flows through a Tilton clutch to a Tremec TR6060 6-speed that was sourced from Tick Performance. A Ford 9-inch, built with a Posi-traction differential and 4.0:1 gears, rides between Wilwood rotors and Stoptech calipers. Cooled dual power rack-and-pinion steering, provided by Sweet Manufacturing, rides between AP Racing calipers and two more Wilwood rotors. Everything rolls on 5/8-inch lug studs, 16-inch CCW wheels, and Goodyear Racing GT-1 bias ply slicks that feature rain grooves cut by Roger Kraus Racing.
Ruffian’s 1935 Plymouth GT-1 is the kind of build that makes even seasoned hot rodders stop and mutter, “Now that’s how it’s done!” Every inch of the car strikes a razor-thin balance between authenticity and insanity, creating a perfect fusion of old-school grit and modern race tech. The result is more than a cool hot rod or a street-legal stock car: it’s a masterclass in blending heritage with horsepower.
