Chassis no. 12975223

350-cid OHV V-8 engine, Hydra-Matic transmission, low-rider suspension, and four-wheel hydraulic brakes. Wheelbase: 116-inches.

The name “Terry Cook” may not be as familiar as those of Boyd Coddington or Chip Foose, but his piece de resistance, the Lincoln-Zephyr “Scrape,” has been a design icon ever since its completion in 1997.

Cook is a passionate designer, a disciple of John Tjaarda, E.T. Gregorie and Edsel Ford. It’s no surprise, then, that the Lincoln-Zephyr three-passenger coupe caught his attention, when he discovered a complete and original example in a barn in Maine. Exhumed, he transported it to New Jersey, stripped it to bare metal and entrusted it to Ramsey Mosher at Ram’s Rod Shop in Dover, Delaware. Mosher expended 4,500 shop hours over four-and-a-half years to produce the result.

The coupe body is channeled over a 1978 Chevrolet station wagon chassis, which was Z’d and shortened. The body and chassis are welded together, much in the fashion of the original Zephyr. Low-rider suspension allows the car to rise for reasonable ground clearance on the road. The engine is the archetypal small-block Chevy, a 350, coupled to a Hydra-Matic transmission.

Superbly finished, the car has power windows, power steering, power brakes, power seat, electric door release and of course air conditioning. Two Pioneer amplifiers feed the four interior speakers and four outside marine-quality speakers in the grille and rear fenders. Scrape has been described, operating at night with speakers a-woofing, interior purple neon aglow and purple neon buds in the headlights and grille, as “one giant jukebox.” The 14-inch wheels have Coker wide whitewall tires and modified Moon discs with circular ribs.

The interior is black-and-white leather and Naugahyde, tucked and rolled by Bobby Sapp of Milford, Delaware. The seats are split-bench six-way power units from a Cadillac, and a streamlined engine cover completely conceals the Chevy powerplant.

The original dashboard has been subtly modified. The big Art Deco Zephyr binnacle has been rebuilt for 12-volts, and the banjo steering wheel has been fitted with a smaller rim that matches the original shape and feel. The tilt-telescoping steering column was sourced from a 1985 Cadillac, and a small television monitor under the steering column serves as a rear-view mirror focused on the fast lane behind.

Terry Cook may not be well known to the general public, but he is a god in the rod and custom community. In fact, both Coddington and Foose have cited him as inspiration for their own creations. George Barris is quoted as calling “Scrape” a “Bo Derek, a Big 10.” An icon, then, it is.