With this year's theme of American Graffiti, Bill Berrios is the perfect addition to the Rolling Into Roanoke family. His 32 Coupe draws a crowd wherever he goes and, luckily, Bill loves to talk about the movie! Today, we feature his story.
The story of the car started a long time ago for me. I was about 11 or 12 when I saw the movie the first time and very much into cars.
I knew some day I would have to have it, or at least a close tribute to the movie car.
About 5 years ago I finally decided to make that dream a reality. After a personal illness. I decided life was to short to dream away. I ordered a body and chassis, then started collecting parts for the build. I did some very extensive research on the car and made a lot of great friends along the way. I guess I'm not the only one who wanted to be "Milner". I found out there are a lot of guys out there with the same dream. I decided early on that I would build a very nice tribute car and not an exact replica of the movie car. Although some things had to be exact for the overall look. 32 Ford 5 window body chopped 3", chrome reverse wheels, small block Chevy block, 4X2 barrel Rochester intake manifold, (I went with a Offenhauser rather then the original Man-a-Fre), correct 56 Ford Crown Victoria interior door trim, piston shift knob, correct fenders, and correct rear view mirror with garter and Kennedy campaign button. Overall, the car is much nicer than the original movie car, but I built it to cruise just for me. I had a lot of help from some great friends, Kevin Crouse, Henry Herrera, Mike Allison, Barry King, and Bill Zacharius to name a few. Also had a lot of help from the online community and made a lot of friends along the way. I had the car on the road in 2 years and finished in about 5.
Don't miss a chance to meet Bill at this year's event. Pre-register to secure your spot on Main Street, and find us on Facebook for additional updates.
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