By Jeff Parish
Ike Allen is a big man who sculpts fire and steel into unique works of rolling art. His garage is dim, and all the rat rods that come out of Morbid Rodz are flat black. But don’t let that fool you. Ike’s a nice guy who really likes to laugh.
“Morbid Rodz is a fantasy fix-all,” Ike said, chuckling as usual. “A rat rod is a car put together with just about anything but factory parts.”
The shop, located at 555 Lamar Ave., has been in business about five years. A more recent edition is Rockabilly Rage comics, a hair salon that has operated in the front part of the building for about eight months.
“You can come in here and get your top chopped or your hair cut,” Ike said.
Back in the garage, the tops getting chopped come from Ike himself most of the time. He gets vehicles in various stages of metallic death, resurrects them and then sells them.
“Most of them are dug out of a creek,” Ike said. “Just about anything’s a start.”
Because of that, there’s not many parts he hasn’t created for a car himself – chassis, body panels, dashboards, wheels, mounts, radiators. Just about anything but the engine and transmission.
Most of Ike’s creations start out as cars from the 1920s and 1930s – although anything that catches his eye is fair game. He’s dropped a Cummins diesel into a 1960s Cadillac, mated a 1940s model GMC cab over to a Ford E/F-450 series chassis to create a car hauler, stretched and chopped a Bug, you name it. He’s even got a 1950s Metro milk truck getting a unique Morbid Rodz make over.
“That’s one I’m hopefully going to keep myself,” he said, pointing at a 1930 Ford Coupe he has put a great deal of effort into, from a frame constructed of flat steel to hand-crafted motor mounts. Of course, he’s said that before, many times. And those vehicles are often the ones that go first. “Those are the ones everybody wants the most.”
Morbid Rodz’s rat rods are more custom creations than careful restorations – something he freely admits makes purists cringe. But Ike’s attention to detail is what makes his cars popular.
“I strive to be unique,” he said. “You don’t want the same old 1930 Ford. There are lots of them around. It’s the little things that make it different.”
Even though most of his creations are purely Ike’s, he does take on work for others from time to time. One of his most recent jobs is one of the most unusual. Sitting behind a gate next to Morbid Rodz is something that looks like a cross between an RV and a helicopter. It’s from an ’80s television show called “The Highwayman.”
It started life as an 18-wheeler, but has gone some very extensive customization. The cab is fashioned from a helicopter cockpit. In the television show, the vehicle housed a chopper that could launch from the truck.
The vehicle’s owner drove it to Paris from south of Sulphur Springs. He apparently has plans to get it back on TV, but remains tight-lipped about the details. Morbid Rodz has been contracted for a range of work, including wiring, engine and a new dashboard.
“He saw me on the Internet and asked if I wanted to work on something weird,” Ike said.
He enjoys the challenge, but the one thing he hasn’t done yet that he dreams of is building a supercar completely from scratch.
Ike enjoys the beginning of a build the most. Which is why the garage is usually full of projects in various stages. A complete build takes from one to three months “if my ADD doesn’t kick in.” There’s something about visualizing what it will be before the work even starts.
“It’s a challenge,” he said (laughing, of course). “I like to take the stuff I don’t like and the unwanted parts and sawzall them off.”
You can like Morbid Rodz on Facebook or visit Ike’s Website at www.morbid-rodz.com
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