An exceptional high school auto shop program paved the way for both Butch Karcher’s career and his passion. Karcher, now 63, has not one but two masterpiece 1930 Ford Model A hot rods and he has enjoyed a truly hands-on build process for each.
Based on the Minnesota side of a town bordering Wisconsin, Karcher got his first car, a ’65 Chevy Impala, when he was 16. In the late 1980s, he built another ’65 Impala and added a hefty dose of nitrous, and then narrowed and tubbed it for Pro Street duty. He went on to own a custom paint and body shop from 1987 through 1992 and spent a lot of time working his magic on race cars and hot rods. He eventually transitioned into running group homes for adults with disabilities for nearly 30 years before retiring in January of 2021.
“Once my children had gotten a little older, my now ex-wife wanted me to teach them some of what I know, so she gave me permission and I went out and bought this hot rod,” laughs Karcher of how he acquired his green 1930 Ford Model A five-window coupe after finding it for sale on eBay in Pennsylvania back in 2007. “It was a rat rod with zoomies and big fat tires. I brought it home, did one burnout, and all the bars bent.”
Karcher quickly tore the car apart and used the process to teach his three sons the difference between a street rod and a hot rod. “I wanted something we would be able to put the coals to every time we drove it, not just something that looked cool,” he says in favor of his preference for the latter type of build. “I liked the look of it originally but wanted to make it safer and got a little carried away.”
Karcher and his children built the entire frame and chassis at home together, and also narrowed and tubbed the car. “It’s been chopped 4-inches, and we channeled it over a ’32 frame and added a ’32 grill,” he elaborates of the painstaking process.
The Karcher crew also managed all of the sheetmetal work and bodywork on the vintage Ford. “When I…
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