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Mike Walsh’s Early Vette Shop (EVS) in Shohola, Pennsylvania, is a champion of ’glass-bodied Chevys and exotic sports rides alike. It’s also a popular hub of hot rodding nestled in the Pocono Mountains, about 70 miles west of the Big Apple. The shop has become a go-to for Tri-state car aficionados looking for a place to hang out and talk shop while letting Walsh do what he does best: bring dusty and tired road-ragers back to life.
Dave Baur lives just down the road from the EVS. He’s one of its frequent visitors and is a true-blue hot rodder, without question. Dave usually pulls up in one of his two custom-made roadsters: a W-motored, road-munching 1930 that he puts through the paces daily, or a flathead-fueled 1929 phaeton hybrid he’s been wrenching on for the last few years. Both cars were skillfully made from the spare and unwanted parts that were discarded by others. And it’s well known that Dave built every inch of both of these asphalt eaters by himself at his personal country home and fab shop, a place affectionately referred to around EVS as the “Shed.”
On this this day, Dave arrives in his trusty 1930, the hot rod that he’s logged more than 70,000 miles in since he built it under a temporary tent structure on his graded dirt driveway. It’s also the rod that he’s driven down the East Coast and back more times than he can remember, and the same one that he consistently drives to hot rod festivities across the states.
Walsh mentions to us that a visit to the Shed—Dave’s small, detached garage that he built next to his house—is in order. And after seeing that rowdy roadster of Dave’s, there was no question that a shop stopover was now etched into our daily planner.
2/45 Dave Baur’s Pennsylvania shop is known around his parts as the “Shed.” It’s a tight fit for both the 1929 phaeton and the yellow 1930 Ford roadsters, but Dave seems to make do.Fifteen years ago, Dave moved into his current home. It was almost everything he wanted. It had a quiet lake location, was snuggled back off the road, and sat in the stillness of the thick Pennsylvania woods. It just didn’t have a garage to work in. Being a lifetime car guy, Dave decided that a lack of suitable roof overhead was not going to slow him down. He set up shop out on the dirt driveway and erected a heavy-duty tent to work under.
Running power from the house, he built a chopped 1950 Mercury right there in the dirt—from the bodywork to the mechanicals, even the gloss-black paint. The Merc was well known in the surrounding towns, and from what’s been said, it stood on its own as a killer custom rod.
Through the years, Dave continued to put together radical rides there in the gravel. The sturdy tent held up well for some time, until one winter when the Northeast got plowed under in the white stuff. Snow accumulated faster than Dave could get it off his car shelter and it collapsed under the weight of the snow—onto his project car. With that, Dave decided enough was enough, there was going to be a garage raising that spring.
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The 1930 Roadster
Dave built the 1930 roadster while he was still out on the dirt. The project came to life after he rescued the body from a dump in Wyoming. He based his ride around a set of ASC reproduction deuce rails, which he narrowed to get the Model A body to fit just right. He then welded in a homebuilt transmission crossmember, as well as a custom rear crossmember to help cradle the drivetrain.
Dave built the 1930 roadster while he was still out on the dirt. The project came to life after he rescued the body from a dump in Wyoming. He based his ride around a set of ASC reproduction deuce rails, which he narrowed to get the Model A body to fit just right. He then welded in a homebuilt transmission crossmember, as well as a custom rear crossmember to help cradle the drivetrain.
4/45 In the interior, 1951 Ford F-1 gauges sit in a modified 1929 gas tank face. The windshield was chopped 3 inches and raked back about 5 degrees to get the look Dave wanted.
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