Six Weeks to Snarl And a Lifetime of Cruisin' BY TIM GUYMON June 1993 Ready, set, GO! Rob Ida grabbed the wrenches and set to work assembling the latest word in WIllys street rodding. In only six weeks (an eyeblink in the automotive world) he put together a banana-colored coupe with both bad-boy looks and Lord Fauntleroy comforts. Rob is an old master? At 23, he's a downy-cheeked youth in the grizzled world of street rodding, but he's as handy with a toolbox as any Methuselah with grimy fingernails. And something about the New Joisey accent sounds authentic when you're talking about cahs - like at Ida Automotive. A tubbed pro-streeter, this menacing-looking carnivore is deceptively comfortable with TEA's Design seats, Billet Specialties tilt steering column, air conditioning by Vintage Air, and (sheesh!) electric windows. The body is smoothed, handle-less, and gorilla's dream in Banana Cream. When he finished work, Rob put 3,000 miles on it to iron out kinks. The next 2,800 miles involved a trip to the Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky, where the car was a smash attraction. As smooth as a banana gumdrop and with thousands of miles under its fan belt, Rob's low-flying '41 is the model for Ida Willys coupes. The Ida Automotive Willys delivered to your garage is the result of debugging the "oops" notes Rob made as he built this great example of a street rod.