Right off the bat, we’ll confirm what you’re probably already thinking: No, this hot rod isn’t finished. Nor is it a half-wood, half-aluminum shelf on which to place cards, pamphlets, and the like. Instead, this creation is mid-construction, with the builder, Brycen Smith, hoping to have it completed in time for next year’s SEMA show in Las Vegas.

The unfinished aspect of the project is what caught our eye, though: the aluminum bodywork taking shape over a wooden buck?and, to rhyme a little bit, the car’s name: the Ruptured Duck. Smith said the car is inspired by a World War II B-25 Mitchell bomber nicknamed the Ruptured Duck (it flew in the Doolittle raid over Tokyo). He said the rounded nose section will be skinned in clear acrylic with a thin metal skeleton structure evoking the B-25’s bubble-like cockpit. That same design cue carries over to the windshield, which looks as if it will eventually morph into a four-panel arrangement with the same vintage-aircraft character.
Wink and Call Her Bela: Supercharged 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Looks Pretty in Patina
Rebirth of the Hot Rod: Lost for a Half Century, Edsel Ford’s Baby Is Restored
2016 SEMA Show Full Coverage: Every Debut, Wild Custom, and More!

As cool as the Ruptured-Duck-in-process looks with its wood subframing and aluminum-sheet body, the wood elements are purely for body-panel-forming purposes and will not be present on the final car. What will be present is its moder...