For Darren Hall, this little 1963 Chevy II SS represents someone close to him. That person is his girlfriend Mandy, who is battling End Stage Leukemia. “Her wish is to drive a drag car before her passing,” Hall says.

That explains why Hall is using this seemingly cherry Chevy II, which he calls ‘Mable,’ to fulfill this wish. Hall purchased ‘Mable’ in 2014 after the car was stored from the early 80s until 2013. The car was stone stock, as you can see, and really a pretty nice car. But as you can guess, Hall didn’t have time to do a bunch of rust repair — he just needed a solid foundation, and ‘Mable’ provided him that.

The car was torn down and outfitted with a Matt’s Fab roll cage, with the intention of a 25.3 upgrade next winter. Then a Smith Racecraft front clip was added with Strange Engineering double-adjustable struts and front brakes and spindle-mount Weld Racing V-series wheels.

Out back is a Moser M9 housing with 35-spline axles, a spool, a 3.40 gear, and Wilwood brakes. Smith Racecraft Assassin Bars, split mono-leafs, and Santhuff/Ron Rhodes shocks will be responsible for planting the power from a Fasttrack Performance-built 347 cubic inch LS with an Edelbrock Super Victor intake modified by LPRacing to accept 16 injectors. Feeding those injectors will be the job of an Aeromotive belt-drive fuel pump drawing either pump gas or methanol, depending on whether Hall is enjoying the Deuce on the street or at the track. The Chevy II will have two fuel cells for that reason, and a Holley EFI will make it all work.

The Chevy II SS body will remain all steel, with the original panels, trim, and everything.

That would be enough to put a smile on most people’s faces, but Hall has important work to do, so the combination will benefit from a pair of Precision billet wheel turbochargers with 46mm waste gates, and Tial blow-off valves. Stainless Works headers will handle the exhaust. Behind the grin-inducing LS is a Hughes Pro Mod ‘Glide with a 1.69 gear set, a Pro ‘Brake, a Neal Chance billet converter, and a PST carbon fiber driveshaft.

Including those already mentioned as part of the build, Hall wants to thank Turbo Technology, 187 Graphics’ Brian Weddle, Armen Maghdessian, and Taro Martinez.

Hall says the goal for ‘Mable’ is for a low five-second, streetable classic…or to simply put a big smile on Mandy’s face. “She will be my copilot on the Northwest Drag Tour in June,” Hall says.