THE SPEED OF SAND

The history of this 1934 Three-Window Coupe is unknown before it was rebuilt into a Bonnevillestyle race car in 2008. It was transformed using the best period parts sourced by Bedfordshirebased custom car specialist Buckland Automotive, and it features a supercharged (‘blown’) Flathead V8 engine.

It was debuted at the SINS car show in Belgium in 2009, winning Best in Show. That year it was displayed at several further events, before being purchased by the current owner. The Ford was used for several years for fun days out, before being entered into the very first Vintage Hot Rod Association Pendine Sands Hot Rod Races in 2013, where it won its class. Since then it has regularly raced and further improved its speeds. At 111.86mph, it still holds the class record.

This Model T was imported into the UK from America as a standard car in 2014. It was then taken to Stromberg Racing Division, where it was rebuilt from the ground up for hillclimbing and speed events. Using vintage parts and a tuned Ford Flathead V8 powerplant, it was completed in 2016 just in time to run a best speed of 101.24mph at the Pendine Sands Hot Rod Races, gaining coveted entry to the 100mph Club upon its debut. The following year, with a change of gears, the owner recorded a 105.84mph time.

Unfortunately, with too much hard driving at the Santa Pod dragstrip and on the Prescott Hillclimb, the three-speed gearbox gave up at both the 2018 and 2019 Pendine events. A four-speeder has been put in for 2020 to chase the 110mph record for the Flathead Roadster class.

This 1932 Ford Model B Three-Window Coupe is an original hot rod dating all the way back to the 1950s. It was painted red at that time, and records show that it was still on the road in 1968. It is a genuine ‘survivor’.

The current owner imported it to the UK from California back in 2008, with no engine or gearbox. He sourced all-original components for the body, such as the very rare and sought-after Edmunds and Jones ‘torpedo’ headlights. The chassis is fully boxed for strength, while the engine is a 350ci (5.7-litre) small-block Chevrolet V8 complete with a racing cam. This is teamed with a TH350 three-speed auto trans. The Coupe achieved 109.6mph competing at the VHRA’s Pendine Sands Hot Rod Races in 2019. Can it beat that at this year event in October?

Having been fully restored to factory specification in around 2002, this 1947 Ford Deluxe Coupe was purchased from a private collector’s museum auction in 2013. Standard build incorporated a 2.6-litre Flathead V8 engine producing 78bhp, coupled to a three-speed manual transmission.

The current owner purchased the car with the sole purpose of racing at Pendine Sands, and the goal was 100mph – which most sceptics hinted was not possible in a vintage car weighing in at close to two tonnes. Yet two years of fettling saw the Flathead modified and blueprinted to incorporate fuel injection and a supercharger. The power was increased to 320bhp, and along with gearbox and axle upgrades the car was timed at 102.57mph. It currently holds its class record, and its new goal is 105mph.

Built in 1932, this Model 18 Five-Window Coupe is now distinctly nonoriginal, as it has been heavily hot rodded and boasts the legendary 409ci Chevrolet W-series big-block V8. Fitted with a Z11 Super Stock cam it produces 460hp, and it’s teamed with a manual four-speed Muncie transmission and a Champ quick-change rear axle.

The original standard Coupe was restored from a rusty wreck into a traditional-style rod by its owner, who shipped it to the US’s West Coast in 2005 and drove it to the El Mirage dry lake and Bonneville while touring the desert states. As with the other entrants in this class, the Ford is a member of the VHRA’s coveted 100mph Club, having gone through the traps at Pendine Sands at 107mph – spinning its tyres the whole way.

Originally rodded by Jay Gordon of Blackout Signs and Metalworks in Texas before being imported by the current owner in late 2017, this Model A has recently been further upgraded. Its roof has been chopped four inches and a 1932 Coupe screen surround grafted in, giving a unique look. The body sits on a ’32 chassis, and the 1960 Buick 6.6-litre ‘nailhead’ V8 has been upgraded with a dual inlet manifold and Edelbrock four-barrel 650cfm carbs. The car has proven very reliable during trips throughout Europe as well as regular local use.

It entered the 100mph Club at the first attempt in 2018, and on the quarter mile it’s recorded a best elapsed time of 13.3sec. It’s also regularly used in hillclimbs and sprints where, despite not being suited to such disciplines, it is entertaining to watch and great fun to drive.

Using all hand-made and vintage parts, the owner built this car several years ago to represent a 1940s California dry-lakes model. He took influences from period Karl Orr and Phil Remington Modifieds. Spec highlights include a shortened, narrowed 1932 Ford V8 chassis, 1942 262ci Flathead V8, 1940 Ford ’box and Halibrand quick-change axle. The hand-built steel single-seater body has a streamlined tail and a canopy section from a wartime T-6 Texan aircraft, putting the car into the Streamliner class.

In 2019, its owner used it as a four-cylinder by modifying the V8 to run on only half its cylinders. Running on all eight, its fastest speed so far in the Pendine Sands 100mph Club is 105.82mph.

KEITH DANSIE

Originating from Clinton, Missouri, Lil’ MissFire’s authentic body and chassis show signs that it was hopped up many years ago. This car is finished in the classic late1950s ‘high-school’ style – fenderless and stripped down for speed, with a chopped and raked windscreen. Ford steel wheels with big ‘n’ little crossplies, buggy springs and a dropped ‘n’ drilled front axle give the right stance, while brakes are 1940s Lincoln hydraulic drums. The cabin trim is leather, with a custom, lowered top. An engineturned dashboard boasts Stewart Warner gauges.

The car runs a choice of two different early Chevy V8s with various carb setups; a 1964 283ci smallblock, and a larger, mildly tuned 1960s 350ci. It entered the 100mph Club at 106.46mph, and can run the quarter mile in 14sec.

Found in pieces in 1987 and rebuilt in an early-1960s style, this Roadster has competed in hillclimbs, drags, sprints and speed events as well as being exhibited around the world. The owner – proprietor of Royal Kustoms Speed Shop and Flathead Emporium near Poole, Dorset – has fully race prepped and blueprinted the 324ci Flathead, which is as at home on the street as on the strip. It features a Weiand supercharger with electronic fuel injection on a custom intake manifold, and will run on ethanol, methanol or pump gas. In 2006 it did a 12.7sec quarter mile at 109.8mph – a world record for a street-driven Flathead.

The Ford has held or still holds many more titles, and was the quickest vintage engine at Pendine in 2016, 2017 and 2019. It’s held the class record since 2013, which now sits at 116.79mph.

JAMES MITCHELL/BAD JUJU