jug89z4912c magzus.org

Hot Rod: Impossible Hot

Andy Saunders is here to save Christmas…

ANDY SAUNDERS is nothing short of a legend in custom car circles. Never one to follow convention, his imagination runs riot in the cars he creates – which augment the engineering at the heart of any true build with a degree of pure art few others have dared to embrace.

His vehicles have graced these pages many times and starred in magazines around the world. Most recently, his latest show-stopper made its debut at the NEC’s Classic Car Show – to a rapturous welcome.

Called Deja, this art deco masterpiece was built using Delahaye wings and grille on the base of a Riley RM. Widely hailed as his best work yet, it came together this year in time to appear on the cover of The Automotive Alchemist – a new hardback book about Andy’s life and cars from specialist publisher Dalton Watson Fine Books.

Described as ‘a roller-coaster ride through the highs and lows of this charismatic man’s life,’ The Automotive Alchemist is an autobiography in every sense – the tale of a human being and also of the cars he creates. No less than 60 are featured, with a wealth of photographs – 1055 in total, brought to life over no less than 464 pages. It would be troubling if a publication of this nature were to be cheap – and at £90 you could see it as reassuringly expensive, because these are cars which deserve the highest quality of paper and print. It’s available from www.daltonwatson.com – and we can see it going straight to the top of many a Christmas list.

Fancy working for one of the UK’s top speed shops?

VALLEY GAS SPEED SHOP is on the lookout for a new team member. Based in Andover, Hampshire, the company, whose numerous creations include the legendary Boston Brawler, seeks someone ‘experienced in hot rod or vehicle restoration’ whose skills include the ability to TIG-weld aluminium and stainless steel.

The successful applicant will be able to work full-time or flexible hours and can choose to be self-employed or go on the books. Either way, the money promises to be ‘competitive / negotiable,’ and more than that you’ll get the vibe that comes from having one of the coolest workplaces in the known world.

Interested? Drop them a line at contact@valleygasspeedshop.com or give them a call on 01264 353646.

in this issue

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Every effort is made to ensure the contents of Custom Car are accurate, but Assignment Media accepts no responsibility for errors or omissions nor the consequences of actions made as a result of these. When responding to any advert in Custom Car, you should make appropriate enquiries before sending money or entering into a contract. The publishers take reasonable care to ensure advertisers’ probity, but will not be liable for loss or damage incurred from responding to adverts

Heading for the Hills

Where a photo credit includes the note ‘CC BY 2.0’ or similar, the image is made available under that Creative Commons licence: details at www.creativecommons.org

© Assignment Media Ltd 2022 All rights reserved

That’s what you call a trophy cabinet

Happiness is a finished project

Two reasons to love Grimsby

Love this…

When we went along to Coffee’n’Cars’ Weekend of Wheels back in the summer, we were taken by the appearance of an old farm truck lined up next to the fast stuff. Then, as we got up closer and had a look around it, we couldn’t help by notice an old copy of a particular magazine sitting on the dashboard. Pretty cool sticker on that there screen, too. We got chatting with the owner and now, a few short months later, his truck’s waiting for you a few pages down the line. And still with a copy of Custom Car sitting on its dashboard. Class.

Tom Hoover

THE SPORT OF DRAG RACING lost one of its leading lights last month, with the passing after a long illness of Tom ’Showtime’ Hoover at the age of 81.

A native of Minneapolis, Tom was one of the first five funny car drivers to break the six, five and four-second barriers over the quarter mile. At 24 years of age, he was the youngest driver ever to win a major event at the American Hot Rod Association’s Winter Nationals in Phoenix, Arizona, then between 1976 and 1978 he won a hat-trick of titles in the AHRA Funny Car Championship.

In the 1980s, Tom became the fifth of eight drivers to join the prestigious Cragar Five Second Club, having posted an ET of 5.95 seconds over the quarter mile. The same decade also saw him cross the Atlantic to race at Santa Pod, where he partnered Bill Sherratt – who went on to become his closest friend. His travels continued, as he raced in Canada, Mexico and even Down Under –where in 1995, he won the title of World Champion of Australia.

Ranking among the top ten NHRA Funny Car drivers almost every year through to the late 1990s, Tom won the National Race at Phoenix in ’92, the Fram Autolite Nationals in Sonoma, California in ’93, and the Pontiac Excitement Nationals in Columbus, Ohio in ’97 – the latter just nine weeks after quadruple bypass heart surgery, very much against the advice of his doctors!

These exploits led to him being inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2014 – joining his parents, George and Ruth, themselves inducted decades before. Then in 2016, the NHRA presented him with a special ‘Legend of the Sport’ award.

Despite his success, Tom was a family man first and foremost – and a friendly, approachable face in the pits. ‘His presence and personality were both larger than life and he could put a smile on anyone’s face with his wit and humour,’ said his wife Betten. ‘He was fearless in his racing pursuits and lived for the sport, but it was his family legacy that meant the most to Tom.’

During his last years, Tom was quoted as saying: ‘The greatest thing I gained by being a professional in this sport was the many friendships I made both here and abroad and the memories that now sustain me. Memories anchor our lives on what was and what is still to be, as we race into the future.’ May he rest in peace.

Thank you one and all

Your opinions are already shaping the way Custom Car looks

I WANT TO START THIS MONTH with a massive thank-you. It goes out to all the very many people who took time to write in with their opinions and ideas about where we should take Custom Car from here.

In particular, I want to thank the guy who took time to write in and have a go at me for inviting people to write in. Takes all sorts, I suppose, but amid the ranting was one very telling sentence: ‘All this “I will listen to everyone’s opinion” cannot be done as everyone likes something different’.

I mean, it certainly can be done. I will listen to everyone’s opinion. But I know what he’s trying to say: keeping all those opinions happy is a different matter altogether. You lot don’t agree on much.

Or do you? Absolutely 100% of you were dead against us featuring new vehicles in the magazine. So that won’t be happening.

However the prospect of a pro-street pick-up from the mid-90s divided you right down the middle. Some would say it’s too new, full stop: others argue that anything interesting is worthy, whatever its age.

There’s an overwhelming feeling that drag racing belongs in the mag. But within that, almost no two people have the same idea of how we should cover it. Mainly, you’re into the hot rod and custom side of it and you see low-budget privateer racers as kindred spirits. You’re also dead against any other kind of motorsport, unless it involves old American cars.

These are among the many important areas in which I can see a groundswell of opinion for or against certain things. Another that stands out is our show coverage – literally everyone wants to see reports from events of all shapes and sizes, be they national or local.

There’s a widespread appetite for workshop stuff, too. Not so much the sort of step-by-step guides that magazines used to run (the internet has taken over there), but running reports on what’s being built in the lock-ups and garages of Britain. I’ve got that message loud and clear. You want to share the traumas and triumphs of your fellow customisers – and, interestingly,

many of you said you want to do it in print rather than via build threads on a forum or Facebook page.

Another area in which everyone was in agreement relates to our use of archive material in Custom Car. In the previous three issues, we’ve picked a feature from 50 years ago and re-run it, and everyone who expressed an opinion said they preferred the ‘Remember When’ approach taken by the previous editorial team.

Once again, message received. We don’t have any kind of archive feature in this issue, but we’ll be starting a new series next month which I’m pretty certain you’ll like. And if you don’t, I’m equally certain you’ll let me know about it…

Which brings me to the thorniest subject of the lot. In terms of the cars we cover, what’s in and what’s out?

First thing I’ll say is that we don’t need to widen our scope just to have enough cars to write about. We could fill the mag with Deuces and Pops, easy, and they will always be A-list, but there’s so much else out there too. And this is a difficult line to tread. There’s a significant group who have strict rules as to what the scene should and shouldn’t include – and also one to whom a good car is a good car, full stop.

Similarly, some of you definitely think that Volkswagens are the devil. Others say what the hell, if it’s customised right I don’t care about the badge. Mainly, though, if you want VWs you’ll buy a VW magazine.

My take on this is that we shouldn’t rule out including VWs if their age and quality suits the magazine. But they need to be special, in a way a prewar American car perhaps doesn’t; in effect, because they’re not the main event, the threshold is higher. But just look at the VW on page 29 of this issue and try telling anyone it doesn’t belong.

The same can be said about cars from after the 70s. We’re not about to start covering stanced hatchbacks and so on. But if I were to come across, say, a really tidy Scorpio-based sled, am I supposed to nix it just because it doesn’t fit some starchy set of rules? I do hope your answer is no.

So yes, there’ll be the occasional later car. Again, though, like VWs, they’ll appear less often than the traditional CC fare and I’ll try to limit it to stuff which I think you guys will find interesting. The response to that pro-street Chevy last month suggests I called it right, even if not everyone thought it should have been in the mag at all.

Ultimately, most of you want variety. Many of you asked for more British tin, too, along with more postwar kustoms, and the vast majority want us to concentrate mainly on UK builds.

Another point many, many people made is that in addition to the top-end builds, you want to see real-world feature cars. The sort of stuff we’ve tended to run under the Readers’ Rods banner – home-brewed, clever, unique and done on a budget. Most of all, you want us to cover cars you can relate to as well as those you dream of.

In almost all of this, you’ve confirmed what I already thought would be the case. Custom Car doesn’t need to change much, but this has been a very valuable exercise and it will help us deliver the magazine you want. So, thank you one and all.

And thank you to everyone who, as well as answering my questions, suggested their own or their mates’ vehicles for us to feature. One of them has already been photographed since then, as it happens, which just goes to show that I really am listening to what you lovely lot are telling me.

To all who flagged up potential feature cars, I will be in touch with each and every one of you in the fullness of time. But please do bear with me, because I have a lot of these responses to get through.

And finally, thank you to those who got in touch and offered their services. I’ll be in touch with you guys, too!

As I said in my first column after we took over, Custom Car is your magazine. It’s nice to see people taking that literally –and it’s great to know that this here pile of paper and staples still matters so much to the community we’re part of.

Alan Kidd, Group Editor alan.kidd@assignment-media.co.uk

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Words: Dave Biggadyke Pics: Harry Hamm

Even by Carl Powles’ usual standards, putting together a ’32 roadster in less than four months is going some

Four months to build a hot rod? Oh, come on. Maybe if it’s a team in a workshop but for one bloke in his garage? Can’t be done. Except Carl Powles has done it – and the result was this show-stopping ‘32 Roadster.

Okay, let’s be honest. As you may well be expecting, the preparation took far longer than that. Several years longer as it happens, as I recall first spotting the fibreglass roadster body collecting dust in Carl’s Grimsby workshop what must have been at least 12 years ago. All that parts collecting is key, though, as when the time was right the execution was precise and swift. Very, very swift.

In truth, however, this is a build that was never meant to be. ‘I tend to buy parts when I come across them at the right price,’ Carl confessed. ‘It’s not that I’m a hoarder, it’s a

good way of keeping the cost of a build to a reasonable level, and even if you end up selling on the parts you will never lose out if you buy right in the first place.

‘I must have acquired the rails from John Reid over 15 years ago and it carried on from there. I never planned to actually build the car and I guess I had it in my mind to eventually sell on all the parts and recoup some cash. Then it dawned on me that a finished car would be worth far more than a collection of bits so I’d be better off building the roadster and then selling it. Trouble is, now it’s finished I get such a blast driving the car I don’t want to sell it.’

Carl set to work on the build over Christmas in 2021 and the following April it was finished and on the road. Quite an achievement for anyone, especially somebody doing it in his spare time after

work. Since then, despite having two other hot rods available to jump into and enjoy, Carl has clocked up more than 5000 miles in the roadster. Well, he did say it’s a blast to drive.

Pedaling it

The rolling chassis is pretty much standard spec, if there is such a thing when it comes to a hot rod build. Dropped I beam at the front, 8-inch Ford at the rear and a small block Chevy in between.

There is a variation from the expected norm when it comes to the gearbox though. Some of you may already have noticed this hot rod has 3 pedals, a necessity dictated by the 4-speed Muncie Carl fitted.

Was going manual a conscious decision on your part, I asked him. ‘Not really, I just happened to already have the Muncie sat on

a shelf. I took it in part payment for a paint job I did years ago.’

Carl also had the small block V8 in stock, well pretty much all of it anyway. He bought the bare 350ci block a few years back, with it already having been bored +10 thou. Carl subsequently built the engine in a deliberately purposeful way. ‘I chose what went into the engine very carefully,’ he explained. ‘It is my idea of how a proper hot rod engine would have been built back in the day.’

Commercial compromise

A few years back, Carl swapped the front grille and headlights on his Elijahs Speed Shop pick-up for commercial units. He didn’t part with the originals though, and they also sat on the shelf when it came time for the roadster build. Similarly, the Moon gauges

Below: The dropped and chromed Magnum I beam hangs from a similarly coated transverse spring and is located by owner-fabricated stainless 4-bars. The shocks are by Pete and Jake, brakes are discs and a Vega box handles the steering

Above: The 350ci has been rebored and fitted with a fast road cam and 327 Fuelie heads. The Ram Horn manifolds are ceramic coated, and Carl only had to reach up on the shelf to lay his hands on the tri-power carb set up

This is my idea of how a proper hot rod engine would have been built

Carl

That

The

The

Top right: Forward thinking came to the fore regarding the interior trimming. Carl

trim it, along with the door and kick cards, in white leather at the same time as the car was being built. No

there’s a novelty

Above right: With the hood being as easy to remove completely as it is to fold, the topless roadster has cleaner lines than many others. If the forecast’s looking a bit iffy, of course, Carl has the other option

that fill the dash insert were left over from a previous project. Those are, however, a compromise as Carl really wanted whitefaced gauges to match the interior trimming. Beggars can’t be choosers though.

The Arvin heater that sat on the shelf was dusted off, the matrix rebuilt and an electric motor from a Mini heater fitted, with the bonus that the original Arvin fan fitted the shaft on the new motor. Carl prepped and

painted the heater casing body colour, while the trim embellishments were re-chromed. Wiring the car was another task undertaken by Carl, the loom being created using an EZ Wiring kit.

Below:

Above: The ribbed dash insert, an eBay USA purchase, houses the cluster of compromise black-faced Moon gauges. Carl had them in stock and just needed new senders. Not only does the restored Arvin heater look perfectly at home under the dash, it’s also functional, with Carl saying it maybe works too well at times

formed the bench seat early on in the build so Barrie Stemp could

waiting for trim at the end of the build,

Above left: Carl’s ’33 Chevy sedan at the NSRA Pre-’49 weekend in 2005. This is the other car he painted Orange Tangerine Pic: Dave Biggadyke

Above centre: The 4-pot Model A roadster pick-up and V8-powered ’33 pick-up pairing we featured in the January ’09 issue Pic: Mike Key

Above right: Still in Carl’s garage is the ’33 sedan we featured in the Summer ’18 issue Pic: Steve Sharp

The February ’20 issue depicted this ’40 Ford convertible, another car still at Carl’s disposal Pic: Steve Sharp

The So Cal windscreen surround was sourced via the NSRA website with Carl collecting it at the Swap Meet. It wasn’t chrome-plated back then though, and it threw up a hiccup when it came to sourcing a frame for the folding hood. ‘I looked around but nobody was offering a frame to suit that particular screen surround,’ Carl explained. ‘I could have bought one and modified it to fit but then I thought I might as well make one from scratch.

‘I’m really pleased with how it turned out. It does fold, but it’s actually just as easy to remove it completely.’

The wheels and tyres the roadster rolls on were another second-hand buy, on this occasion from Gary Chester. He put them up for grabs when he switched to Torq Thrust rims and black walls on his ex-Russ Pepper ’32 roadster.

Changing base

If you know of Carl’s reputation in the rodding world, it will come as no surprise to find out that he painted the car himself. You may, however, not be expecting to hear that he already had the paint in stock. Well, sort of. ‘It’s a colour I really like, the same as I painted my Chevy sedan many years ago.

I had some left over so took the can off the shelf and painted the grille. This time round

I sprayed it over a white base and that really makes the colour pop. I bought more paint, mixed the old and new together, and painted the whole car.’

Carl had already told me the roadster is a blast to drive, but I had to press him further on the subject. ‘It’s awesome to drive and

Right: A rare shot of Carl, who’s well known for building hot rods at a rapid rate then driving them almost non-stop, standing still and not doing anything. We can only surmise he’s planning another build

Below: The paint colour is Peugeot Orange Tangerine, sprayed over a white basecoat instead of the usual grey. The folding hood is trimmed in fawn Double Duck canvas

goes like a scalded cat. It sounds wicked with it having a manual box.’

Sums that up nicely then. So, what about future plans for the car? ‘Just drive it’ came the succinct reply.

While this was never an intended build, it does go to show what can be achieved with forward planning. Whether there are many others who could achieve it in the same timescale is debatable though. Collecting parts over a number of years as and when they become available does keep the cost down, and it also means there is no big-hit outlay in one go.

The only question now, though, is how bare has the roadster build left the shelves in Carl’s workshop? Chances are we won’t have to wait long to find out…

Thanks

The roadster rolls on polished Radir Tri Ribb III rims wearing wide white rubber. The front wheels measure 4 x 15 and the rears 6 x 16

“Whiff and Finn for the hood trimming, Barry Stemp for the interior and, of course, my wife Mandy”

Andy Murrell freely admits to having heard the question ‘is this thing ever going to get finished?’ a few times over the years it took for this kustom Consul to come together. Sometimes it will have been in his own head, we’ve no doubt about that, but he stuck to his vision and the finished car is a triumph. Well, it’s a 1962 Ford Consul 375, but you know what I mean.

So, let’s rewind to when Andy was a fresh-faced teenager with visions of owning an American car from the 1950s. ‘I couldn’t afford one of those so I bought a Hillman Imp…’ he laughs. ‘It cost me £70, and it was worth every penny of about £70.’

Give him credit, though, he did manage to ‘fix it up’, doing all the work himself in his aunty’s garage –including fitting shorter front springs and painting it bright yellow. And he had it on the road a couple of months after passing his driving test at 17.

Teenage fan club

‘In my mind, it was a kind of Cal Look Imp,’ Andy says with a grin. ‘I was a teenage Custom Car buyer – or Street Machine if it was a good issue – the paper round money wouldn’t stretch to both! It was the era of UK Cal Look… what I really fancied was a VW Type 3.’

Andy never has owned a Type 3, nor an American car, but a moment of clarity in 1994 saw him shift his attention to British cars with an American flavour. ‘Cars like the Mk2 Consul have that American look, but are smaller and fit in British garages and parking spaces. And I could afford one of those!’

Hearing the stories behind the cars we feature is always a joy. But when a tale covers the best part of three decades, you can feel the excitement the end product brings. Or maybe it’s relief? Either way, you feel it

Words: Mike Pye Pics: Vic Peel

Above: March 1994, as bought Oppoisite: 18 Oct 1997, as Andy and Mel’s wedding car

So, precisely 675 notes later (which would be more or less exactly twice as much in today’s money), Andy bought a 1962 Consul 375 as a 21st birthday present to himself. A week or so later, he had a local garage torch the front coils to complement the naturally sagging rear leaf springs. Shortly after that, the original four-cylinder motor gave up the ghost.

‘I was actually on my way over to my friend’s house to do an engine swap on his driveway when it expired with the biggest

cloud of smoke you’ve ever seen. I was right next to some old ladies doing a traffic survey at the time.’

The drive home was more rewarding as Andy had two more cylinders to play with, and in a vee configuration too. The 2.8-litre Cologne V6 with which they replaced the blown (as in up, not supercharged) four came out of a Granada at the local scrappy, complete with its C3 auto box.

‘The car still had rust on almost every panel, but I loved it. And because it was

The car had its first V6 transplant in 1994 and there’s still a Cologne V6 under the bonnet now, only one of the later 2.9-litre versions from a 1992 car of indeterminate origin, possibly a Sierra XR4x4. Andy says the Bosch L-Jetronic / Ford EEC IV fuel injection system on the torquey, 150bhp unit has transformed the car over the previous 2.8 carburettor lump

The engine fits well, with only a small modification required to the firewall to clear the staggered passenger’s side cylinder head. Behind it still is the good old Ford C3 threespeed auto’ Andy fitted almost 30 years ago, just rebuilt to stock spec by Andy Frost at Penn Autos in Wolverhampton

still on the stock back axle, it had brilliant acceleration off the lights but would then just drop off about 60mph.

Baby blues

‘That didn’t stop my wife Mel driving it to work every day for a while. And it was our wedding car, too. But then came the classic thing. Our first daughter was on her way, and it did need a little bit of welding to the sills…’

The ‘little bit of welding’ turned out to be a mammoth amount of rust repair and so,

Would

Body mods are restrained, limited only to removal of the door and boot handles and side trim, de-badging, adding a pair of Highline headlamp cowls and that super-neat custom front grille. The aeroplane on the bonnet was retained, Andy feeling that it’s just too cool not to, though he’s still on the lookout for a better one if anyone is holding. Likewise, all the stainless trim around the windows has been repolished and refitted Bumpers front and rear have lost their overriders and the mounting bolts have been replaced with welded studs before re-chroming. The end bolts had to be retained as it would have been impossible to fit the bumpers to the car otherwise

you believe the centre bar from a ’57 Buick fitted the Consul with no modifications whatsoever? ‘I couldn’t believe it,’ says Andy. ‘I bought it on eBay and offered it up when it arrived, expecting to have to make up brackets or something to fit it, but it just fell straight into place’. Blacking out the original ali mesh makes it look like its floating, while repainting the original 375 badge that slotted straight into the centre hole adds more of that cohesion Andy was after

at the tail end of the 90s, the car was zipped into one of those temporary canvas garages for the next 14 or 15 years.

‘My mate Scott, who’s sadly no longer with us, or my brother Rob, would come over for the odd weekend and we’d have big plans but end up achieving very little. None of us are mechanics so there would be a lot of standing around scratching heads, and I’m still doing that to a certain extent today.’

To put the hiatus into context, Andy and Mel’s daughters Mia (20) and Erin (18) had never seen the Consul move until this summer. ‘That was a very exciting moment,’ recalls Andy. ‘It drove like crap, but it was exciting nonetheless.’

What facilitated the project moving forward again was twofold: the kids growing up and becoming more independent, and a couple of relatives – including the aunty who had been so encouraging all those years ago with the Imp project – passing away and leaving Andy enough of an inheritance to make a difference.

‘It wasn’t loads,’ he says, ‘but I could justify putting some of it into the car. Especially the money from my aunty, who was one of the ones who helped me get into cars in the first place.’

A see DC

This time, Andy wisely decided to involve a professional in the bodywork side of things and, in the summer of 2016, went to see local lad Darryn Coleman at DC Customs. After looking the car over, Darryn said, ‘okay, if you get the panels, we can do something with this.’ Music to Andy’s ears.

Naturally, blasting revealed yet more perforated metal that needed to be dealt with, leading Mel to enquire at one point: ‘So, how much of the car is actually original?’

‘Well, there’s the roof,’ laughs Andy. Indeed, all four doors have been replaced, as have (deep breath) both front wings, the boot lid, the sills and the rear arches. And countless other patches have been put in place on the remaining panels. ‘It’s a 1960s’

British Ford,’ says Andy matter of factly. ‘They rust everywhere.’

While the body was away being repaired and prepared for paint, Andy took the opportunity to replace the decaying gazebo that had been the car’s home for so long with a wooden garage he built himself. He also sent loads of the car’s mechanical parts off to be blasted and powder coated so it would all be ready to go back on when the shell returned.

The car’s original front suspension struts, meanwhile, headed to Rayvern Hydraulics in Cambridgeshire to have the coil springs

‘I wanted to build a late 50s’ / early 60s’ custom with a ‘K’ out of a fairly standard 1960s’ British car’

The inspiration. Jerry Koller’s Larry Watson-painted ’55 Ford Customline, known as Doll Buggy

When life got in the way, the old Consul was relegated to the back burner

When work did get underway, it started with just a couple of little repairs…

…but quickly escalated. Here’s Andy’s brother Rob, holding what was left of one of the original sills

And here’s his good friend Scott, working on making that rear corner good again

That’s one corner done and into primer. All the work was being done in a gazebo in the garden at this stage in the late ’90s

Finally, though, Andy decided to get some professional help. Here’s the car heading off for blasting in July 2016

Yep, that showed up even more dodgy metal that needed cutting out and replacing

Then DC Customs took over, finishing the bodywork and straightening and gapping everything before prepping for paint

There’s a ton of work been put in between the previous picture and this one of the body in its final prime

And then comes the glory coat. There are few things quite as exciting as finally seeing a longterm project in its colour coat

With all the panels back on, polished and ready to go back to Andy for reassembly

Back home in September 2017 and, for the first time in its life, with a garage to live in

After years of working outside, having a clean, dry place to reassemble the car must have felt like heaven

Andy let his creative side loose on the air ride gauge pod…

…while Rob did likewise, just with some higher end technology. How cool are these 3D printed interior door handles?

The only mod required to fit the new 2.9-litre engine was to swap on the custom sump Andy had on the previous 2.8 to clear the front crossmember

A full coat of Dynamat went into the shell – floor, roof and throughout the boot. Here you can see where the air tank lives, with the battery repositioned bottom left. This will all be trimmed to match soon

Rebuilt and now running, the last stop on the journey was to Custom Coach Trimming for upholstery

Thanks to Ash Phipps, the car was towed to Peterborough to make its debut at the 2022 National Hot Rod and Custom Show where, to Andy’s humble amazement, it won Judges’ Choice

replaced with air bags, returning along with another pair of bags for the rear.

‘I’ve had this car so long I’ve amassed folders of images of cars and colours I like, and it was going to be a satin mid-blue or dark green. But everything in the colour swatches was gloss and I just couldn’t imagine it in a flat colour.’ And so it ended up in the Chrysler Inca Gold you see here, with a Fiat Abarth Pearl White roof.

‘Understandably, it went over budget. But Darren did a fantastic job and gave me back exactly what I wanted – a beautifully painted, fully finished shell.’

Walk the line

Now all Andy had to do was screw it back together, adding his choice of custom touches as he went along. ‘It’s a fine line with a car like this. I wanted to build a late

50s’ / early 60s’ custom with a K out of a fairly standard 1960s’ British car.’

When it came to wheels and tyres, Andy says it wasn’t about how big a meat he could get under the rear arches, but more about balancing the look with the car’s ride height. Aesthetically, that meant stepping up to 15-inch wheels. As he’d replaced the old Ford back axle with a disc brakeequipped unit out of a Volvo 240 by this

Car’s low riding stance comes courtesy of de-arched springs and lowering blocks at the rear, with air bags for height adjustment and Spax dampers. Up front, the stock MacPherson struts have been converted to air bag tops with rebound adjustable damper inserts

‘I was on my way over to my friend’s house to do an engine swap when it expired with the biggest cloud of smoke you’ve ever seen’

Top right: MP3-compatible

That is to say it was mocked up in cardboard before being made in metal

Above right: Andy initially wanted the car

a bit of

point, he sensibly looked at Volvo wheel options, settling on a set of early 740 steels. Dressed with ’56 Olds caps and with the tyres converted to whitewalls by Ant at Mr. Whitewalls, he had the look he was after.

A pair of single outlet Patriot Lake Pipes continue the mild custom look, and the look is all they are for at present as Andy is concerned that if he hooks them up, the heat will damage the paint above. For now,

then, the car’s minimal silencing comes from a straight Smithy’s muffler either side, though Andy says he’s already tiring of the drone they produce in the cabin at 60 or 70mph on the motorway.

‘It’s been such a long time since I drove an old car that I have to keep reminding myself that’s what this is. It’s the reason I built it like this – I wanted to feel that connection you just don’t get with modern cars.’

Trim shop

We can’t leave without talking about the interior and, truth be told, it’s what alerted us to this car in the first place after Chris Vining at Custom Coach Trimming in Evesham put a couple of sneak preview pics up on his Instagram feed.

‘I knew what I wanted and had done some drawings for the patterns but, once you start talking to someone who knows

Above right: The very neat air ride gauge and switch panel is what Andy calls ‘a good

in the garage’ but also ‘a lack of knowledge and a balls-up on my part’. In short, he replaced the steering box at some stage in the past, not realising he’d

re-fit the cowl

Above left: ‘We were in danger of everything being a bit colour coded, like early ’90’s Cal Look,’ says Andy. So he deliberately kept the original trim through the dash, while the lower section is a bit of B&Q pressed ali sheet, carefully cut to size. The original gauges have been disassembled and repainted to match, while under the full circle horn ring from a ’57 Zodiac is the original Consul steering wheel, topped with a bullet centre cap. Andy ordered the carpets in a custom colour from Aldridge Trimming in Wolverhampton, and Chris Vining at Custom Coach Trimming modified them to fit around the Ford C3 shifter

Alpine head unit is hidden in the glovebox, along with USB charging points, and the handmade liner is another of Andy’s old school CAD exercises.

trimmed in gold and white pearl metalflake vinyl but Chris talked him out of what could have been a rather garish combination and into

gold ostrich and textured semi-matt white vinyl instead. The match with the car’s exterior colours is just perfect

Above left: The heavy stainless window trim denotes a Lowline model, though by mid-1961 Ford had decided to call these models Consul 375 and added a few badges around the car to that effect. A new front screen was ordered from Pilkington, while all new side glass was cut by VGC in Oldbury, a company Andy praises highly for its efficiency and reasonable cost. Oh, and check out more of Chris Vining’s neat speaker mouldings on the rear shelf

weekend spent

used a longer Zephyr / Zodiac part until he came to

piece many years later. The resulting gap left the perfect place for the new panel. That’s serendipity…

what they’re talking about, it escalates,’ says Andy enthusiastically.

With that, the garish gold and white flake vinyl idea went out the window, replaced with a more demure gold ostrich cloth and white, semi-matt textured vinyl. It’s the perfect foil to the exterior colours, lifted further by the inclusion of ‘church window’ patterns in the stitching at Chris’ suggestion

The moulded speaker mounts were more of Chris, their shape inspired by the centre bar in the front grille, while Andy sourced the Marshall amp cloth that covers the cones within.

‘Chris is the absolute epitome of you get what you pay for, in a good way,’ continues Andy. ‘I’ve never been more glad to spend that sort of money on anything in my life.’

Cohesive style

Andy obviously had a clear vision of what he wanted the car to end up looking like. Above all, it had to be cohesive, and not over the top. ‘I wanted to be able to Photoshop a

picture of if on to one of those old images of Larry Watson’s paint shop and for it not to look out of place. I have done a render of the car with some scallops on. Maybe one day…’

So, what’s it like to drive after all these years? Did it live up to expectations?

‘It’s really nice. The front brakes are still the standard Consul discs, so I might look into upgrading those at some point. And it would be nice to go a little bit lower at the back, so maybe I’ll 4-link it one day, but I just want to drive it now. I’m making a list of little jobs I can do in a weekend as I really don’t want to take it off the road again, not after all this time.

‘The EFI on the new engine is great. It starts on the button, idles nicely and gets about 27mpg, where I was getting 17 or 18 on the old carb motor. That’s a bit more appropriate given today’s fuel prices.

‘It’s quick too, and will certainly go faster than I’m comfortable doing in what is still, by and large, an old 1960s’ car.

“The best thing, though, is the feeling of satisfaction that I’ve finally achieved it. When we first went out for a drive together in it, Mel said: ‘I did wonder if this day would ever come.’

‘To which I replied: “so did I.”’

Thanks

“Darren at DC Customs and Chris at Custom Coach Trimming. My brother Rob, who has been a constant help throughout, and Ashley Phipps for selling me the 2.9 V6, helping make sense of the ECU wiring and getting the car running properly.

Also my wife, Mel, and daughters, Mia and Erin, for always being so supportive and encouraging, bringing me coffee, helping with assembly or simply taking the piss when another parcel of car parts arrives.

Finally, my mate Scott, who helped with the first engine swap and some of the welding later on, but sadly died in 2016 and never got to see the car become what it is now.”

Mk2 buffers will note the step up from 13 to 15-inch wheels, but might like to know their origin. They’re Volvo 740 steels, chosen because they were the perfect fit in the rear arches when bolted to a standard width Volvo 240 back axle. The full wheel covers are ’56 Oldsmobile, picked up at the Father’s Day Swapmeet at Pomona in 2001. Tyres are 185/65s and 195/65s, shaved and whitewalled by Mr Whitewalls in Stafford

The National Street Van Association’s annual Truck-In event was held this year as part of the International Campervan Show at Stratford upon Avon Racecourse. This meant a bumper attendance was all but guaranteed – and that’s exactly how it turned out.

NationalStreet VanAssociation’s

With the event being held alongside another big show, there was plenty to see and do all weekend. We had our own area within the show itself, which started filling up from the Thursday onwards. Throughout the weekend, a whole variety of vans rolled in, from 70s’ Chevys to showwinning VW Caddys.

It was a Caddy, indeed, whose owner, Mark Webster, turned out to be the holder of the winning ticket in the traditional show raffle – the prize being to have his

bonnet airbrushed by Nimbus Airbrush Art. Nimbus have been attending the Truck-in for several years now and Mark joins a long line-up of lucky owners who have enjoyed this honour in the past.

The show itself was a laid-back affair, with an informal Show’n’Shine on the Saturday which the general public loved. Trophies were handed out on the Saturday afternoon, including Best Paintwork (Nutty Nik’s Chevy Van, Pirates of the Caribbean (Black Pearl) and Best Interior (Colin Campbell’s modified VW Caddy).

Vanners’ Choice went to Jim Savage’s Ford Econoline, which also went on to take Best of Show. Best Home Build went to Chris FFF Brown with his Chevy Van, while Dean Jaques took Vanner of the Show.

Top four trophies went to Ruth TiceLamb’s Texas Twister Chevy Van, Jim Andrews’ six-wheeled Ford Thames, Vitali Volkov’s Dodge and an amazing Mk2 Ford Escort Van.

The International Campervan Show itself was huge, with everything from Airstream

motorhomes to quarter of a million pound overlanders on display.

Next year is the National Street Van Association’s big one, our 50th. Keep your eyed peeled for information between now and then as to the venue and dates.

In the meantime, if vanning is your thing the NSVA would love to have you in our ranks. Paid-up members get four magazines a year, discounts to events and other benefits. Take a look on the National Street Van Association Facebook page for more info, or search nsva.uk. You can also email nsvamembers@gmail.com for details on joining up. CC

Words and pics: David Hart

‘Nextyearisthe

bigone,our50th’

Once again, I find myself writing about one of the most incredible, insane and action-packed shows of the year. Organised by Jay Dennison, partner Sam and the incredible team behind the brand BHP, the aptly named Fuel Fest was once again staged at the amazing Westpoint Arena in Exeter.

This show is a one-day extravaganza, and for 2022 Jay once again knocked it out the park, upping the ante something fierce to make sure his visitors got plenty for their money. The indoor arena was home to 60 of the best cars in the country (possibly the county, or largely anyway), then outside was home to a heap of clubs and individual cars of all varieties.

On top of that, there was a large arena for drifters to put their cars sideways and give us petrol heads the wondrous smell of burnt rubber and the sound of screeching tyres we love so much at multiple intervals. Another performance team was extreme bike battles, which had a large green area to showcase the incredible talents on two wheels from the best in the country.

Traders and sponsors were arranged indoor and outdoor and included Bristol Detailing Supplies, Kids Car Mods, Corbeau Seats, Shedwerx boot installs and Comp Brakes. Despite the cost of living crisis, Jay kept entry costs to a minimum – which meant £20 entry on the day for adults, while 13’s and under went free.

Indoor applicants had a maximum of 60 spots in which to display their pride and joy. Despite our best efforts, with various other shows taking place on the same day the selection of American cars and Hot Rods was limited – but Jay did stress on socials that everyone could apply and would be made to feel welcome to the show. So hopefully more will attend next year.

Although it was a one-day show, indoor participants were invited to park up on Saturday and detail their pride and joy to the max. Public visitors on the Sunday were invited into the show as of 10am, then come about 2.30pm awards were given out.

These included a prize for a young lad with a Cobra-based tot rod; Best Interior to a Volkswagen T4 UPS based van; an American pick up winning best paint; Best Engine for David Bond and his incredible Mk1 Golf; Anthony Fryett and his unique Grumman shop van winning Best Bagged; and an amazing out-of-this-world Volks rod winning Best of Show.

The whole day is an experience like no other, and for Jay and his team to come back bigger and better each year is an incredible feet of planning and organising, the likes of which most of us could only ever contemplate creating. The BHP brand

isn’t just restricted to Devon, either – the team host shows across the country with a couple of new events on the way including Weekend at Jay’s at Bath and West Showground and BHP Race Wars at Spitfire Raceway in Perranporth.

All details, pics and info can be found on all the usual socials as well as by visiting www.bhpshows.com. And once again, a polite reminder for anyone who feels this show is aimed at a specific style of car –ALL ARE WELCOME! CC

Words and pics: James Webber

‘Withvarious othershowson thesameday,the selectionofhot rodswaslimited–buteveryonewas welcome’

Leo Preece went home with an award for his cool Cobra tot rod

This Moggy doesn’t look like much at first glance, but get under the bonnet and it soon turns rude

This absolutely wild Volks rod was a shoe-in for Best in Show. And they say Bugs don’t belong in Custom Car…

Anthony Fryett of Autostyl took Best Bagged for his one-of-a-kind Grumman LLV. He’s since put it up for sale, with a view to returning it home to the US

‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ It’s a maxim us car freaks know well enough. The rod’s running fine, no problems at all, but hey, if I just… Cue snapped bolt or stripped thread and a bunch of heartache, maybe even a missed rod run. If you could have just stayed those itchy fingers, you’d be cruising in the sunshine rather than crawling under the motor in the dirt…

Hotrods and Hills ain’t broke, and it don’t need fixing. Organised by the venue, Park Foot Campsite in Pooley Bridge, at the northern end of Ullswater, the event has stuck to pretty much its original format all these years because quite frankly it’s a format that works, and works well.

Get there on the Thursday (or even earlier) if you want to make the most of the long weekend and the fabulous scenery. Cruise out to the picturesque Lowther Castle Friday afternoon for coffee and cake, cruise out again on the big Saturday run, taking in fabulous views alongside Ullswater and the spectacular Kirkstone Pass, dance your little cotton

socks off to the band of a Saturday evening and at some point take a stroll along the lakeside path into Pooley Bridge for beer or an ice cream. Or both, but maybe not at the same time.

But most of all, very much most of all, just enjoy being among true petrolhead mates for several wonderful days and revel in the all-pervading laid-back atmosphere.

last couple of years Covid did its thing to mess up the normality. Even this year, we weren’t quite back up to speed as like many businesses post-Covid and post-Brexit, the campsite is short of staff so they couldn’t cope with a band on the Saturday night.

But to be honest, just wandering about the campsite, checking out the cars and sitting around chatting with old mates is what Hotrods and Hills is all about. It’s like dropping into your favourite pub, with all its comfy familiarity.

True enough, the cruise has changed venues occasionally and some of the longer, steeper and more arduous routes have been deleted, partly due to the cost of fuel and partly due to the difficulties of piloting any giant Yank barge with an auto box and drum brakes up and down tight hairpins and single-track roads. Plus the

Not that that means it ever in any way it gets boring. It really is just such a wonderful place to be – and then there’s always new cars being debuted, new stories of builds underway or new events taken part in or looking forward to. Hell, you know us, we can talk cars till the cows come home and then go back into the fields in the morning…

Next year will be the 15th anniversary of Hotrods and Hills. So stick these dates in your diary now – June 8-11 2023 – and get your camping pitch booked early. It promises to be something really rather special…

Words and pics: Odgie Danaan

California has a special place in the heart of car culture, but the Golden State is also one of the USA’s principal centres of agriculture. So actually, Rich Bratby’s ‘72 F-250 ranch truck is about as Californian as they come

Words and pics: Dan Fenn

The phrase ‘Cal-look’ has long been part of the Custom Car lexicon. Back in the 80s, it seemed like the world was being taken over by generic air-cooled Beetles done in the classic Californian style.

We’re not going to get into that debate right now. But we are going to get into another kind of Cal-looker. A 1972 Ford F-250, to be precise. What, you’re wondering, are we on about?

We’re on about the California beyond LA and Frisco, beyond Venice Beach and Compton. The Golden State may be the home of Hollywood, hippie culture, West Coast rap and an eye-popping population of porn stars, and most of the world’s wealth might seem to have been sucked into a narrow strip of its coastline like light into a black hole, but more than anything else California is the home of farms. Big farms, and lots of them.

And where there are lots of big farms, there are lots of big trucks. Trucks like this here Ford.

For the first five years of its life, the F-250 worked on a farm in California. We don’t know where in California, or what the farm produced, but let’s picture it rolling down dirt tracks amid endless fields of rye shimmering in the evening sun, as some good ol’ boy rumbles into town with his dog on the seat next to him and a fresh-faced young farm hand riding in the back on the way to court his best girl at the barn dance.

Or you can picture it getting peppered by wet salt as freezing sleet blasts in from the North Atlantic and huge men called Hamish and Lachlan bellow in Gaelic to make themselves heard above the sound of a screaming gale. Either way, it’s all been in a day’s work for an F-250 which nowadays resides in the altogether less trying environment of East Staffordshire.

That’s where Rich Bratby is to be found. He’s had the truck for about a year and a half and in that time he’s turned it into a cool, quirky daily driver done with a knowingly artistic nod to its own heritage.

Tough and usable

‘The Ford was first registered in the UK in 1977,’ Rich tells us. ‘It had been used mainly as a ranch truck. I wanted to keep it that

way – I didn’t want it to be a garage queen but a tough, usable truck.’ Tough and usable, but also an absolute favourite on the show circuit around the Midlands.

But how did it get from California to the north of Scotland?

‘The guy who owned it has a trawling business,’ says Rich. Not just trawling, actually – the company actually fabricates the things, which sounds like the sort of

Ford’s 390ci FE engine is original to the truck but not original in the other sense. In the year and a half since he’s owned it, Rich has given it a new big end, new top end, new pistons, new con rods, new springs and new camshafts, as well as new Scott Drake ‘Powered by Ford’ valve covers. Still, the biggest improvement came from replacing the fuel pump with one that was actually working

welding you don’t give to your apprentice to have a bash at in his first week on the job.

‘It was on a farm next to the coast,’ he continues. You can almost feel your teeth rusting. But they make ‘em tough down Ford way, and when he picked it up Rich’s main concern was that it was decorated with a shark-based jaws design on the door.

A shark? Maybe on a Babararacucudada, but surely if you’re going to compare an

Your instinct might be to call Rich’s truck a rat, but while a lot of thought has gone into the F-250’s appearance you wouldn’t have to look far to find someone willing to take you to task for it. There’s plenty of rust presented as patina, plenty of decor (shout out to Nigel at Harry’s Hotrod Shop for the artwork), plenty of artful accessories – and, like a true rat rod, the truck was built to be a daily driver. Rich is particularly proud of the fact that according to the grille, it’s an ‘ORD’ – the ‘F’ fell off and when something does that, it stays off

F-250, particularly this one, to any animal, it ought to be a bear.

Which brings us back to Californy. Home of big bears, big trees, big mountains and big trucks. On big farms.

‘With the truck being from California,’ says Rich, ‘which is a big agricultural centre, I decided to give it a makeover and return it back to its original farm truck theme.’ You can see for yourself how it turned out –which is to say you can see for yourself how cool it is. Done with shows in mind, for sure, but absolutely 100% not a garage queen.

A little decor, indeed, is just the finish on top. ’It has had quite a bit of work done to keep it a very strong, durable truck,’ says Rich. And then some. The 390ci V8 engine has been built – not for full-on performance (he’s had plenty of that kind of vehicle, American and otherwise, including some seriously fast stuff) but as he puts it, ‘it’ll lay down lines if that’s what you want to do.’

The end of the end

It also laid down its big end, which is what happened before the part about having

‘I didn’t want it to be a garage queen. I wanted it to be a tough, usable truck’

quite a bit of work done. Not much before it, though. The problem may have been provoked by an LPG system, which someone thought was a good idea but Rich definitely didn’t, at least not for long.

Still, if life throws you lemons and all that. The LPG may had chucked a spanner in the works but that was just a good excuse for a rebuild. New big end,

new top end, new pistons, con rods, springs and camshafts, new Scott Drake ‘Powered by Ford’ valve covers. A whole lot of new stuff, then, all of it designed not just to bring the engine back to life but to bring it back as a thing transformed.

And with all this good gear in it, the big V8 fired up and ran… ‘a bit rough’. Oh.

‘We found out the fuel pump wasn’t

working,’ explains Rich, which would definitely do the trick. ‘After fitting the pump, my mate John Massey at Birch Trees Dubs stripped the carb, rebuilt it and cleaned all the fuel lines. I uprated the ignition coil, distributor and leads, and fitted a Hilborn style carb scoop.’

Now it’s gone from running a bit rough to not a bit rough. The FE lump would have put out 201bhp and 376lbf.ft when new (trucks built up to 1971 had 255bhp, but from 1972 the engine’s compression ratio took a dive

Mexican blanket, Stars and Stripes headliner, floor mats, stickers, old copy of Custom Car this is one of those interiors that’s gained another ornament every time you see it, and to prove the point Rich sent us the two pictures above left between us doing our photoshoot and getting this layout done

and power output went with it); Rich’s hasn’t been on the rollers since all the work was done, but it makes the right noise, turns rude when asked and doesn’t break any more.

Elsewhere, mechanical mods are few and far between. And while the bodywork has been done, it’s not been ‘done’ in the sense you’d expect if we were talking about a different kind of custom car.

Nothing aligned

‘It’s an original truck with no aligned panels,’ says Rich. ‘A farmer who owned it back in the day had a blowout and damaged the rear quarter panels, so they’ve all been repaired and welded. Some of the panels were being eaten by rust so it’s all been patched in. It has the War Boys logo from Mad Max Fury Road welded in to the bonnet!’

File under ‘places you weren’t expecting that paragraph to go.’

When we first saw the F-250, at the Weekend of Wheels show near Nottingham this last summer, it was very carefully presented with, among other things, an old copy of Custom Car from the 1970s sitting

on its dashboard. That’s an illustration of the care Rich puts into it – as most of us know, it’s easy to make a car look ratty (as in old and crap) but the actual rat look takes a lot of skill and effort to do right.

Not that this is a rat-looker. It’s a Callooker, remember?

‘The interior had no carpet and holes in the bench,’ continues Rich. ‘I recarpeted it and fitted a Mexican blanket, and I had some Ford mats delivered from Andy’s Motorsport in Ireland.

‘Then to stick to its heritage, I took the original headliner off and retrimmed it with a polyester American flag from the States.’ There’s a school of thought that says there’s a right and a wrong way to do this, apparently – it needs to face top side forward as if it’s a standard being carried into battle.

There’s another school of thought that says whatever.

Anyway, the coup de grace was definitely the paintwork on the outside. ‘I took the truck to a friend who is brilliant at signwriting and pin striping, Nigel at Harry’s

Hotrod Shop. He drew up some designs and did an amazing job on the truck, giving it a real farm truck vibe.’

Which is absolutely what it’s got, even if it’s nothing like anything you’d ever see doing a job of work down on t’farm on this side of the Pond. Or is it? Look carefully, and you’ll see on the grille that this is actually an ORD, not a Ford.

‘At the end of the day,’ says Rich, ‘it’s a rusty old farm truck. With a kick – but whatever falls off stays off!’

‘At the end of the day, it’s a rusty old farm truck. With a kick – but whatever falls off stays off!’

We’ve all seen old hot rods celebrated as ‘survivor cars’. In case you’ve ever wondered what the term ‘survivor’ actually means in this context, it refers to a car that’s relatively unchanged from its original build – something of a rarity in the rodding world, since customised vehicles, and hot rods in particular, tend to evolve over the years from their first incarnation or build style.

This can be because of several reasons. Changes of ownership, evolving trends in stye… or, worse, being neglected to the point of decay.

This ‘34 roadster isn’t any of these things. On the contrary, it’s a hot rod that has continually changed for the better – those changes having all been made by one man, Johnny Best.

Johnny will be well known to long-term readers of CC, as we’ve previously featured two cars he built. Probably the best known was a traditionally styled ’34 coupe, also black and also with Johnny’s favourite choice of engine, a Chrysler Hemi.

That was back in the 90s. And some years later, history was to repeat itself when Johnny acquired an original, steel ’34 2-door sedan, a car that had been floating

around the scene as a stocker. Wasting no time, he cracked on with the build, the car reappearing at the 2011 Hot Rod Hayride complete with a healthy chop, chrome 5-spokes, a ’57 Chevy dashboard and a bright yellow coat of paint.

However, though looking cool, it didn’t last long in this guise. ‘It was the wrong shade of yellow,’ Johnny told us, so back into the paint booth it went, re-emerging in straight black. A change of wheels also saw the car

Just over a decade ago, Johnny Best debuted a yellow ‘34 2-door sedan at the Hot Rod Hayride. It didn’t stay yellow for long… and since then it has turned into the roadster it was perhaps always destined to become

Words and pics: Keith Harman

Having called in sick during the car’s sedan days, the Hemi was given the full works during a major rebuild. Bored out from the stock 330 to 345ci and stuffed with racing pistons, solid lifters, adjustable push rods and stainless steel valves, its cam was reground and its heads were ported and polished. The coup de grace was a rare dual quad De Soto inlet manifold sporting a pair of Edelbrock 500s, complemented by chrome De Soto valve covers and a polished generator

with a set of Vintique chrome reverse rims, while a set of custom nerf bars replaced the stock chrome bumpers.

Since first hot rodding the ’34, Johnny replaced the tired stock Flathead with a more streetable Ford V6 motor. And it was with this set-up that he was able to join the newly reformed Vintage Hot Rod Association and run at the first Pendine event in 2013 – setting a time in the late sixcylinder class of 86.70mph that would stand as a record for the next six years.

Prior to his assault on the sand, however, an unfortunate incident occurred, forcing Johnny to make yet another unplanned change to the sedan – the removal of the fenders and running boards, brought about by being cut up on the motorway by a careless articulated lorry driver who very nearly totalled the car altogether. Scary stuff indeed – though the weight saved by losing the heavy steel fenders must have helped the ’34 achieve its record on the beach!

Johnny went on to tell us that another benefit of this episode was the resulting insurance money – which soon went on the purchase and build of the ’56 Chrysler Hemi that saw duty in the sedan the following year. Ultimately, that engine went into the roadster you’re looking at here, too.

The engine swap to the Hemi was completed in time for the 2014 Pendine

event, which now saw the sedan competing in the hotly contested L8/C (Late V8/Closed Car) class. Johnny hoped the bigger V8 would see him into the VHRA’s coveted 100mph club and he wasn’t disappointed. ‘It became the fastest 5-seater at Pendine that year!’ he told us.

The engine was later found to have some serious issues, leading to it being rebuilt in the specification which remains today. It also upped its recorded speed on the beach, as you’d expect.

In the meantime, Johnny and his wife Sarah made the decision to move from Leicestershire and buy a house on The South Island. Sounds exotic… think somewhere in the Pacific, or maybe the Caribbean, or New Zealand at the very least.

Now think the Isle of Wight. Less commonly associated with mojitos, but still exotic enough. Moving there meant Johnny would lose his workshop, but he figured that since he was basically retiring anyway, he could probably live without it.

If moving was the first major decision, though, the second was that having achieved his goal with the sedan, and no longer needing a ‘family’ sized rod, he would rebuild it into something he’d always wanted – a roadster. His plan was to remove the Tudor body and replace it with a lighter ’34 roadster body – something he could

accomplish at his new home, even without the benefit of a workshop.

The result was this here ’34 – the South Island Special.

Much of the technical stuff remained from when the car was still a sedan. The chassis is the original stock ’34, though Johnny boxed it for strength and removed the rear frame horns in order to fit ’32 horns and a ’32 fuel tank.

The rear suspension, although retaining the original Ford set-up of a transverse spring and stock wishbone, has been upgraded to a Dana 44 live axle and Volvo shocks, with a Posies reverse eye spring replacing the stock item. Similarly, a Posies spring is used on the front, with a ’32 heavy axle which Johnny has dropped and drilled.

The front brakes now boast a Lincoln selfadjusting kit from Wilson Welding – a very effective set up without going too modern and upgrading to discs. Johnny already knew this as he had used the same stuff on

A careless artic driver very nearly totalled the car altogether – but the insurance money soon went on the purchase and build of a ’56 Chrysler Hemi

his previous coupe. The steering, meanwhile, is a combination of a ’40 Ford column mated to a Borgeson/Vega set-up from Duksville, with a ’40 wheel on top.

Now, back to that poorly Hemi which almost didn’t make it back from Pendine in the sedan. It was treated to a full rebuild, including being bored out from the stock 330 to 345ci. Racing pistons were added and the cam reground, with the heads being ported and polished and a set of solid lifters, adjustable push rods, and stainless steel valves from US Hemi specialist Hot Heads being fitted. The built motor is fired by a Joe Hunt magneto, with the icing on the

cake being a rare dual quad De Soto inlet manifold sporting a pair of Edelbrock 500s.

An interesting historical note here. This rare manifold was only offered new on the 1957 De Soto Adventurer – which, off the showroom floor with a stock displacement of 345ci, was the first production car to boast one brake horsepower per cubic inch. Safe to say Johnny’s can do that too.

What’s more, there aren’t many engines that are more impressive looking than a Chrysler Hemi V8. And this one is no exception. Johnny dressed it up with chrome De Soto valve covers and a polished generator, though the motor fills the ’34’s

engine compartment so much that you really can’t see much more than that. He solved the tight squeeze between the carbs and the hood by fitting a pair of chrome Harley Davidson air filters mounted flat.

The headers and exhaust were another clearance challenge, which Johnny overcame by making up his own system.

Also under there somewhere is a GM TH350 auto with a ‘Saturday Night Special’ Torque Converter, shifted via a cool chrome Gennie Shifter stick.

As we’ve mentioned, all this cool stuff had already been done when Johnny made the decision to turn his ’34 sedan into a

Johnny’s wife Sarah got involved with the built at the trim stage, creating the cool black and white interior whose details just keep jumping out at you the more you look at it. If you’re reading this caption before going through the main text of the article, try guessing where that buttoned bench seat started its life. Clues include David Beckham, The Kinks and Stanley Holloway’s passport…

The

first seen as a Flathead-powered hot rod at the 2011 Hayride, in what Johnny then decided was the wrong shade of yellow. Next thing

black, packing a Ford V6 and, running fenderless thanks to a coming together with an HGV, it set a class record at Pendine which stood

roadster. So job one was to part the body from the chassis and sell it (it’s already back on the road with its new owner) while he looked for a replacement.

What he found was a new and unused ’34 Corner roadster body that had been through the Rodline company but never sold. The quality fibreglass body was strengthened with oak bracing throughout, and a Speedway ’34 dash had been fitted in place of the Rodline item.

Before fitting the new body to the chassis, Johnny channeled it at the rear for a lower stance. He also applied the straight black paint, while his wife Sarah took care of the cool black and white themed interior trim which complements the understated looks and still features many neat details.

Incidentally, the buttoned bench seat in the roadster originally saw many miles’ service on the London Victoria Line, as it was previously from a tube train.

Johnny completed the car’s transformation with every intention of entering it into the following year’s Pendine races. But that same year, the VHRA was compelled to introduce a new regulation requiring open cars to be fitted with a full safety roll bar and race harness. While completely understandable from a safety point of view, many racers, Johnny included, made the decision not to make these changes for what amounted to one weekend’s use a year – especially since no such rule existed to prevent him from running a 13.3-second quarter mile at a

Santa Pod RWYB meet while keeping the looks and integrity of a finely finished traditional hot rod.

And on the subject of things that are finished, this article almost is. Though the story continues. We had been on the car’s case for a while by the time we took these pictures, and in that time Johnny had sold it on to new owner, Lenny Porter. Lenny loves the car, which is just as well as he bought it, and has changed nothing on it.

He was also most insistent that he should step back and have the story give full credit for the build to Johnny. And good for him. It might sound a bit obvious, but it’s not always the case when finished hot rods find new owners. Enjoy the car, Lenny – Johnny knows it’s in good hands.

COOLING & CNC Fabrication

Serck Motorsoport have been manufacturing cooling systems for the custom car and drag racing market for over 40 years. Built to the highest standards in both Aluminium or Copper Brass Construction we have supplied to all levels of performance from Drag Racing to Custom Cars, Classic and Muscle Cars. We can also help you design your Cooling System from scratch with our CAD Software programs.

We have recently added a new 5 Axis CNC Machine to our manufacturing department supported by the latest design software to enable us to meet your requirements for any parts machining or cooling solutions. We are also the official UK Distributor Setrab Oil Coolers with a huge range in stock from Diff Coolers to Transmission and Engine Coolers all instock and featured on our growing website.

From Colin Millars 6 Second Ford Pop to Mark Todd’s 2000hp Street Legal Aston Martin to Paul Morton’s MK1 Zephyr Zodiac and many many more we have the perfect Cooling Solution for all Custom and Race applications.

PERFORMANCE PARTS

We have over 35,000 listed parts featured on our growing web site with a huge stock for quick and efficient delivery times for over 30 high quality brands in the market today, from Race and Road Tyres, Race Wheels to Water Pumps to Nitrous Kits to Turbos to Performance Oil to Fuel Injection Systems.

We have also added a full range of Clear View Oil Filtration as featured on Street Outlaws.

Did you know there are now 7 Nitrous Filling Stations throughout the UK plus at our site in Hayes ? You can find them directly on our Website!!

You can also get your refills direct at Santa Pod Raceway in the Pod Shop as well as a range of racing products from Serck Motorsport to support racers at the track.

We are also appointed Nitrous Express UK Distributors and can supply all your performance requirements from Bottles to Kits to Parts direct from Stock.

RACING SERVICES

Rebuilding or Refreshing your engine ?? Consider Contamination from your Coolers!!

We have a full Cooling System Micron Analysis Cleaning and Testing facility in house and can fully service your Coolers, Lines, Oil Tanks.... DOWN TO THE MICRON!

We also Flow Test, Helium Pressure Test and carry Endoscopic Inspections as well as Fin Repair keeping your cooling performance to 100% efficiency.

stp summer nationals

We’re getting in our time machine this month and heading back to the first weekend in July, the date of the STP Summer Nationals. Traditionally more of a racers’ event than a spectators’ one, it always attracts a huge and varied field.

Testing took place on Friday 1 July, and some of the heavy hitters took the opportunity to tweak their set-ups ahead of the weekend’s racing ahead. Of note were Frenchman Jean Dulamon’s 6.174 / 197 and Brit Bobby Wallace’s high mile an hour 237 on a 6.301 pass.

The threatening skies and blustery winds on Saturday delivered one bout of rain in the afternoon, which was repeated on the Sunday, but otherwise the weather remained largely decent throughout the two full days of racing that followed, allowing for the packed card of entries to get through two complete rounds of qualifying before it was time for the Sunday eliminations.

Numbers might have been down in some of the classes of more interest to Custom Car readers, but they were made up for by huge fields of Sportsman classes. On top of crowd pleasers like Pro Mod, Outlaw Anglia, Street Eliminator, Wild Bunch, Comp Eliminator and Super Gas, there were the fiercely competitive Pro ET, Super Pro ET, Super Comp and VW Pro classes, along with their Sportsman siblings.

Drag Bike and Junior Dragster giving the next generation of competitors their time to shine. Quite the mixed race card then, and those that made the effort to go along and watch certainly weren’t disappointed CC

Springbridge Direct Wild Bunch

With Dragstalgia the following weekend, it was no surprise to see the Wild Bunch field a skeleton crew this weekend, just Rob Brown, Phil James, Keith Crampton and Bob Hawkins flying the nostalgia flag. That’s not to say they didn’t fly it high, Crampton clocking a PB 9.658 / 139 in the first round of qualifying and Hawkins piping nitro to the crowd on a 6.959 / 192 pass on a 6.70 dial in.

Hawkins changed his dial in to 6.80 next time out and ran closer to it on with a 6.901 / 193 to move up to second spot behind Mr. consistent, Phil James, 9.551 / 136 on a 9.53 dial in.

The small Bunch put in a third round of qualifying early afternoon Sunday, where James strengthened his number one position (9.544 / 136 on a 9.53 dial) after Brown left too soon and Crampton was pushed back.

In the semis, Crampton had it all to do when he pulled round alongside Hawkins, but another PB, this time 9.644 / 1236 on a 9.63 dial in, did it as Hawkins uncharacteristically fouled alongside. In the other pairing, James (9.575 / 133 on an 9.51 dial) took out Brown (8.796 / 152 on an 8.59 dial).

That left Crampton in the groovy slingshot vs James in the econo flopper for the final, and it continued to be Crampton’s weekend, his 9.909 / 138 on a 9.63 dial being enough against James’ 9.485 / 137 on a 9.52 dial in.

For fans of two-wheeled draggin’, Top Fuel, Funny, Pro Stock, Super Street, Comp Bike and more were all present, with Junior

■ Words: Mike Pye Pics: Julian Hunt

TheSummerNationalsis traditionallymoreofaracers’ eventthanaspectators’one

Phil James v Keith Crampton

The surprises came right from the first round of qualifying in this always exciting class when Frenchman Jean Dulamon and Brit Andy Robinson both failed to show due to engine issues.

Nick Davies went the quickest of the bunch at 6.116 / 236, but Bobby Wallace was hot on his heels on 6.160 / 238. Wayne Nicholson was on form too, 6.301 / 229, leaving Dutchman Michel Tooren, Key Slyfield and John Webster in his wake.

Both Dulamon and Robinson made it round for qualifying two, recording 6.167 / 223 and a 6.008 / 216 respectively – elevating Andy into third spot before rain temporarily halted play.

On the restart, it was Wallace vs Davies’ side-by-side fives (5.934 / 241 vs 5.989 / 242) that really shook things up, moving them into first and second for Sunday’s eliminations.

Wallace then continued his good work with a 5.961 / 242 bye after Webster pulled out with mechanical issues. Likewise, Slyfield when Dulamon didn’t make it to the start line.

Then came two absolute belters. Robinson vs Nicholson saw the latter beaten but elated with a so-close-to-a-five 6.082 / 234 PB, while Robinson forged ahead with a stout 5.952 / 244.

Not to be outdone, Davies and Tooren put in a pair of sideby-side 6.0s, 6.010 / 229 and 6.031 / 241, just 0.0032 seconds apart at the stripe. Unfortunately, Tooren lit a cherry on the way so Davies through.

Wallace was looking unstoppable as he despatched an off-form Slyfield (5.963 / 242 vs 8.212 / 107) in the semis, and when Davies was a no show due to engine damage, Robinson used the opportunity to collect data from another impressive 5.9 run, 5.924 / 244.

It was a brave person that bet on the outcome of the final, and the numbers lit on the gantry when it was over showed why – 5.932 / 244 vs 5.930 / 246. What a finale, but it was to be Robinson’s day due to better reactions off the line. Team Wallace wasn’t disappointed, though, as that 5.93 with a zero was a new PB for Bobby.

Andy Robinson

Bobby Wallace

Jean Dulamon

Another very diverse class, the first round of qualifying saw Spencer Tramm up against Nic Williams in their tidy Camaros, four pot Kev Jenkins in the Escort face off Dan Williams’ Chevelle, Rene Ehrismann’s chopped Shoebox Chevy vs Robin Orthodoxou’s big inch Altered and the Pro Stock-alike Jaguar XKR of Dave Smith through on a single.

Ehrismann came out on top (7.496 / 180 on an 8.02 index), followed by Williams, D (10.036 / 127 on 10.51), and then Tramm (11.190 / 114 on an 11.55).

Come eliminations on Sunday, Ehrismann earned a bye by virtue of being no.1 qualifier, Dan Williams took out Orthodoxou, brother Nick dispensed with Smith and Tramm saw off Jenkins, leading to a Williams brothers face off on one side of the semis and Tramm against Ehrismann on the other. Despite a poor start, Ehrismann triumphed when Tramm lit a cherry, while Nic Williams was obviously having problems as he pulled over mid-track, giving Dan the win. All times recorded were way down on what the four cars are capable of, but Dan Williams and Ehrismann made up for that in the finals, carding 10.585 / 97 on a 10.39 dial in and a storming 7.683 / 158 on an 8.02 respectively. Dan Williams takes the win.

Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator

Nine runners turned out for this round of competition, with Andy Bond’s ever-popular Chevy standing ahead of Al McSweeney in the points – and consolidating that position with the quickest and fastest run in round one of qualifying (7.343 / 205). McSweeney wasn’t far behind though with an impressive 7.662 / 181 in the Volvo, while Paul Morton put in a strong 9.027 / 148 for a new PB.

In round two of qualifying, just about everyone ran quicker, but Elliot Day (9.333 / 149) made the biggest improvement. No change in positions on the ladder going into Sunday’s eliminations. With Morton a no show, Ricky Hale went through driving brother Nick’s pick-up, Mark Sheridan set a new PB (8.035 / 182) and Tony Higgs reached for the stars in his Capri, but still managed to take the win (8.252 / 165) over a slowing Ash Cooper in the Transit. With McSweeney a no show, Day went through, as did Bond on a bye.

Dave Smith

Dan Williams

Rene Ehrismann

Tony Higgs

Spencer Tramm

Kev Jenkins

Andy Bond

Renegade Race Fuels Outlaw Anglia

Down on numbers but never down on action, just seven cars signed on for this round of competition, but only six made it to the start line. Colin Millar came out on top after the first round of qualifying, 8.233 / 167 without gas, with Rob Stone close behind on 8.623 / 154. Ben Kennedy, Wayne Power, Doug McClure and Barry Woodford, in that order, rounded out the field.

Woodford (10.395 / 130) moved up a couple of spots in qualifying two, but otherwise no change going into eliminations.

Sunday morning saw Stone too anxious to get down track and lighting a red, letting Power through, joined by Millar and Woodford. It was Woodford who had to do the work

the semis, seeing off Power in a close-run 10.444 / 124 vs 10.757 / 126 battle, while Millar took it easy on a bye to avoid any damage.

Millar kept off the gas in the final too, a strong all-motor 8.112 / 167 being more than enough to show his tail lights to Woodford’s game 11.053 / 120.

In the quarters, it was Day’s turn for a bye, while Bond only staged as he’d hurt his diff on the previous run, leaving Sheridan to trundle through, while Higgs saw off Ricky Hale (8.117 / 179 vs 10.687 / 128.

It was definitely Day’s day when Sheridan shut off with a fluid leak in the semis, handing him a free pass into his first ever Street Eliminator final. Here, though, he lined up against hard-charging Higgs – who saved his best for last, clocking a flying 7.775 / 181 to convincingly defeat Day’s 12.766 / 68.

in

Colin Millar

Doug McClure

Rob Stone

Wayne Power

Nick Hale v Nigel Hale

Paul Morton

Mark Sheridan

Elliot Day

BeFastR Super Comp

At the end of the first qualifying session, Paul Hudson was on the top of the pile of seven entries, posting an 8.966 at 157mph on the class’ 8.90 dial in. Behind him were Steve Hudson (8.973 / 142) and Richard Tunstall (8.993 / 144), while Simon Fulton was back out to play in the Blitzkrieg Falcon.

That all changed in qualifying two, though, when Leah Kellett posted a fine 8.933 / 163 to leapfrog into first place, Tunstall’s 8.950 / 146 moved him up to second and Steve Field entered the fray.

The first round of eliminations saw some super close racing, with three pairings going over the stripe with less than one hundredth of a second between them. Victors were Hudson, Kellett and Tunstall, while Paul Hudson continued alone after Darryl Howells hurt his motor in qualifying.

In the semis, Kellett inched it, literally, crossing the line just 4.6 inches ahead of Paul Hudson (9.337 / 125 vs 9.362 / 146). Meanwhile, Tunstall fouled and let Steve Hudson off easy, setting up a Hudson vs Kellett final.

And what a final it was, Kellett just taking the win light ahead of Hudson, 8.910 / 161 vs 8.909 / 141.

VW Pro

With everything from Caddy vans to Cupras and an electric New Beetle, it was interesting to see Luke Stevenson in this category’s only rail, powered by a turbocharged, 2.8-litre four, post by far and away the quickest time, 8.562 / 154 on an 8.50 dial in, to take the top spot.

Behind him were Charles Roberts in a VW Up! (11.694 / 121 on an 11.60 dial in) and Graham Fairhead in a Type 3 Fastback (11.357 / 123 on an 11.20 dial in). Stevenson went quicker still in qualifying two, clocking a new PB of 8.453 / 155.

In round one of Sunday’s eliminations, Jonathan Newell and Jacob Bailey had a superb race, Newell just squeaking it at the finish line, while James Hodson defeated Ian Dale, Fairhead took

dispensed with Roberts and Stevenson continued his charge, eliminating Jake Fronda.

In round two, Hodson saw off Blogg (10.847 / 115 on a 10.70 dial vs 11/631 / 114 on an 11.50), Stevenson beat Newell (8.525 / 147 on an 8.42 dial vs 12.252 / 122 on a 12.0 dial) and Fairhead also went through.

Come the finals, it was just Stevenson and Fairhead left standing and, despite giving away three seconds in elapsed time capability and over 40mph in top speed, Fairhead took the win, 11.341 / 111 on an 11.20 dial in vs 8.437 / 153 on an 8.42 dial in. That’s racing.

Steve Hudson v Leah Kellett

Richard Tunstall

Simon Fulton

Paul Hudson

out Sam Young, Phill Blogg

Charles Roberts

Graham Fairhead

Luke Stevenson

Lucas Oil Junior Dragster

An impressive field of 25 Junior Dragsters kicked off proceedings on the Saturday morning, with some great reaction times and very close racing. As the last pairing ran through, it was Mackenzie Love in top spot, 8.500 / 75 on a 7.90 index. In numbers two and three were Max Taylor and Lola-Belle Kent.

Next time out, Jacqueline Bartlett’s sensational 0.0007 reaction time jumped her into the number one spot, 8.131 / 76 on a 7.90 dial, while Ted Sullivan and Damion Redshaw made great gains.

Chevy Checkett was the star of round one eliminations, posting a perfect 8.960 / 71 on an 8.96 dial, though his charge ended in round two. By round four, the runners had been whittled down to Harley Coulsell, Damion Redshaw, Luke Fulton and Daniel Weir, but only two could go through to the final, and the pairing was Fulton vs Redshaw after Coulsell fouled and Weir was beaten.

Fulton kept his nerve and posted a great 8.244 / 76 on an 8.23 dial to lift the crown, Redshaw just behind on 9.126 / 72 on a 9.07 dial.

Luke Fulton

Damion Redshaw v Freddie Taylor

Mackenzie Love

Chevy Checkett v Harley Coulsell

Jacqueline Bartlett

Tony Morris Carburetors Super Gas

Where the Super Comp guys and girls are aiming for 8.90s, the Super Gas entrants have 9.90s in their sights and, while one second might not seem like much on the face of it, it’s a huge difference on track. Consequently, intimate knowledge of the performance of your car in these classes is everything.

In round one qualifying, it was Andy Harrison in the Sierra that ran closest to the class index, 9.904 / 142, with Pete Cresswell and Jon Giles right behind him. The now sadly departed Jon Morton dipped under it, but the rest of the runners were all in the tens, albeit most by less than one hundredth of a second.

Harrison nailed it again round two, a perfect 9.990 at 143mph keeping him in the top spot. Morton leapt into second with a 9.909, Mark White moved up to third, and both Simon Fulton and Richard Tunstall joined the party, while at the same time also competing in Super Comp.

In round one of qualifying, Harrison went through on a bye, while Cresswell just inched out Jon Turner (10.048 / 130 vs 10.046 / 134), Giles said goodbye to Colin Morrice, White (with a perfect 9.90) saw off David Fulton, Tunstall despatched Dibley and Simon Fulton did likewise with Morton when he lit a cherry off the line.

More ultra-close racing in the quarters saw Giles, Cresswell and Tunstall progress, while Harrison, White and Fulton were all put on their trailers. With only three competitors left, someone had to get a bye into the final and it was Tunstall this time, leaving Cresswell and Giles to battle it out for the other position. 9.923 / 152 vs 9.933 / 136 in Cresswell’s favour set the scene for the final.

Unusually, the two very experienced Super Gas racers both broke out, but as Cresswell did so by less than Tunstall, he took the laurels (9.898 / 153 vs 9.872 / 133).

Good Sports

The Sportsman classes may not be the most exhilarating races to watch from a spectator point of view, but they’re a valuable stepping stone for racers – some as young as 16-yearold Darren Walsh, who celebrated his birthday this weekend – to hone their reaction times and skills in the sport.

In the 23-car VW Sportsman class, Daniel Boucher and his Polo were looking a lot like the ones to beat going into eliminations – and all the way up until he was taken out by Morgan Wilson in round three.

The final, though, saw Paul Robinson in an Audi TT line up against Jerry Sadler in a New Beetle, the former taking the win, 14.763 / 91 on a 14.72 dial vs 15.627 / 85 on a 15.95 dial.

Sportsman ET saw a similar number of cars running through, and equal diversity in the entries, from daily driver Mercedes to a Pro Street Mk1 Cortina. Gary Lake nailed a perfect ET in qualifying two, earning himself a bye in the first round of eliminations, and Tom Atkinson later bagged a bye into the final, where he pulled round alongside Brian Huxley, the latter taking the win in the big Buick, 19.122 / 71 on an 18.90 dial vs 11.937 / 75 on a 12 dead.

Pete Cresswell v Richard Tunstall

Andy Harrison

Andy Dibley

Collin Morrice

Jon Turner

Jerry Sadler v Paul Robinson

Michelle Walker

Daniel Boucher

Gary Lake

With 38 cars signed on and in the running, it was going to be a very busy weekend in Pro ET. Mason Griffiths set the pace in the first round of qualifying, 9.244 / 140 on a 9.20 dial in, with Marc Huxley and John Bean snapping at his heels.

In session two, though, Allan Schofield fair leapt up the ladder from 18 into the number one spot with a 9.106 / 147 on a 9.10 dial in. Likewise, Dan Fulton, up 25 places, Ronnie Mercer up 31 and Simon Gough up 30. It was all change again on the final run of the session, though, when Neill Watkins nailed an 11.404 / 113 on an 11.40 dial in to leave him in the top spot going into eliminations, with five alternates sitting below the 32-car bump spot.

First round saw red lights for Will Clark, James Oliver and Amy Watkins, holeshot wins for Chloe Wilkins, Nick Mugridge and some very close racing reduce the field down by half.

In round two, it was Wilkins and Marie Mills who saw red, leaving Alfie Wratten and Marc Huxley through respectively. Also through went Bob Molden, Dave Fulton, Andy Garnett, Leigh Morris, Tom Kaye and Neill Watkins.

In the quarters, Tom Kaye and Alfie Wratten had a ding dong battle, 9.503 / 140 on a 9.36 vs 10.224 / 130 on a 10.14, Kaye through. Huxley and a slowing Watkins continued when their opponents, Molden and Garnett, both broke out, while Morris saw off Dave Fulton.

Huxley proved too keen to get into the final and red lit in the semis, while Watkins ran under his dial in, meaning it was Morris in the E-Type vs Kaye in the dragster for the final. Dialling in at 10.10 and 10.09 respectively, it was going to be a close one, and indeed it was, but Morris’ 10.171 / 127 just got the better of Kaye’s 10.067 / 132 to secure the win.

Tom Kaye v Leigh Morris

Allan Schofield

Dave Fulton

Neil Watkins

Marc Huxley

Bob Molden

Josh Duncan

Simon Gough

Mason Griffiths

Peter Nee Super Pro ET

Though 24 cars signed on, only 18 made it round to the start line for the first round of Saturday qualifying and, when the dust settled, it was returnee, Nick Good, on top in the Lucas Oil dragster, with Daniel Giles and David Russell in the two and three spots.

Of note was German, Rene Jaspert, pulling the front wheels in his heavily modified 3-series BMW, the only competitor in the class with less than eight cylinders on board.

In qualifying two, Pete Walters moved into the number one position, while Scott Hauser rose from 18 to five behind Mark Bailey.

On Sunday morning, Mark Turner and AC Bell both checked themselves out with red lights, Good ran below his dial in to end his own weekend and Jaspert was a no show. That left Joe Kellett, David Russell, Callum Swinchatt, Phil Toppin, Daniel Giles, Pete Walters, Mark Bailey, Ron Bartlett, Billy Gane and Scott Hauser to progress.

Walters continued through to the semis with the help of a bye while Swinchatt saw off Bartlett, Bailey just nudged out Toppin by 0.0026 seconds (8.805 / 153 on an 8.77 dial vs 8.819 / 147 on an 8.75 dial), Kellett went too soon against Hauser and Gane emerged victorious from a double breakout run against Giles.

Another squeaker in the quarters saw Bailey just edge it past Swinchatt and Hauser dispense with Gane (7.423 / 162 on a 7.37 vs 8.595 / 154 on an 8.56). With another three-car semi, Bailey got the bye and Hauser saw red against Walters and left the party early.

The final, therefore, saw Bailey pull round alongside Walters and go on to cross the line first in 8.821 seconds at 147mph while Walters let off the gas after pasting a red on the tree.

Mark Bailey

Callum Swinchatt

AC Bell

Billy Gane

SoCal

Diaries Drag Racing 101

The RPM Nationals has to be one of my favourite events. It’s held at the Santa Margarita Ranch just off US Highway 101, about 100 miles north of Santa Barbara, California and 200 miles north of Los Angeles. The ranch has its own private airstrip which once a year roars to the sound of flathead Fords rather than airplanes.

Founded in 2017 and organised by Justin Baas and Russ Hare, the RPM Nats is billed as an 1/8-mile drag race for pre-1936 flathead V8 and four-cylinder hot rods and race cars. Even though the speeds are what you’d expect from 90 to 100-year-old engines, the fun factor is off the scale.

If you’re looking to take a trip out west, you could do worse than put the RPM Nationals on your radar. You can learn more at RPMNationals.com or on Facebook at RPM Nationals.

flatheads…

There’s nothing

so tuff

Mike Scaplo, who once owned one of the SoCal Speed Shops and now deals in early Ford parts, travels more than 1200 miles each way from his home in Colorado Springs, home of Pikes Peak, to Santa Margarita

Former Custom Car editor Tony Thacker lives in California these days, and this month he’s been enjoying the sound of

quite

as a chopped ’32 3-window on the return road and this dualcarb’d S.Co.T.-blown beast with traditional white firewall and steelies is chopped hard

You can’t get more patriotic that the course car, Squeak Bell’s ’39 Deluxe convertible sedan. But wait, isn’t Squeak a Kiwi? Yes, but when did that matter? He’s been building hot rods in the US since 1984

Long time racer Seth Hammond, a member of the Bonneville 300 MPH Club – as are his wife and daughter – races this super ’27 T powered by a four-banger fitted with a rare HAL DOHC conversion

The original ‘Red Baron’ was a 1968 Tom Daniel design for Monogram models but was built into a real car. It’s apparently one of the biggest selling Hot Wheels in history and was Monogram’s number one model kit

Left: Nostalgia Ranch’s ex-pat Jay Dean has been building hot rods in California since 1984 and his T is powered by a big-bore engine based on a ’41 block with Offenhauser heads, a Sharp intake and 3x97 Strombergs

Above: Timmy McMaster of Hanford Auto Supply is well known for his Y-block builds but races this ’27 T powered by an Offenhauser-equipped flattie with four Stromberg 97s

Above:

Right:

Ford never made one but hundreds, maybe thousands of hot rodders mated the narrow ’28-29 Roadster body to a wider ’32 Deuce frame and grille and powered it with Ford’s flathead V8. It’s a winning combo

Above:

As

One of the regular winners in the Street Roadster class is Rich Roberts in his wicked fast Deuce Roadster. Look carefully and you’ll notice the lack of front brakes on this Edelbrock-equipped flathead

this very cool young dude illustrates, you don’t necessarily have to have started sprouting grey hair to be a hot rodder. And you have to admit that his flathead-powered, ’26-27-bodied roadster pickup on Deuce rails has the perfect stance. Note the white firewall and wheels

Another build from Brit Jay Dean of Nostalgia Ranch is this heavily channeled ’31 Roadster belonging to Rob Sepe. Boling Bros frame has a swap-meet found 286ci 59A with Offenhauser heads and an intake with three Stromberg 97s

More than 120 racers turned out for the RPM Nationals, which every year seems to throw up more than a few barn finds –including the Culbert Automotive Special, which came out of the same yard as Katrin Immke’s T roadster

Katrin T-bodied roadster barn find was a forties race car that ran 113.63 at El Mirage in 1949. As guys got into drag racing, Dick Hogan raced it at Paradise Mesa and won at Pomona in ’55 and Riverside in ’58. Under the hood is a 265ci Merc with early Edelbrock heads, a medium-rise Thickstun intake and a pair of Stromberg 97s. Behind the engine there’s a ’39 trans with the original banjo locker

Left: Stefan and Katrin Immke of Cologne, Germany had these two cars built by Brit Jay Dean at Nostalgia Ranch, Fallbrook, California. They travel from Europe just for the RPM Nats

Stefan’s rail job was originally owned by Justin Baas. Its flattie has a rare Hilborn-Travers fuel injection unit

NOVEMBER

26 All American Cruise In. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

DECEMBER

7 Hot Rod Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

11 ‘Normous Newark Autojumble. Newark Showground NG24 2NY. www.newarkautojumble.co.uk

18 Christmas Toy Run. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

26 Cold Turkey Meet. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

31 All American Cruise In / Frozen Fins. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

JANUARY

4 Hot Rod Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

17 VW Air-Cooled Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

24-26 Autosport International NEC, Birmingham. www. autosportinternational.com

28 All American Cruise In. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

FEBRUARY

1 Hot Rod Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

21 VW Air-Cooled Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

25 All American Cruise In. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

25-26 Straightliners Open Weekend Elvington Airfield, Elvington, West Yorkshire. www. straightliners.events

26 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

MARCH

1 Hot Rod Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

5 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

11 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

18 Drag & Drift Dakota Raceway, Honiton, Devon. www.straightliners. events

19 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

21 VW Air-Cooled Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

24-26 Classic Car and Restoration Show NEC, Birmingham. www. necrestorationshow.com

25 All American Cruise In. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

25 Run What Ya Brung Saturday Night Special Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

26 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

27 Top Speed Monday Elvington Airfield, Elvington, West Yorkshire. www.straightliners.events

APRIL

1 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

1-2 Straightliners Race Meet Santa Pod. www.straightliners.events

5 Hot Rod Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

7-9 Festival of Power Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

15 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

15-16 Straightliners Race Meet Melbourne Raceway, York. www. straightliners.events

17 Top Speed Monday Elvington Airfield, Elvington, West Yorkshire. www.straightliners.events

18 VW Air-Cooled Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

20-23 Race the Waves Bridlington. www.backfirepromotions.com

22 Drag & Drift Dakota Raceway, Honiton, Devon. www.straightliners. events

22 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

25 All American Cruise In. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

29–1 Springspeed Nationals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

MAY

1 BHP Show Kent Showground, Detling, Maidstone. bhpshows.com

3 Hot Rod Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

5-7 Nostalgia Nationals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

13 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

13-14 Straightliners Race Meet Melbourne Raceway, York. www. straightliners.events

15 Top Speed Monday Elvington Airfield, Elvington, West Yorkshire. www.straightliners.events

16 VW Air-Cooled Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

19-21 Doorslammers Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

20-21 Custom and Classic Show Earlswood, Solihull. www. motormayhemcc.co.uk

21 Herts Auto Show Oaklands College, St Albans. www. hertsautoshow.co.uk

26-29 The Main Event Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

27 All American Cruise In. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

JUNE

2-4 VanJam Fir Tree Farm, Warmington. www.vanditos.co.uk

3 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

4 Plus Four Four Show Hartham Park, Wiltshire. www. plusfourfourautomotive.co.uk

7 Hot Rod Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

8-11 Hot Rods and Hills Park Foot Holiday Park, Pooley Bridge, Cumbria. parkfootullswater.co.uk

10 Run What Ya Brung Saturday Night Special Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

Above: The Main Event – Santa Pod, 26-29 May Pic: Julian Hunt Opposite: NSRA Supernationals – Old Warden, August (date TBA) Pic: Dave Biggadyke

VanJam – Fir Tree Farm, Warmington, 2-4 June Pic: Jo Robbins

CUSTOM

JULY

5 Hot Rod Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

7-9 Dragstalgia Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

8 Drag & Drift Dakota Raceway, Honiton, Devon. www.straightliners. events

13-16 Goodwood Festival of Speed Goodwood Estate, West Sussex. www.goodwood.com

15 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

11 Bespoke Show West Malling, Kent. bespokeshows@gmail.com

11 BHP Fuel Fest Westpoint Arena, Exeter, Devon. bhpshows.com

11 Bromley Pageant of Motoring Norman Park, Bromley. www. bromleypageant.com

16-18 Sportsman Nationals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

17-18 Pendine Sands Hot Rod Races Pendine, Carmarthenshire, South Wales. www.vhra.co.uk

17-18 Straightliners Race Meet Melbourne Raceway, York. www. straightliners.events

18 Retro Show Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

19 Top Speed Monday Elvington Airfield, Elvington, West Yorkshire. www.straightliners.events

20 VW Air-Cooled Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

24 All American Cruise In. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

24 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

24-25 Top Speed Meeting Machrihanish Airport, Campbeltown, Argyll. www.straightliners.events

25 Fast Show Reloaded Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

30-2 Summer Nationals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

15-16 Straightliners Race Meet Melbourne Raceway, York. www. straightliners.events

16 Ford Show Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

17 Top Speed Monday Elvington Airfield, Elvington, West Yorkshire. www.straightliners.events

18 VW Air-Cooled Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

21-23 Bug Jam Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

21-23 Rock’n’Ribs Festival Wincanton Racecourse, Somerset. www.rocknribsfestival.co.uk

22-23 National Hot Rod and Custom Show Lincolnshire Showground, Lincoln. www. hotrodandcustomshow.co.uk

22-23 Straightliners Race Meet Llanbedr Airfield, Llanbedr, Gwynedd. www.straightliners.events

29 All American Cruise In. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

29-30 Mopar Euro Nationals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

29-30 Ten Of The Best Elvington Airfield, Elvington, West Yorkshire. www.straightliners.events

AUGUST

2 Hot Rod Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

4-6 Ultimate Street Car Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

Above: Weekend of Wheels – Nottinghamshire, date TBA

Below: Dragstalgia – Santa Pod, 7-9 July

5-6 Straightliners Race Meet

Melbourne Raceway, York. www. straightliners.events

7 Top Speed Monday Elvington Airfield, Elvington, West Yorkshire. www.straightliners.events

11-13 Retrofestival Newbury Showground. www.retrofestival.co.uk

12 Best of British Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

12 Drag & Drift Dakota Raceway, Honiton, Devon. www.straightliners. events

13 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

15 VW Air-Cooled Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

18-20 Greenlight Nationals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

25-27 GOW! Speed Hill Climb Prescott Hill, Cheltenham, Cotswolds. www.vhra.co.uk

26 All American Cruise In. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

SEPTEMBER

1-3 VW Action Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

2-3 Jurby Drag Racing Jurby, Isle of Man. www.straightliners.events

6 Hot Rod Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

7-10 European Finals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

8-9 Hindenberg Dirt Track Races www.hindenberg-dirt-track.com

8-10 Goodwood Revival Goodwood Estate, West Sussex. www.goodwood. com

9-10 Straightliners Race Meet Melbourne Raceway, York. www. straightliners.events

10 VHRA Swap Meet Ramsey, Cabridgeshire. www.vhra.co.uk

11 Top Speed Monday Elvington Airfield, Elvington, West Yorkshire. www.straightliners.events

15-17 Hot Rod Drags Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

15-17 Isle of Man Festival of Motoring www.iomfm.com 01732 879153

19 VW Air-Cooled Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

22-24 National Finals Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

23-24 ACU/UKITA Records Elvington Airfield, Elvington, West Yorkshire. www.straightliners.events

30 All American Cruise In. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

30 Drag & Drift Dakota Raceway, Honiton, Devon. www.straightliners. events

30 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

OCTOBER

4 Hot Rod Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

7 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

7-8 Straightliners Race Meet Melbourne Raceway, York. www. straightliners.events

9 Top Speed Monday Elvington Airfield, Elvington, West Yorkshire. www.straightliners.events

14 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

15 Straightliners Race Meet Santa Pod. www.straightliners.events

17 VW Air-Cooled Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

21 Run What Ya Brung Saturday Night Special Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

22 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

28 All American Cruise In. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

28 Flame & Thunder Show Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

29 Run What Ya Brung Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk

NOVEMBER

1 Hot Rod Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

21 VW Air-Cooled Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

25 All American Cruise In. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

DECEMBER

6 Hot Rod Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

19 VW Air-Cooled Night. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

30 All American Cruise In. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com

Plus Four Four Show – Hartham Park, Wiltshire, 4 June Pic: James Webber

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