Monthly Crusin
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October Cruise Winner By John Buchanan
The first thing everyone noticed when Tom Walker drove his 1949 Ford Lead Sled into our October 25 Halloween Cruise was the “What Big Teeth You Have” grille. Of course, this car’s stance and its 1969 LeMans Blue paint in satin finish also grab your attention noting this is not your ordinary ‘shoe box’ Ford lead sled. Tracking it down in the back row up against the Route 1 berm in Lot 16, I learned that Tom is the car’s new caretaker and that it was a six-year build project out of Kingston, R.I. There are too many modifications to this former Ford two door business coupe to list so we’ll begin with removing the posts when performing the 5½ inch chop. Next comes that unusual looking grill comprised of 1951 Ford F1 grille pieces turned upside down with 1940 headlight buckets reversed and fabricated at each end. Then, an upside down 1940 Ford rear bumper was added to the front and a reworked 1954 Mercury rear bumper added out back. The front was stretched 1 ½ inches and the hood was punched with 190 louvres to complete the look. The stance comes compliments of an air ride suspension. Oh yes, can’t forget the 2nd set of frenched tail lights out back. Motivating the Ford is a 1970 Chevelle 350 with a 700 R4 tranny and rear end out of a 1970 Maverick. The interior comes out of a 1966 Thunderbird with an added custom console to complete the ideal driver’s cabin. Surely this was a lead sled Ford worthy of being selected to receive one of the two Vintage Motorsports cruise award plaques at our final season Halloween themed cruise night.
