1950's race car

Vehicle Description

Vehicle Details

This special was built in the early1950's for a few specific venues (the La Carrera Panamericana, the Pikes Peak Hillclimb and sports car races in southern California). The car has a Chuck Manning(esque) frame with a solid axle front end with transverse leaf spring and split wishbones. There is a full roll cage over which a formed steel body was applied. The rear body section (behind the differential) is a cut body shell of unknown origin that sports Lincoln Zephyr tail lights. The front grille is from a Nash Healey as is the windshield. The firewall/tub is from a 1939 Ford and the full pedal assembly (clutch, brake, throttle) are intact. The dash is a chopped and fused Ford/Mercury combination sporting a Mercury steering wheel. Driver/passenger bucket seats sit just in front of the rear axle (similar to the Bill Thomas Cheetah but built a decade earlier). This car was originally built with a Ford Flat Head V8 and manual transmission. A previous owner removed that drivetrain and installed a 1968 Ford Mustang straight six with a C-4 automatic transmission and Mustang rear end. The engine sports twin Dellorto down draft carburetors. The exhaust has a Thrush glass pack and the wheels have Mood discs. In addition to the headlights there are two Hella driving lights. There is a clean California title listing it as a 1939 Ford. The battery is brand new. When I bought this car it was misrepresented by the seller. I do not wish to do the same. The engine runs fine (carbs could use some fine tuning) and the transmission works correctly but the shifter is a little "hokey" (a Lokar adjustable trans mount shifter would be a proper solution/upgrade. The neutral safety switch is not currently wired. This is NOT a "hop in and drive off into the sunset" vehicle. I would categorize this as a project. However, it is not that far off. Ideally, installation of a flat head Ford V8 (or other v8) and manual transmission would be a welcome upgrade. As i said, the pedal assembly is still in place including the clutch pedal for a standard transmission and side pipe brackets are still present on the frame. The body is not flawless but was never intended to be. This is a very interesting "one off" piece of history.