Vehicle Description
This 1929 Ford roadster is a great take on a traditional retro-rod.
The simple color combination is straight out of the old school
playbook, and the hardware is pure nostalgia. Better yet, it's a
steel body, so it's got the feel of a vintage rod without the
problems associated with old parts. This really is the best of both
worlds.
Now that every other guy and his mother have painted their
'50s-style rods satin black, it's nice to see one that isn't trying
too hard like this simple gloss black roadster. It's totally
traditional, don't worry about that, and if you squint just right,
you can see an old black-and-white photo of a car like this in an
early edition of Hot Rod magazine. The look is certainly right,
with a fenderless Ford roadster body with a cut-down grille shell
up front and a minimum of frills on the body itself. Removing the
hood helps keep the hot small block cool and it gives the headers
somewhere to go, not to mention looking totally butch on the little
convertible body. There's not a lot of detail, but looking closely,
this rod was clearly not built on a budget or by amateurs because
the sheetmetal is ultra-straight, the doors open suicide-style, and
the stance is just about perfect. For fun they kept the Model A's
filler cap on the cowl, but that's just about the only piece of
chrome on the whole body.
The minimalist approach was completely abandoned inside, where
instead you get a supple two-tone leather bench which looks like
the back seat from a luxury car subtly adapted to the roadster
body. That analogy is apt, too, because this seat is HEATED, which
is ideal for those cool nights coming home from a show. Custom door
panels continue the theme and follow the body lines for a very
integrated look. The simple dash offers a set of vintage-looking
Stewart Warner gauges, while a 3-spoke steering wheel looks like it
was cribbed from a track racer, then wrapped in black leather.
There's also a Lokar shifter that looks enough like a vintage
manual lever to be convincing and an AM/FM/CD stereo system hidden
under the seat. There's even a fully removable hardtop that does a
fantastic impersonation of a chopped cloth top. The rumble seat is
long gone, replaced by a good-sized trunk that's fully carpeted and
houses the gas tank filler tucked behind a custom bulkhead.
Up front, the original inline-four has been replaced by a built 305
cubic inch Chevy V8 that's ready to rumble. Vastly more powerful
than even a built flathead, it gives this sleek roadster fantastic
performance without needing to be too radical. Of course, lots of
shiny stuff is important when the engine is out in the open, and
for horsepower it uses an Edelbrock carb and intake, plus those
fantastic long-tube headers and side pipes. A 700R4 4-speed
automatic transmission gives it surprisingly long legs on the
highway, and the suspension is ultra-traditional, using a dropped
I-beam axle up front and a 4-link out back. It achieves just the
right stance thanks to a big-n-little tire combination on painted
wire wheels with V8 hubcaps, but the tires are perfect for
cruising: 195/60/15s up front and 285/60/16s in back.
Built by a former George Barris employee and featured on the Speed
Channel's "My Car Rules" where it finished in second place, this is
one heck of a roadster. Traditional in the ways that matter and
awesome in every other way, it's one of the best rods of its type
we've ever featured. Call today!