Inhaltsverzeichnis für June 2021 in Custom Car

a fascination with automotive performance led Rick down a path of no return Growing up as a teenager in America in the late ’60s surely had its perks, especially if you were into watching late-night street racing and visiting the drags, for pretty much every town across the country had a local drag strip. For Rick Kiel of West Olive, Michigan, all it took to send him down the path of righteousness was a visit on a hot summer’s night in 1966 to nearby Martin Dragway. That night, overwhelmed by the heavy scent of nitro and burnt rubber, two legends of the quarter mile, ‘Dyno’ Don Nicholson in his flip-top Eliminator I Mercury Comet and Cecil Yother in the Melrose Missile altered wheelbase Plymouth Belvedere squared off at the lights…

Sweetcorn American Autoswas born out of two guys’ love of classic and American cars. Chris Sweetman and Steve Cornwell have known each other for several years, after first meeting in the Cornish village of Lavinet. Chris is a successful businessman and Steveamechanic. Two years ago, after sitting in the pub making a bucket list of cars and engines they dreamt of owning, they decided to set up Sweetcorn Autos, the name derived from their surnames. two guys’ love of classic and American cars The business plan is to purchase interesting cars, do whateverwork may beneeded, and then drive them around for a bit before putting them up for sale, or for hire, to fund the next purchase. Boosting the team areSteve’s partner, Fi, and son, Harry, who both assist with…

As many of you will know only too well, changing plans midway through a build can have a knock-on effect in other areas. Such is the case with Devil’s Taxi. Awhile back, Pete converted the car to a two door, and in this instalment he reworks the electric window installs and door sill outriggers that needed changing as a consequence of that. Pete has bolted on some period bling He has also now rebuilt the front bench seat frame so rear seat passengers can better access the back seat, and also fitted a purpose made, and fit for purpose, steering shaft. It’s not all been about re-doing previous work this month though, as Pete has bolted on some period bling and made sure the doors now stay firmly shut. He’s…

Having put together a 1760cc Crossflowpowered 100E a couple of years previously, Chris’ affair with his ’52 Ford Prefect similarly began last century, with him also buying the car in 1995. Apart from wear and tear, the four-door sedan was just as it left the factory and Chris used it like that as his daily driver for two years. The plan was he would help Andrew build the Anglia, after which they would both turn their attention to the Prefect. You’ll no doubt now be thinking that after using the car for a couple of years he then stripped it down and began hot rodding it. But that isn’t what happened at all as, although the Prefect was 'modified' in 1997, it was only as the result of being involved…

Qestion: why do so many people use a small block Chevy and Turbo 350 in their hot rods? Answer: because they’re cheap, simple, easy to work on and parts are readily available. Here’s another question: why do so few people use Mercedes-Benz E320 CDi turbo diesels and 5G-Tronic auto’ ’boxes? Answer: because while a donor car might be cheap to buy, and they’re well engineered and plenty powerful in stock form, they’re anything but simple or easy to work on, as Dave Rothwell has spent the last four years finding out. “The truck was painted and finished, well, it must be four, maybe even five years ago now, but I’ve only recently been able to drive it because it wouldn’t shift out of first.” There followed an animated discussion about…

Unfortunately, it’ll be too late by the time you read this, but over the week of 20-27 April 2021 we all had the chance to bid on items from the estate of revered dragster body builder, Tom ‘The Tinman’ Hanna, sold in an online auction conducted by Iron Horse Auction Company in North Carolina, USA. There was so much cool up for grabs, including over 30 Hemi engines, rare speed parts, mag wheels, tyres and multiple original and restored vintage dragsters and chassis, but it was lot #12 that really caught our eye. Hanna’s extraordinary 2001 recreation of a 1968-era TFD, but built using state-of-the-art technology at the time. Famously referred to as ‘the most expensive dragster ever built’, or just simply Hanna’s car, this thing is off the scale…

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Barn finds I first met Mike Squires at one of last year’s Carfeine meets (see November ’20 issue) and we got talking about the cars and projects he had stashed in a barn. My interest piqued when he said he was building a belly tank destined for beach racing. Being a massive land speed racing fan, I later found Mike on the socials and got chatting. Around Easter this year, when we were finally able to meet outdoors, I popped over to check out the barn and Mike’s eclectic collection of cars. Mike is 31 and lives in Mount Hawke, Cornwall with his fiancée, Frankie. He studied Motorsport Engineering at Brooklands, where his project was the belly tank you see here, and has worked for several motorsport firms since. He’s…

get out into the garage, put your arse(s) in gear and get things done Thank fully, as hot rodders we are not all the same. If we were, all show fields would be full of black ’32 roadsters, red Ford Pops, gnarly pick-ups or whatever. That individuality also applies to the environment in which we build our cars. I know many who lock themselves away in their garage at home and quietly get on with the job in hand. That scenario doesn’t work for everyone though. Take these three guys from County Durham, siblings Andrew and Chris Waller, and friend Darren Ferry. They have much in common, each having built cars at home in the past and all having a thing about British Fords from the ’50s. Imagine then, what…

When compared to Andrew and Chris, Darren’s relationship with his ’55 100E is still at the fledging stage. In saying that, he has owned it for 20 years. Bought in 2001 as a stocker, Darren drove the car on a single occasion before making his mind up about its future: “One drive was more than enough with that sidevalve engine. It had to come out straight away.” It wasn’t just the engine, though, as he carried on until the car was stripped to a bare ’shell. Then, as can often happen, it languished untouched until 2004 when, with renewed vigour, and aided by Andrew, work began in earnest to give the 100E added heart. That heart was in the form of a Rover V8 with matching 5-speed ’box, but before…

A lot has happened sincewe last visited PeteSenneck at Bomber County Speed Shop, including the workshop relocating to the side of the A52 just outside Grantham, Lincolnshire. We tracked them down, so we’re sure you can, too. Although the guys are still settling into their newenvironment, there is plenty going on with promise of more to follow. The team have almost 40 years’ combined experience in building cars and trucks. From street rods and Gassers through to classics andVWs, they’vebuilt them all, with custom bikes, bobbers and café racers in the mix, too. almost 40 years’ combined experience in building cars and trucks Services offered include suspension work, engine swaps, custom chassis builds and full restorations. They’re a friendly bunch and are happy to talk through your ideas, whether they’re…

In the featurewe ran on Simon Foster’s ’32 sedan in the last issue, we mentioned Zero3 Custom Creations. It was there the car was painted in gold metalflake, topped off with brown candy and, being impressed with what we saw, we thought it worth having a look at what else has being going on in the Zero3workshop. Based in Horsham, West Sussex, Zero3 Custom Creations has beenamajor part of Sean and Lizanne Doyle’s life since 2003, the year the couple got married. The company’s new workshop at Rudgwick Brickworks opened in January 2019, but the multi-talented Sean doesn’t work there alone. Nathan and new recruit, Ben, make up what Sean refers to as his dream team. the company specialises in custom paintwork and airbrushing As you’ve probably worked out already,…

Andrew’s first car was a stock Ford 100E, and his earliest foray into hot rodding came in 1995 when he bought a ’52 Ford Anglia. The sit up and beg was an unfinished / barely started project that proved to have plenty of issues for Andrew to address. It’s a nice drive, not too noisy and it handles good A Vauxhall Viva clip had been attached at the front and a Jag IRS at the rear. The engine was literally sat on the chassis and the body plonked on top. When he got the tape measure out though, Andrew soon realised nothing was square. The Anglia next appeared in daylight three years later, then sporting a scratchbuilt box section chassis with six-point rollcage, Vauxhall Viva front suspension, a narrowed 10-bolt…

I guess it’s inevitable when working on similar cars alongside each other, like these guys do, that there will be common denominators when it comes to parts fitted and where they are sourced from. Take the engines and exhaust systems in the three cars for instance. 225 miles from your front door to the Supernats The same applies to any professional help enlisted. After all, if you're taking your transmission to a specialist rebuilder, you may as well take the other two at the same time. Not only does that keep travelling costs to a minimum, you may benefit from a discount on the price. Yup, building cars together like Andrew, Chris and Darren have done makes perfect sense to us. I’m sure they won’t mind me saying these are…

When I sat down to start on the latest edition of Auto focus it was the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, a significant time of year for the drag racing fraternity. It has traditionally been the date for the first major event of the year at Santa Pod – and indeed marks the date of the very first meeting at the home of European drag racing when it opened the gates for its inaugural event, 55 years ago. In the grand scheme of things, which has seen both racers and fans lost to the scourge of Covid-19, and parts of the country / economy brought to its knees, the fact that the Festival of Power had to be cancelled for a second year could be seen by outsiders as small beer.…