In 1941 my father and some of his friends took a well-rusted 1935 Ford coupe, rebuilt the front end, replaced the mechanical brakes with hydraulic brakes, and installed a brand-new 1941 Mercury engine ("crate motor"). To top it off, they plumbed a Sears Roebuck "top oiler" into the exhaust manifold, so that the thing laid down a thin cloud of blue smoke, and hammered a few more dents into the body to further the illusion of a "junker." According to my father, the partners made some serious money in street racing into early 1942, when rationed gasoline ended driving for pleasure. They pulled and saved the good parts, and scrapped the rest.
We might think of that '35 as a prototype of the so-called "rat rod."
God's Peace to you.
d
Inliner #1450
