Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2021 i Custom Car

Write to: Custom Car Mail, Kelsey Publishing, PO Box 978, Peterborough PE1 9FL E-mail: cc.ed@kelsey.co.uk Fax: 01733 557235 Dear CC, the letter from Pete Vivian regarding the inclusion of a beginners’ guide to drag racing in the March issue inspired me to write to you for the first time ever in my 35 years on earth. I am a proud Wild Bunch racer and love seeing new people become interested in the sport. Pete should firstly visit www.santapod.co.uk/dragintro.php which, amongst other things, has links to the history and basics of the sport and the different race classes. There is also clarification of a lot of the jargon. Once he’s absorbed all that, his next port of call should be the recently revamped www.santapodracersclub.com. That site features further info on the…

Colin Ayres has been a hot rodder for more years that he probably cares to remember. I first recall him behind the wheel of a fenderless Ford Pop, and he subsequently progressed through to the Rolls Royce-powered ’32 coupe that won the first ever Hot Rod Supernationals Participants’ Choice award in 1991. In more recent times, his ride of choice has been an LT1-powered ’55 Chevy pickup, which he rodded and first got on the road 24 years ago. For Colin, hot rodding really is a family affair as his wife Sue, current NSRA chair, drives a 4.6-litre Rover V8-motored ’37 Ford cabriolet, while daughter, Laura, drives the Model A pick-up powered by an 1800cc Vauxhall Astra engine we featured in the July ’14 issue. on his to-do list for…

“It’s nothing at all exotic,” says Ben in that wonderful, self-effacing way only a Yorkshireman can. The motor was bought second hand as a complete unit and then rebuilt in largely the same format by Ben. It’s a GM 427 T block and the heads are iron GM 990 castings with 2.25 and 1.88-inch valve sizes. They’re not even ported. Even the Milodon sump was bought second hand from Andy Hadfield, though Ben did splash out on the custom gold EDA valve covers. The crank is a rather unusual BRC 4.125-inch stroker which, combined with Manley H-beam rods and 30-over Ross blower pistons, makes a total displacement of 475ci. Herbert Cams kindly supplied the custom blower grind cam and all the valvetrain components. The most exotic parts on the engine…

Mike Key, long-time hot rodder and automotive photographer, passed away on 15 February. Mike’s illustrious career has been well documented over the years, most recently by CC in the April 2011 issue when we announced he was retiring on 30 March that year, his 65th birthday. It was a teenage Mike’s TV repairman colleagues who spawned his interest in photography, and a subsequent change in employer exposed him to hot rods, joining local club, the Cam Followers, soon after. one of the earliest members of the UK's NSRA Mike’s first flirtation with drag racing at Santa Pod came in 1972, and he was one of the earliest members of the UK’s NSRA, an association that recognised his outstanding contribution to hot rodding by inducting both him and wife, June, into…

Thanks to Surrey Hills Brewery in Dorking for the photo location Exactly half a century ago, a 16-year old Howard Riddell was sitting in a field, revving his first car and preparing to set off on the autocross track he had hacked out of the bush. The four-acre field was actually his back garden, the steed an MoT failure Morris Minor convertible given to him by his friend’s mechanic brother. “In hindsight, it was probably better described as a death trap, but hey, I was young,” says Howard with a grin. Many laps of the garden later, fuelled by petrol ‘borrowed’ from dad’s lawn mower, one of the stub axles ripped out of the chassis, putting paid to Howard’s fun, though not before a few illicit trips up and down…

When someone tells you they have vivid memories of jumping in a drag car at York Raceway aged eight or nine and riding back into the pits sitting in the footwell, you know they’ve got drag racing in their blood. For Ben Rushforth, though, it’s more than just racing, it’s the car itself he’s got in his blood, for it was in this very car those passenger rides took place. “My dad went to the Pod for the first time in 1972 and was hooked for life. Him and me mam had their honeymoon at the Pod in ’76 to see Don Garlits! He was involved with the G Force and Super Gas class at York and I helped out there when I were just a kid. “By the time…

Custom cars, street rods and drag racing are just such a natural fit with each other, and have gone together since the very earliest days that I went to the drags. I will not dare to venture into what I think is a custom, as compared to a rod, for I will surely come badly unstuck on that point. All I can say is I have always enjoyed the sight of a well prepared, custom-built vehicle being driven along the open road. It is hardly surprising that the groups mix so well, given that drag racing developed a reputation as a show and go sport, which enhanced the visual appeal of the competition machinery attacking the standing quarter. The earliest example of someone I can think of going from a…

Before lockdown kept us all in our houses, East Anglian hot rod club, the Norfolk Street Cruisers, helped ensure Norfolk car folk could spread their wings on a Saturday night. On this particular occasion, our evening activities started on the outskirts of Norwich, meeting at an easy access lay-by on the Northern Distributor Road. Heading off at 6pm, our destination on this occasion was the small coastal town of Sea Palling, some 20-odd miles away. We travelled through Wroxham, picking up more cruisers along the way, and arrived in Sea Palling to be greeted by an audience of locals and holidaymakers who seemed to enjoy the spectacle. greetedbyan audienceoflocals and holidaymakers Once parked up, it was time for a good natter, with the hot topic (pun intended) being how freezing…

Tackling a major project such as Pete has taken on with Devil’s Taxi can be an imposing challenge at times. It does, however, also offer the opportunity to flit from one task to another to suit inclination and parts availability. Last time we paid a visit, Pete had just finished forming the stainless steel grille insert, but that has been put to one side for now as he fits the bonnet and rear wings, with a few other jobs thrown in for good measure. propensity to make use of anything he finds lying around Right from the start, Pete’s determination and perseverance have been abundantly apparent, as has his ingenuity and propensity to make use of anything he finds lying around. Why buy new if you can make something else…

We weren’t the only people excited to see Ben’s Pop at the 2020 Hot Rod Drags. It was the first time he’d seen the fresh paint job in the sun, and everyone agreed it just looked amazing. Dave McCallan at McCallan Automotive gets the credit for turning a pretty rough, 40-year-old race car body into something he was happy to display his paintwork skills on, while Darren West at Power Race Graphics turned Ben’s enthusiastic ideas into a workable rendering. Ben would like to publicly apologise to both of them for pestering them so much about it, and also thank them for, as he put it, “calming some of my more wayward ideas down about the paint.” Prior to that, though, Dave fitted new door bottoms, a new rear valance…

Alan’s wife and son set about trying to find his old Pilot in hope of buying it back as a Father’s Day present We’ll start this feature off by handing the page over to the guy who took these pics, Tony Smith, as he has known Alan for a good few years now. “I first met Alan in the early ’80s after I placed an ad offering my services in this very magazine. I was already into photography, back then covering motorsport events, and had started to write for Short Circuit magazine. I had also started doing some car photoshoots at certain events and was keen to know if anyone in the custom world was interested. I’m an engineer, but not a mechanic, and Simon [Devos] was the perfect fit…

www.customcarmag.co.uk NB: We advise you to double check with organisers that the event or show as listed is still going ahead, to avoid any wasted journeys. To submit an event, email cc.ed@kelsey.co.uk, fax 01733 557235, or write to Custom Car Events, KelseyMedia, PO Box 978, Peterborough PE1 9FL. Coronavirus (Covid-19): With events still being cancelled or rearranged due to the ongoing pandemic, these listings should only be regarded as provisional. Please adhere to current government guidelines, and always check the status of events before travelling. MARCH CANCELLED 20 RWYB. Santa Pod Raceway. www.rwyb.com RESCHEDULED 26-28 Classic Car & Restoration Show. NEC, Birmingham. www.necrestorationshow.com 27 All American Cruise Mopar Muscle Meet. Ace Café, London. www.acecafe.com 27 RWYB. Santa Pod Raceway. www.rwyb.com 28 Best of British. Santa Pod Raceway. www.santapod.co.uk APRIL CANCELLED…