Another late model, and one of my all time favourite cars.
Dave Cunningham's '40 Ford Sedan "Li'l Beauty"
Dave Cunningham started building this car in the mid 50s, and began by channeling the body by a hefty 10 inches. He then took the car to George Barris' shop to have the remaining modifications completed, including the side exit exhausts and body smoothing. In this guise the car was featured on the cover of various car magazines throughout the late 50s.
Not content with how the car looked, Cunningham returned the car to George Barris' shop for a full makeover. Barris tunneled in a pair of canted dual headlights, then chopped and raised the fenders, fitting concave Reynolds aluminium fender wells to give the car a unique look. 1941 Studebaker rear lights were also fitted, along with custom nerf bars. The bonnet was also sectioned and stamped full of louvres. The car was then painted in Kandy Red with Mother of Pearl dust "graphics".
The car then went off the radar for many years, until a gentleman called Bill Roach found the car looking sorry for itself in storage. He bought the car for $700, and commenced on a full rebuild, which was documented in the September 1973 issue of Rod Action. Bill decided to modernise the car, which for anyone au fait with 70s fashions gives you some idea of the horror to come
The motor was swapped to a 302ci Ford V8 with a C4 auto box, an Mustang rear axle was fitted, along with a 2" drop tube axle. New fenders were made, similar in style to the originals but not quite as well done. The car was also fitted with some too small wire wheels, fitted with too small tyres. The car was featured in Rod Action, and was definitely "of the era". At least we can be thankful it was saved rather then ending up as bean tins.
Matt
Dave Cunningham's '40 Ford Sedan "Li'l Beauty"
Dave Cunningham started building this car in the mid 50s, and began by channeling the body by a hefty 10 inches. He then took the car to George Barris' shop to have the remaining modifications completed, including the side exit exhausts and body smoothing. In this guise the car was featured on the cover of various car magazines throughout the late 50s.
Not content with how the car looked, Cunningham returned the car to George Barris' shop for a full makeover. Barris tunneled in a pair of canted dual headlights, then chopped and raised the fenders, fitting concave Reynolds aluminium fender wells to give the car a unique look. 1941 Studebaker rear lights were also fitted, along with custom nerf bars. The bonnet was also sectioned and stamped full of louvres. The car was then painted in Kandy Red with Mother of Pearl dust "graphics".
The car then went off the radar for many years, until a gentleman called Bill Roach found the car looking sorry for itself in storage. He bought the car for $700, and commenced on a full rebuild, which was documented in the September 1973 issue of Rod Action. Bill decided to modernise the car, which for anyone au fait with 70s fashions gives you some idea of the horror to come
The motor was swapped to a 302ci Ford V8 with a C4 auto box, an Mustang rear axle was fitted, along with a 2" drop tube axle. New fenders were made, similar in style to the originals but not quite as well done. The car was also fitted with some too small wire wheels, fitted with too small tyres. The car was featured in Rod Action, and was definitely "of the era". At least we can be thankful it was saved rather then ending up as bean tins.
Matt
