hot auto review

There will always be those who ask if it's real. "Is that a real Plum Crazy Hemi car?" We ask, what is real? Does the Hemi under the hood make it real? Will a fist of 11-second timeslips convince you that this is real enough?

To his credit, owner/driver Dave Dudek of Shelby Township, Michigan, is happy to admit his purple pachyderm's humble origins: It was originally a 340/four-speed Plum Crazy car and had been converted to Hemi power back in 1976. Dave picked the Challenger up at the Mopar Nationals four years ago. In that time, however, it's made a radical transformation ... not that you'd know it by looking at it.

Such are the joys of the Factory Appearing Drags (or FADrags), where musclecars run 11s and 12s on bias-ply tires and through exhaust manifolds, looking as showroom stock as anything you'd find at a spit-and-polish concours musclecar show. Except in the FADrags, these guys make their steeds run the way we'd always believed (hoped?) they would have from the factory. This is one of the hottest racing sensations to sweep the country in the past couple of years ... and this is one of the top cars in the series. In the January issue story, "Mock Stocker Shocker," we'd announced Terry Pennington's '69 ZL1 Camaro as the quickest car of the series; meanwhile, the poiple Challenger has taken most of the trophies.

The list of accolades for Dudek's Challenger grows every time it turns a wheel. Dave won both the 2000 and 2001 Factory Stock Drags (and scored fastest e.t. of the day to boot), he was runner-up and got fastest e.t. at Year One's Factory Appearing Stock Tires (FAST) class in Bristol in 2001, and he came out on top in the first-annual Factory Appearing Drags event held at Norwalk, Ohio, last spring (October 2002). Dudek ran 11.60s (11.66 best) in thin mountain air at the Year One-sponsored FAST class at the Bristol Bash last October-fastest e.t. of the weekend; his best time clocked at an official event with the combination outlined here is 11.58 at 122.8 mph-the fastest e.t. posted by any Factory Appearing car at any event (Pennington's was a tenth quicker in unsanctioned testing). Remember, this is on ancient tire technology in a 3,900-pound stick car.

Lest anyone think that Dudek is some crusty old salt who's reliving his youth, think again: He is 32, which means his car is older than he is. As the guy who more or less willed the FADrags series into being (after running at Pure Stock Drag events and determining that the Buicks pulling the front wheels at the line were not, in fact, purely stock), and as the guy who is most consistently among the top runners, we figured there was no better person to fess up and spill secrets. (More than half of the 14 FADrags tips we presented in Oct. '02, were given freely by Dudek-no cajoling or arm-twisting involved.) Think he's not having fun? Take a good close look at the photo of his reproduction window sticker (page 46).

Here's what we know.

On top, there's a K&N element in the stock air cleaner, which sits atop a pair of date-coded 625ci Carter AFBs. Dudek says they're not messed with at all: "I've got 1,250 cfm up there; I don't need to get stupid. Besides, all of the Mopar Super Stock guys I've talked to say leave 'em alone-if you open 'em up, it messes with the metering." Choke horns remain because, as Dudek puts it, "those carbs are worth $2,500. I ain't milling nothing."

They sit atop a factory aluminum street Hemi intake that has been given "the Arlen Vanke modification," namely substantially trimming the center plenum to help kill torque lest the repro Polyglas rubber be liquefied at the Tree. At the same time, Jeff Kobylski at Modern Cylinder Head in Clinton Township, Michigan, has added a couple of fuel-distribution tabs to make sure the gas is dispersed evenly and no single cylinder runs lean. "It looks like a Popsicle stick with JB weld holding it in," as Dudek describes it, and is another age-old Mopar trick. One tab is located between cylinders 4 and 6 and a half-tab is located just off number 3. A Mallory 110-gph fuel pump is chassis-mounted above the rear axle and feeds the Hemi's unquenchable thirst; the stock mechanical pump at the front of the engine is gutted and hollow, for show only.

Kobylski also worked magic on the cast-iron '70-vintage head castings (just painting aluminum Mopar Performance castings is a no-no; FADrags tech guys are equipped with magnets to check). Bowls were blended and port-matched both on the intake and exhaust sides; stainless stock-sized (2.25/1.94) Ferrea valves are tickled by Mopar Performance/Dick Landy 1.57/1.52 (stock ratio) roller rockers; Comp Cams valvesprings offer 160 pounds of seat pressure at rest and 390 pounds with the valves open. "If I go with the spring the cam manufacturer recommends, it won't rev above 5,000 rpm," says Dudek. Comp Cams titanium retainers keep everything in check. Valve-job angles and low-lift flow numbers, says Dudek, are staying his little secret (though he admits the heads flow 375 intake/221 exhaust at 0.600 lift). Hey, he's spilling everything else-let him cling to something private.

The block itself is '68-vintage and now displaces 479 ci thanks to a Mopar Performance forged-steel 4.15-inch-stroke crank and a 0.040 overbore. Automotive Machine of Fraser, Michigan, blueprinted, balanced, align-honed, and clearanced the block for the stroker crank. The cam is a Crane hydraulic roller (0.542/0.535 lift and 226/240 degrees at 0.050; the lobe sep is 112 degrees since a smooth factory-esque idle is a requirement for the series). Though conventional wisdom in the FADrags says that the cam should be retarded, Dudek discovered during his season-ending teardown that his cam had been accidentally installed straight up (due to a miscommunication with the engine-builder). Stock-length Eagle rods hang to Wiseco pistons (770 grams each) for 10.75:1 compression, which Dudek says is perfectly street-driveable on pump gas. You'd never know just by listening to it that it was pumping out 466 rear-wheel horsepower (at 5,400 rpm) and 488 lb-ft of torque (at 4,400 rpm). "By the time I hit 6,000 rpm, I've lost about 50 hp," he laments. "I'm not sure if it's the cam or if a valve is floating."

Stock exhaust manifolds are the name of the game here; Extrude Honing them helped him pick up 12 hp and 9 lb-ft at peak. These flow into a mandrel-bent 211/42-inch Dr. Gas X-pipe exhaust installed by Doug's Mufflers of Mount Clemens, Michigan. This exhaust configuration remains the sole nod to modernization in the series. "The X-pipe was worth an average of 12.5 hp and 12.8 lb-ft between 3,000 and 6,000 rpm ... above that, a traditional H-pipe has been more effective-in my testing, anyway." Since Dudek runs out of juice at 5,400, however, it's a moot point. Dynomax UltraFlow mufflers and stock tailpipes help the Hemi sound surprisingly stock at idle.

Ignition is a Chrysler electronic system, sort of; the Mopar distributor delivers 36 degrees of timing advance at just 1,400 rpm, while an MSD 6AL box is hidden behind the dash; the coil is really an MSD Blaster 2 spray-bombed black. Jacobs 8mm wires and Champion N9YC plugs deliver and fire the spark.

Dudek handles shifting duties himself with an 18-spline Hemi four-speed 'box, a McLeod PN 260851 disc and 360153 pressure plate, plus a billet McLeod flywheel lightened to 22 pounds from the stock 28. "I tried an aluminum flywheel, but it slipped. No way was I going to chance a run on that." The Pistol Grip handle is stock, but the shifter itself is a piece from Harms Automotive. "I kept tearing the shifter off the side of the trans," says Dudek. "I'd break the mounting plate in two every time. So I contacted Harms, they said they'd make me an unbreakable one. I figured they'd just reinforce a stock one. They made a tool and die, and forged a new one for me! It must have cost $5 grand to develop that." Luckily, they can recoup their investment by selling copies at www.surprisegarage.com. Dave's buddy Tom George of Southfield, Michigan, built the rest of the trans so smooth that buzz in the pits is it's a slick-shifted trans (every other tooth removed from the synchros). "It's not," he says, by way of offering to give me the keys and take it for a spin.

"Anyone could go out and use this combination and get the same power numbers I have," says Dudek. "Small cam, big cubes ... you can get these dyno numbers. Getting down the track is another story, however." Matching his best-ever 11.48 in testing, however, may take some doing.

Doing mid-11s on Goodyear Polyglas G60-15s, 15x7 steelies, and piepans takes more than sheer mechanical might-it takes a spoonful of chassis engineering as well. The front suspension features six-cylinder torsion bars and Competition Engineering 90/10 shocks (painted black, of course), and the rear uses 50/50 Mopar Performance shocks, a pinion snubber, and stock Hemi leaf springs with twice the number of clamps ahead of the wheel; pinion angle is traditionally set at 2 degrees down; next year he's going to set it at 7 degrees. Beyond that, he admits that he's left the suspension "loose." The rearend is an 831/44, not a Dana as the factory would have wished, and the 3.73:1 is a bit softer than the 4.10s of a Super Track Pack car. Still, he has one of the doggiest 60-foots in the series among the frontrunners, with consistent 1.95-2.0s. His driving technique accounts for some of this: "I leave off idle. Once I'm staged, I lift off the clutch as slowly as I can, until the clutch disc just starts skimming the flywheel. I let it down slowly and go." He shifts at 6,000, despite the reported power drop above 5,400, and goes through the traps at 6,100 revs. Brakes are currently four-wheel-drum all around, though this is one of many things that are changing.

Dudek insists that tire prep has not been a factor in his race career thus far, and that his ballast experiments have been fruitless. "My race weight is 3,900 pounds. I've filled the spare with water, and had up to 200 pounds of ballast in the trunk, but for me, lower weight is more important than ballast. Now I race with no ballast and as little gas in the tank as I dare." The Dynabatt hidden inside a stock repro battery casing is his invention.

In truth, the specs listed above were correct when this car was photographed last June. When it next appears on May 21 at Martin, Michigan, dragway for the next FADrags event, recently renamed the Year-One FAST (Factory Appearing Stock Tire) Musclecar Shootout, Dudek will debut a new combo that includes a vigorous 130-pound diet. The metal hood has been replaced with a fiberglass Challenger T/A hood, saving 25 pounds off the front end. ("It was a $99 option only in Hemis; if you checked the Fresh Air engine option and the factory was out of shakers, this is what you got. Knocks a tenth off the e.t. consistently. I never believed it ... but I saw the paperwork.") Yanking the sound insulation from the interior was good for another 33 pounds; the console is now gone as well. (He wanted to install a radio-delete plate, but couldn't find one for less than $500.) Dudek's own personal weight savings amounts to 18 pounds. An aluminum Hemi trans case from a '68 Hemi Barracuda will save another dozen. A conversion to Wilwood HD 10.5-inch front disc brakes saved yet another 20-plus ("they're invisible with the steelies, but you can see 'em with Rallye wheels," says Dudek).

On top of the weight loss, there's more power. The Automotive Machine-built Hemi will displace 484 ci (0.060 over stock with the 4.15 crank, now knife-edged), feature Serdi-milled heads (the exhaust number will be raised above 250 cfm), and run a new Straightline Performance (Okemos, Michigan) cam with 0.593/0.575 lift and 232/246 degrees of duration at 0.050 lift. Lobe separation will remain an idle-friendly 112 degrees, and he'll start with the cam retarded 2 degrees and start tweaking from there. Compression will be 13.0:1 with a set of 720-gram Diamond pistons with smaller 0.990 big-block Chevy pins and 11/416-11/416-31/416 ring grooves plugged with Total Seal rings. Everything in the engine from the pistons to the combustion chambers to the oil pump gearing will get TechLine coatings (said to be worth upward of 70 hp in all), and Dudek is out for blood. Will all that be enough to keep him on top of the FADrags heap?

By the time you read this, the second annual FADrags event (this time held in Martin, Michigan) will be over and done with. For information check out www.geocities.com/fadrags.

So, is this Challenger real, you ask? Yeah. Real fast.

The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Memorial Scholarship Fund was founded in 1984 to foster leadership opportunities in the specialty equipment marketplace and support educational goals for students. Over the past two decades, SEMA Scholarships have supported over 500 students with more than $1,000,000 in scholarship awards.

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"SEMA has been fueling the future of the specialty equipment industryfor more than 20 years now and we are very proud of our awards, as wellas these students who have received them," said Mike Spagnola, president of Street Scene Equipment.

In response to the rising costs of education, the SEMA Scholarship program was restructured in 2004 to cover a broader base of students attending various universities, colleges, and/or vocational schools in both the United States and Canada. To further offer incentives for students to apply for SEMA scholarships, the award categories were increased with incentives positioned for the top applicant with the highest academic standing in select categories.

The program rewards only the best and brightest students engaged instudies leading to a career in the automotive specialty equipmentindustry or a related field. Sophomores in 2-year universities orcolleges, and students in vocational or technical schools received$1,000. Graduates and undergraduates with at least a junior standing ata 4-year school received $2,000 to $4,000. All students must have aminimum 2.5 grade-point average and be enrolled in an accrediteduniversity, college or proprietary program.

In addition, fourteen scholarships were awarded to relatives andemployees of SEMA member companies, including: Kaskinen Auto Sales, Olea Exhibits and Displays, Zoom Performance Products, Lund International, California Truck Works, Inc., Classic Automotive Restoration - PWA, Medicine Man Rod Shop, World Products, and Hybrid Racing, LLC.

For the fourth year in a row, SEMA awarded the Loan ForgivenessScholarship Award to qualified graduates with outstanding student loanswho have worked at a SEMA member company for at least one year. Thisprogram was developed as further incentive for students to seekemployment in the automotive specialty equipment industry upongraduation. Seven employees of SEMA member companies received $1,000paid directly to their loan company to satisfy outstanding studentloans. Those member companies include: Auto Stat Productions, Primedia, Comp Cams, 3-M Automotive Aftermarket Division, Competition Cams, Flex-a-Lite Consolidated, and Exporer Competition DBA Pro Com Suspension.

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For more information on the 2008 SEMA Scholarship or to download anapplication visit our website 2008 Scholarship info, or contact SEMA at education@sema.org

CLICK HERE FOR THE 2008 SEMA SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION

CLICK HERE FOR THE 2008 SEMA SCHOLARSHIP GUIDELINES AND OTHER INFO

SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association founded in 1963,represents the $36.7 billion specialty automotive industry of 7,094member-companies. It is the authoritative source for research, data,trends and market growth information for the specialty auto partsindustry. The industry provides appearance, performance, comfort,convenience and technology products for passenger and recreationalvehicles. For more information, contact SEMA at 1575 S. Valley VistaDr., Diamond Bar, CA 91765, tel: 909/396-0289 or visit www.sema.org

Donations in any amount are accepted and appreciated; since the SEMA Scholarship Fund is a 501-(c)-(3) corporation, all contributions are fully tax deductible.

For more information, contact SEMA Scholarship Fund by e-mail at education@sema.org

This seemed like a good idea. At first. Then we got into the actual machinations of selecting 100 top cars that were worthy of HOT ROD's 60th anniversary issue. We made list after list, anticipating every possible rant that could come from any direction. There would be no escaping a certain level of wrath, but in the end, we justified our actions by picking cars based on a very specific criterion. In a word: influence. The cars we chose had to make a difference to the gearhead hobby, the racing sport, or the people in them. They had to be trend starters or fad killers, landmarks of style, or shepherds of technology that put a bend in the road of hot rodding.

To narrow the scope, we also limited the picks to hot rods (a catchall that includes customs, race cars, and more) built in 1948 or later, the date that coincided with this magazine's first issue. So there will be no early Henry Ford speedsters or the like, and just one very famous stock production car. That leaves out Hemi Super Stockers, Shelby Mustangs, and COPO Camaros. Get over it. You'll also think of at least another 100 famous or popular cars that are not on the list-there's nothing here from Tony Nancy, the Alexander Brothers, Dean Jeffries, Bill Cushenberry, or another several dozen builders on your mind. Why? Remember the dividing line: influence. We couldn't name a car by any of those guys that changed the world more significantly than the 100 cars in these pages. For the same reason, don't look for legendary rods as the Pierson coupe or the Niekamp roadster, because we couldn't argue that they changed more lives than such clods as the General Lee, the Bandit Trans Am, or even the American Graffiti coupe. Fame trumps grace every time, and if fads had anything to do with style, then there'd be thousands of CadZZilla kits and just one Meyers Manx dune buggy.

Since we didn't care to shoulder this responsibility alone, we called on some friends-though none can be blamed for our final selections or our ranking order. Pat Ganahl, former editor of HOT ROD, Street Rodder, Rod & Custom, and Rodder's Journal, helped us with the significant rods and customs. Dave Wallace is a former staffer of Drag News and HOT ROD and editor of Petersen's Drag Racing who enters the Drag Racing Hall of Fame at the Garlits Museum this year, and he helped with the top drag cars of the past 60 years. Our eldest staffer, Detroit Editor Bill McGuire, focused on the icons of his generation, while 40-somethings Kinnan and Freiburger meddled with the street-machine era. Once our list was compiled, we adjusted it based on comments from Pete Chapouris, Larry Erickson, and Dave Ross (Design Manager, GM Performance Division).

So it's not a perfect list, but it's pretty freakin' close. Your flames will be given due attention if you send them to HOTROD@sourceinterlink.com. Meanwhile, enjoy HOT ROD's 60th anniversary celebration of the 100 most influential cars of our time. -David Freiburger

Hot rodders have always been fascinated with sleepers. More than just about anyone, we have a special appreciation for the car that looks like junk but goes like stink. Somehow going fast just seems more special in a car that looks slow. Ha ha, fooled you-you lose, pal. Sleepers and sandbagging are woven into hot rod mythology: Recall the little Nash Rambler, the hot rod Lincoln, the little old lady from Pasadena. She's my little Deuce coupe, you don't know what I got.

So maybe it's just our shady background, lurking in the back alleys of the motoring world as we do, but hot rodders love to see the rat sneak in and steal the cheese. All this was driven home to us once again by the reader reaction to Kurt Urban's outrageous green '72 Nova ("Sucker's Bet," Nov. '06.) It was crusty on the outside, tricked out to the nines on the inside, and you guys went nuts over it just like we did. A car that devious becomes a legend in its own time.

We know you are going to like this car too-it's really sneaky. But the funny thing is, Rob Freyvogel and Tom Napierkowski didn't set out to build a sleeper with their '63 Pontiac LeMans. Rob says it just sort of evolved that way. (Rob has since bought out Tom's half of the car so Tom could move on to his next project.) For example, note the two big honking turbochargers, hidden away out of sight under the rear of the car. That wasn't premeditated; the location was forced by the Tempest's tight engine bay. "There was no place else to put them," says Rob. But since the Pontiac Y-body (same basic platform as the Corvair) was originally equipped with a transaxle out back, there was ample room for the turbos and associated plumbing under the floorpan's rear kickup.

Then there's the scabby red paint-the very same paint, bleached and peeling, that was on the car when Rob and Tom found it out in the California desert. The Tempest body shell, minus its engine and driveline, was resting on top of another car when they dragged it away for $400. As the project was approaching completion, Rob says, "We really were going to paint the car, but then we thought, No, this is good the way it is. This way we don't have to worry about scratching it every time we lean over a fender." There's another reason we are drawn to sleepers: Here function rules over form. It's not about looking good. It's about running good, and we can respect that.

So the LeMans was originally built not so much to scam anyone, but to have some fun, to serve as a testbed for Rob and Tom's homebrewed performance inventions, and to do it without spending a ton of money. The engine is a 427 big-block Chevy that he says is "mainly circle-track flea market stuff." A Lunati steel crank, Eagle rods, and 0.030-over SLP pistons with 8.5:1 compression ratio make up the short-block. The heads are Brodix Big Brodies, while the intake is an old Holley Strip Dominator with some porting work. Bullet Racing Cams supplied the mechanical roller grind with 0.630-inch lift, 246-degree duration, and 116-degree lobe separation. The headers are homemade tri-Ys. There's nothing terribly outlandish here; the big power is in the turbocharger system.

It's funny how things come full circle. Back in the early '60s when rodders began to experiment with turbos, the blowers themselves were mainly pirated from diesel truck and tractor engines. That was essentially the only supply path at the time. Now, 40 years later, guys are finding that it is the cheapest path. The Holset HT3B turbos on the LeMans are from a Cummins-powered earthmover, and "you can buy them all day on eBay for 150 bucks each," says Rob. (Rebuild kits are $40.) A big fat charge cooler resides in the trunk, adjacent to an insulated plastic picnic cooler that carries the ice water. "It really works nice," Rob says. "It doesn't sweat all over the place and make a big mess like an aluminum tank will." The remote rear turbo installation was mulled over carefully. "At first we thought it would produce turbo lag, so then we figured maybe that would help launch the car off the line. But in practice we haven't experienced any significant turbo lag." The aft-mounted turbos also aid weight distribution. "You can add 100 to 150 pounds to the nose of the car or to the rear of the car," Rob observes sagely.

Rob manages the fuel delivery with a FAST control unit driving a set of eight Bosch 60-lb/hr injectors, while the ignition system includes Rob's own Frankenstein-inspired ignition amplifier that consumes 50 amperes. Yikes. "When you are working with high boost levels and combustion pressures you need lots of spark," Rob says. A mechanical engineer whose company supplies textured carbide coatings, Rob has launched another business, Engine Logic Systems, to develop his high-output ignition, which he calls Variable Spark Injection. Triggering eight OMC outboard marine coils with a 70:1 turn ratio ("I find they really hold up," he says) Rob can hike up the primary circuits to 620 volts for racing, then back them down to 250 volts for cruising to give the secondary insulation a break. The system is configured to operate at double-spark up to 2,000 rpm and single-spark thereafter.

With its flexible fuel-mapping capability, the LeMans has been run on everything except fondue fuel: pump gas, race gas, methanol, E85 ethanol, and Rob's current favorite, E98 ethanol. "It's nice because you don't need as much volume as with methanol," he says. And along with the greater energy density, the E98 makes plenty of power, has a wide and forgiving tuning window, is lots cheaper than race gas, and has decent availability in Rob's part of the world. Western Pennsylvania is Sprint Car country, and he learned about the fuel driv-ing in a limited Sprint series that runs LS1 spec engines on E98. So while the Tempest may appear socially irresponsible from nearly every other angle, its carbon footprint is comparatively minuscule.

Early on in the learning curve the LeMans was strapped to the chassis dyno, where it made 875 hp at the rear wheels at 22 psi boost. With some tuning experience under his belt, Rob now calculates that he can make 1,162 flywheel horsepower at 5,800 rpm with 27 psi. And he's confident he can turn the screw up to 30 or 32 pounds if need be. At 25 psi Rob has run a best of 9.86 at 149 mph, and that was "banging, popping, and missing all the way down the track," he says. Rob knows there's more there to be had with additional tweaking, but the next order of business is to install a full rollcage so he can be both quick and safe. That addition will negate much of the car's sleeper image, but as Rob sees it he has no choice. "A rollcage just screams race car, but it has to happen," he says. But that's OK because the Tempest is still go for its original mission: having fun and inventing new ways to go fast. "I love this," Rob says. "This is how guys did it back in the '50s. This is basic hot rodding-doing stuff on your own."

Quick Inspection:
'63 Pontiac Tempest LeMans
Rob Freyvogel
Butler, PA

POWERTRAIN
Engine: In 1963 the Tempest LeMans was powered by a 326ci Pontiac V-8. The engine in the car now may be painted blue, but it's no Pontiac. That's a 427 big-block Chevy with a 0.030-inch overbore and Brodix aluminum heads. The build is on the conservative side to accommodate the pair of Holset turbos stashed away under the rear of the car. The homemade 4-2-1 headers use 2-inch primary tubes and 3-inch collectors, while the throttle body is a 1,600-cfm airdoor from Electromotive.

Power: The car made 875 hp at the rear wheels on a chassis dyno, but that was early on the development curve. Based on the car's e.t. and trap speed, Rob now estimates that he has over 1,100 hp available.

Transmission: Rob axed the Tempest's original drivetrain configuration, an odd setup that employed a rear-drive transaxle and enclosed driveshaft. He opted instead for a GM Turbo 400 with a transbrake and electronically actuated valvebody.

Rearend: Rob says he learned about the virtues of the '57-'64 Olds-Pontiac rear axle reading HOT ROD. His uses a Strange 35-spline spool and axles with a 3.08 ring-and-pinion.

CHASSIS
Frame: Except for a pair of fabricated subframe connectors, the Tempest's unitbody structure is stock and original.

Suspension: While the front suspension is stock, the rear now employs coilover spring/shock assemblies and a pair of Chassis Engineering ladder bars.

Brakes: The rotors and calipers are Wilwood Super Lights, while the master cylinder and power booster are from an '86 Buick Grand National-no engine vacuum required.

Wheels: The steel rear wheels- 9x15s using the GM big-car 5x5 bolt pattern-were custom-built by Stockton Wheel Service in Stockton, California. The front steelies are 14-inch GM stockers, and Pontiac dog-dish hubcaps are installed on all four corners.

Tires: Hoosier 28.5x10.5 Quick Times are on the rear, with Goodyear radials on the front.

STYLE
Body: The GM Y-body platform, used by the Buick, Olds, and Pontiac compacts from 1961 to 1963, was a bit of a strange ranger, sharing some architecture with the Corvair. But the lines were pretty clean, especially on Pontiac's Sport Coupe version for '63. Rob didn't change a thing on his.

Paint: Rob believes his LeMans was repainted sometime in the mid-'80s in its original factory metallic red. That's the same paint it wears today.

Interior: Except for a set of Auto Meter gauges artfully spliced into the dash, the cabin is pretty much all stock, with factory bucket seats resplendent in early-'60s GM red vinyl.

It sounds angry. Really angry. And man, it's hauling ass on thosewooden-spoke wheels on a winding road through the beautiful Finnishcountryside. By the time you catch up to it at a diner down the road,it's chugging, sputtering, and sounding like a standard 200.5ci L-headfour-cylinder engine. What's going on here?

You've just encountered the most clandestine prewar sleeper we've evercome across. What appears to be a nuts-and-bolts restoration of a ModelA sedan is actually a very precisely tuned and stealthily constructedhot rod.

Kari Maekelae and his team of metal craftsmen at Maekelae Auto Tuning(MAT, www.mat.fi), which specializes in building and restoring vintagesports cars and race cars, is the mastermind behind this surreptitiousbuild. The owner of the A, a widely renowned rally driver who wishes toremain anonymous, found it and a '24 Model T while racing in the WorldRally Championship in Argentina in 1993. The cars were mostly complete,and the word is that he didn't pay much more than the price of shippingto get them back to his native Finland. The T received a full resto backto stock standards, and the A was slated for the same until the intrepidrally racer happened to mention to Kari that he'd like a bit more powerunderhood, but without going the typical hot rod or street rod route--hewanted to maintain a vintage look to the car. After a few moments ofbench racing with Kari about what could be done, he mentioned that hisfavorite engine from his decades of racing was the high-strung Group 4Ford Escort BDA built by Cosworth. That sparked an idea, and Kariimmediately started envisioning what the car should be. After airing afew ideas, he persuaded the owner to give him full license to build theA as he saw fit.

The goal was to keep the body, interior, and feel of the A stock whilemaking it perform like a sports car, all the while using as many factoryparts--or at least factory-appearing parts--as possible. That's a tallorder considering the canvas. While he may have relished the idea ofrevolutionizing the art of automobile production, ol' Henry wasn't bigon technology for the car itself. Simplicity and low cost were the keysto the success of both the T's and A's. That meant using the stock Aframe and buggy spring suspension for this build created a multitude ofchallenges.

The key to any good performing car is the platform, so the first orderof business was to strip the A down to its basic elements and develop aplan for the chassis. Of course boxing the rails was on the list, but tomake the frame exceptionally rigid, Kari designed crossbracing andbrackets that would not only stiffen everything up but also blend rightinto the chassis and give a factory-built impression. The stock frontsuspension was strengthened and given a Panhard rod, but the rear had tobe completely rethought. No banjo rearend could survive the wrath of arace-bred Cosworth, so a Toyota 4x4 van rearend (which was actually usedin Toyota rally cars) was selected for its width and durability, and aparallel four-link with a Panhard rod was designed to locate it.Coilovers would have been the easy choice but not the right one for thiscar. Kari's team fabricated mounts to use a stock-style buggy springmodified for a progressive rate and swapped in friction shocks from anAston Martin DP4. Who would have thought? The list of illusory mods islengthy, but to really appreciate the level of detail and time spent onevery aspect to keep the identity of the A correct requires hourscrawling all over it.

Now the answer to the question on everyone's mind: What does anear-stock-height Model A with a race-prepped original chassis and adrivetrain that'll propel it 0-60 in a tick over five seconds feel likeon the open road? Stupid fun--and we don't use that term lightly. A goodsleeper puts a wicked grin on your face, and there's no bigger sleeperthan this. The absolute contradiction of sitting in the gentlemanlyinterior grasping the four-spoke steering wheel and stock-length shifterand hearing the high-strung wail from the Cosworth is delicious.

If given the chance to enjoy the A for a weekend or so, we'd go for theultimate covert action and dress in our Sunday best as if the onlyintention was a leisurely drive to an antique car show--with theMAT-designed ignition misfire circuit activated so it chuggedlaboriously along like a stock Model A. Of course we'd only pull theSimpson race harness over our shoulders at the stoplight once the guy inthe BMW in the next lane had thoroughly dismissed us as nothing morethan an antiquated and sluggish museum piece. Then, with a flip of themisfire switch and a tip of the hat, it'd be time to lower his smugnessa few points. You with us? Bonus points for doing it with vintagedriving gloves and a newsboy hat.

Quick Inspection: '29 Ford Model A sedan

Maekelae Auto Tuning (MAT) * Kannus, Finland

POWERTRAIN

Engine: The little beastie in banger guise is an '81 122ci aluminum Cosworth BDA originally designed for European Group4 rally and touring car racing. Nearly everything in the engine is original Cosworth-spec including the billet steel crank,forged rods and pistons, and solid-tappet Cosworth L1 cams. The twin-cam 16-valve head received a thorough portingand polishing from MAT and was fitted with stainless steel 1.4- and 1.2-inch intake and exhaust valves respectively.Power: The naturally aspirated Cossie revs to 8,400 rpm to make 250 hp and sees 200 lb-ft of torque at 7,200 rpm.Transmission: At the end of that long shifter is a ZF quick-ratio five-speed transmission sourced from a Group 4 Escort rally car.Rearend: An '85 Toyota Celica rally car gave up its rearend, but a limited-slip diff and stronger axles were swapped in.

CHASSIS

Suspension: It's still original-style buggy springs front and rear, but they've been lowered a little over 2 inches all around and feature adjustable bumpstops between the leaves to create a progressive rate. Shocks are Girling friction shocks from an Aston Martin DP4. MAT designed and built the front and rear Panhard bars as well as the 0.79-inch adjustable sway bar. The front radius rods are the originals but are strengthened considerably by MAT, while the rearend is held in place by a custom parallel four-link by MAT.

Brakes: Toyota manual drum brakes take up all four corners with two 21mm Girling master cylinders providing the push. Pedals are from a Tilton box assembly. A hydraulic hand brake was fabbed up to allow some hand-brake-turn fun.

Wheels: The 19-inch cast-aluminum wheels were made in-house by MAT.

Tires: Dunlop Racing 500-19s take up all four corners and stick better than you'd expect.

STYLE

Body: Though the chassis is full of tricks, the body was restored to stock form with panels from Snyder's Antique Auto Parts (www.snydersantiqueauto.com) and some handformed piecesby MAT.

Paint: The paint is a custom-mixed two-tone acrylic from PPG swirled with an eye toward a classy stock look.

Interior: The interior is almost 100 percent restored original parts with material supplied by LeBaron Bonney (www.lebaronbonney.com). The steering wheel is a custom piece by Moto-Lita, and the Simpson four-point belts can be easily hidden under the rear seat pillows. HRM