In our jaded world of sic second street cars, classic muscle cars that can out handle most modern iron, and 1,000hp engines that you can build using lots of factory parts, is there still love for unique builds that aren’t fast? I sure think so and this 1952 Ford truck featured in the video below is my proof. You’ll see it running down the eighth-mile at Barona Drag Strip in California in all of its old school glory. The truck is powered by a little flathead mounted behind the cab. The engine spins an automatic transmission and the whole works is kind of hanging out in the breeze for the world to see between the frame rails. Initially I was thinking that the frame was homebuilt but now I think the truck was probably a flatbed or something in its original form, hence the straight frame and beefy rails. You’ll see the creation run down the track in the mid 11-second range (eight mile). No matter which way you slice it, that’s not very fast for modern hot rodders….BUT….it would have been moving right along when a build like this may have been more common in the 1950s.

Some of you will no doubt scoff at the notion that something you are building to be raced at the strip can be fun and cool even when it isn’t tripping the clocks with the front wheels up or deep in the single digit elapsed time area code, but I disagree. This truck is a cool throwback and if you squint hard enough you can almost see a kid working on his dad’s farm 60 years ago getting the keys to some old farm truck that was headed out to pasture anyway and going to town with wrenches, an old stick welder, and an engine he scored from the wrecking yard. The soul and history of straight line competition and innovation were rooted in vehicles like this truck. To me, it is just campy enough to be awesome. It doesn’t seem like it is pretending to be something that it isn’t and the little flathead V8 is its little cammed, low compression, garbly self as it shoves the truck down the strip.

Bret Voelkel talks about “smiles per mile” when referring to cars. I bet the owner of this thing has a huge one every time he lumbers down to another 11-second eighth mile elapsed time. I know I would!

PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE A COOL 1952 FORD TRUCK WITH A REAR MOUNTED FLATHEAD V8 GO TO WORK AT BARONA!