Karma is a beautiful thing. At last year’s Holley Hot Rod Reunion, I shot Jensen Masters’ altered-wheelbase 1964 Rambler American as one of my first feature shoots. I was happy to have gotten the pictures, but in order to coordinate the shoot during the height of the Reunion, I had given him my phone number. I didn’t put much thought into that decision after the photos were sorted and the article was written, but a few days ago I got a text from an unfamiliar number. He reintroduced himself and sent me photos of this car and asked if there would be any interest in it. Of course there was interest…the Fairlane looked like the toy cars I played with as a kid, had the perfect look going on, and I had to know more. His response: there’s more cars, plus other stuff to look at. Over the next few days, you are going to be getting a photographic tour of the shop and some of the pieces that hang around. This was a treasure trove and I’m still trying to cope with it all.

Masters and his Short Street Rod Shop are hidden in a little town in Kentucky, and while they did require a pretty healthy drive to get to, the moment I pulled into the driveway I knew this would be good. Out front, a late 1950s Chevrolet Suburban sat and the kids were riding vintage bikes. (I can spot a Manta Ray from a mile away.) As soon as I saw the front of the shop I saw the tail of the Fairlane sticking out. Wheelie bars and flaking paint that had to have been applied in the early 1970s were just the start of the story here. This is the shop’s latest find, having brought it in from Iowa a few months ago after finding it just sitting.

The Ford’s story goes back to Mason City, Iowa, where this car was reportedly the one to beat around town. The car’s engine and trans were long gone, but indications show a blown something-or-other sat shoved well back past the firewall, with the intake scoop sitting just forward of the windshield/cowl area. All of that is visible by raising the flip front hood, which must have been a necessity to start the monster, because the only ignition system on the car is the keyed switch on the passenger side of the firewall. While a small-block Chevy and an automatic sit in the Hurst engine mounts in the car now, we have to wonder what kind of bullet was in this thing in 1971?

Inside, the modifications become more apparent. The driver’s seat was moved to the rear seat and a chromed F100 steering column took care of steering the straight-axle front end, which sits on half-inch lift blocks and is completed with 1949-54 Chevrolet spindles and coil over shocks raided from an unknown motorcycle.

So, what’s in store for the Fairlane now that Masters has it? The goal, he says, is to keep it’s character while bringing the car back to it’s former glory. If “former glory” means a straight-axle car with a violent engine in the bay and enough power that wheelie bars are needed, we’re on board completely. He is trying to find any kind of information on the car’s past, but information on a car that spent more time whipping ass on the streets than the track is going to be fairly scarce to come by.

Stay tuned, this is just one of the many cool rides inside the shop!