Descripción
The real deal. A genuine `55 Ford Pop drag racer running a rebuilt 3-litre Essex V6 all for under £5000! With history from Shakespeare County Raceway and the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals, this old-school rod not only looks the part but sounds amazing courtesy of a 4-barrel Holley and straight-through pipes. And it goes too! So, if you fancy a small slice of hot rod history and something to fettle over the summer months, this could be for you.
Introduced in 1953, the Ford 103E, or Popular as it was widely known, was a no-frills 4-seater saloon car powered by a 30HP 1172cc sidevalve engine linked to a 3-speed manual gearbox. With a top speed of 60MPH, this was basic family motoring for the masses and sold largely on price - competitors such as the Anglia, Austin A30 and Morris Minor all cost at least £100 more! Vinyl trim, a single vacuum-operated wiper and no heater all helped in this department and not surprisingly it sold well, with over 155, 000 units rolling off production lines in a 6-year run. Its lightweight construction soon found favour with drag racers and hot rodders seeking to emulate what was happening with Model A and B`s in the US. By the early 1960`s, the Ford Pop became the definitive British hot rod and to many enthusiasts remains so to this day.
Our Ford Pop dates from 1955 albeit very little now exists of the original car. We understand that the modification into what you see today took place in the 1980`s and features a fibreglass flip-front, Essex V6 engine, short-ratio 4-speed gearbox, Wolfrace slot alloys and full-on race interior with bucket seats, a single racing harness and comprehensive range of gauges. By the early 2000`s, the car was owned by Keith Bryant and was drag-raced competitively running a best 1320 (quarter mile) of 15. 9 seconds on May 19th 2007 at Shakespeare County. The Pop then disappeared for a number of year only to resurface last year in the hands of Classic Carbs of Brierly Hill, a company specialising in the rebuilding and sale of carburettors for classic cars and motorcycles. Running parallel with the day job, the company hosts a YouTube channel documenting the rebuild of cars that go through their workshop - Rusty Love. Over the summer months of 2021, a number of short videos were made and posted featuring the acquisition and sympathetic rebuilding of the Pop culminating with a visit to a rolling road and a couple of late summer car shows. They make for a very entertaining watch!
Since acquiring the car, we have done very little but clean and fettle. It is what it is. The photographs hopefully tell the story. Bodywork is generally sound albeit one or two areas could be improved whilst paintwork is best described as honest! But this isn`t what the Pop is about. Turn the key and you soon realise that the heart and soul lie under the bonnet, the rebuilt 2994cc V6 barking like I`ve never heard before. On the road, it is sensory overload all the way but huge fun - don`t expect to do anything discreetly! In my short road test along narrow Dorset lanes, it drove very well selecting gears smoothly and quickly with a firm ride and surprisingly good brakes. However, whilst road registered, this is really an historic drag-racing car and should be considered as such.
The Pop comes with a small history file containing race time sheets from 2007 and 2008, rolling road print-out from July 2021 and a V5C correctly documenting it as a Ford Popular in Yellow with 2994cc engine.
Huge fun.
Shore Classics is based on the West Dorset coast within easy proximity of both Weymouth and the County town of Dorchester. As classic and vintage dealers, we offer full brokerage facilities. So if you require some help and guidance with selling your classic car or motorcycle, just give us a call today.
