Elsewhere in this issue, we explore some interesting alternatives for building a cool custom '50s ride. Whether your preferences run tastefully traditional or sleek and contemporary, mid-'50s passenger cars are an incredibly stylish way to make the scene. Of course, I've never been a conventional guy, and after five decades of custom cars decked out in tuck 'n' roll and frenched headlights, I thought a different sort of idea might be in order. There was a lot more going on in the '50s than poodle skirts, whitewalls, and drag racing. The halfway point of the American Century marked a turning point in motorsports, as the gaggles of unruly whisky runners from down South and wild Latin wheel men from Mexico both finally got their chance at fame and glory behind the wheel of purpose-built racing machines packed with power and style.
Road racing came into its own in the '50s, and names like Daytona, La Carrera, and Pike's Peak inspired young men to jump into factory-backed race machines in a quest for victory. Half a century later NASCAR has become a billion-dollar sport where the cars all look the same and none of them have a thing in common with the street cars that share their name. Trip back in time, however, and racers were stock-bodied hardtops pulled from the assembly line and sent to the track with little more than an aircraft harness and some wide-oval bias-plies.
If you want to build a '50s rod with an unusual twist, why not clone one of these early road racers out of an alternate-make two-door, such as a Lincoln, Buick, or Olds? Ditch the carpet, paint the steel wheels red or black, slap some big honkin' numbers on the side, and voila! Instant race car! We managed to dig up a few examples for you to feast your peepers on, and these are just the beginning. As time marched on and circle burners got more advanced, the possibility for clones increased, as well. If an early-'50s Lincoln doesn't light your fire, how about a clone of the Hot Rod Magazine "Suddenly" '57 Plymouth, or a '57 Ford with a McCulloch supercharger? The possibilities are endless...