A Gem Hiding in Plain Sight

I was down in the Santa Cruz region of Northern California last week browsing Bruce Canepa’s amazing store in Scotts Valley. Following examining in on a challenge, I headed upstairs to his museum and laid eyes on a incredibly hot rod icon that was unexpected (as Canepa is additional acknowledged for Porsche 959s than 50s sizzling rods): The ’34 Ford So-Cal Coupe!! Chat about a coupe with serious race record.

“Inspired by the Pierson brother’s chopped ‘34 coupe, Jim Gray and Russell Lanthorne constructed this car in 1950. It was at first not as radically chopped as the Pierson motor vehicle and was run by a GMC 6-cylinder engine. Indy car or truck builder Frank Kurtis fabricated the racecar design nose. At the 1951 Bonneville fulfill they ran an amazing 153.061MPH to finish fourth in class versus the Pearson coupe’s class winning 164.233MPH.

Alex Xydias was wanting for a car or truck that he could drag race domestically and also operate on the lakes, but most importantly, use to boost his now renowned So-Cal velocity store in Burbank. He acquired the car or truck in 1951 and with husband or wife Buddy Fox swapped out the 6 for a Mercury 258 cubic inch Flathead V8 with a GMC 4-71 blower fed by 4 Stromberg 48 carbs.

The So-Cal group broke the course C document with a run of 172.749 mph at the 1953 Bonneville satisfy. Again residence and without having the blower, the vehicle ran 121 mph at the Pomona drags and was featured on the go over of Hot Rod magazine as the “Double Threat Coupe”.

For the 1954 meet, the prime of the So-Cal Coupe was even more chopped to “gun slit” proportions. In addition, distinctive Ardun overhead valve heads had been set up resulting in more than 400 horsepower. Regretably, the team endured mechanical difficulties and did not improve their occasions. Tragedy struck the crew when Xydias’ brother-in-legislation was killed in the automobile when the unshielded clutch exploded placing the gasoline tank on hearth. A grieving Xydias retired the ’34 and hardly ever raced once again.”

Bruce acquired it off Don Orosco a variety of many years back, and restored it to perfection. You can browse the overall story of this famous car in this article, and if you are ever all around Santa Cruz, Ca, you should go see it by yourself in individual!