1929 Ford Roadster 6148 Miles Black Roadster 305 V8 Automatic

This 1929 Ford roadster is a great take on a traditional retro-rod. The simple color combination is straight out of the old school playbook, and the hardware is pure nostalgia. Better yet, it's a steel body, so it's got the feel of a vintage rod without the problems associated with old parts. This really is the best of both worlds. Now that every other guy and his mother have painted their '50s-style rods satin black, it's nice to see one... that isn't trying too hard like this simple gloss black roadster. It's totally traditional, don't worry about that, and if you squint just right, you can see an old black-and-white photo of a car like this in an early edition of Hot Rod magazine. The look is certainly right, with a fenderless Ford roadster body with a cut-down grille shell up front and a minimum of frills on the body itself. Removing the hood helps keep the hot small block cool and it gives the headers somewhere to go, not to mention looking totally butch on the little convertible body. There's not a lot of detail, but looking closely, this rod was clearly not built on a budget or by amateurs because the sheetmetal is ultra-straight, the doors open suicide-style, and the stance is just about perfect. For fun they kept the Model A's filler cap on the cowl, but that's just about the only piece of chrome on the whole body. The minimalist approach was completely abandoned inside, where instead you get a supple two-tone leather bench which looks like the back seat from a luxury car subtly adapted to the roadster body. That analogy is apt, too, because this seat is HEATED, which is ideal for those cool nights coming home from a show. Custom door panels continue the theme and follow the body lines for a very integrated look. The simple dash offers a set of vintage-looking Stewart Warner gauges, while a 3-spoke steering wheel looks like it was cribbed from a track racer, then wrapped in black leather. There's also a Lokar shifter that looks enough like a vintage manual lever to be convincing and an AM/FM/CD stereo system hidden under the seat. There's even a fully removable hardtop that does a fantastic impersonation of a chopped cloth top. The rumble seat is long gone, replaced by a good-sized trunk that's fully carpeted and houses the gas tank filler tucked behind a custom bulkhead. Up front, the original inline-four has been replaced by a built 305 cubic inch Chevy V8 that's ready to rumble. Vastly more powerful than even a built flathead, it gives this sleek roadster fantastic performance without needing to be too radical. Of course, lots of shiny stuff is important when the engine is out in the open, and for horsepower it uses an Edelbrock carb and intake, plus those fantastic long-tube headers and side pipes. A 700R4 4-speed automatic transmission gives it surprisingly long legs on the highway, and the suspension is ultra-traditional, using a dropped I-beam axle up front and a 4-link out back. It achieves just the right stance thanks to a big-n-little tire combination on painted wire wheels with V8 hubcaps, but the tires are perfect for cruising: 195/60/15s up front and 285/60/16s in back. Built by a former George Barris employee and featured on the Speed Channel's "My Car Rules" where it finished in second place, this is one heck of a roadster. Traditional in the ways that matter and awesome in every other way, it's one of the best rods of its type we've ever featured. Call today!