It's sort of a pet history project. The car in question, a 1934 Ford Tudor sedan, showed up in a local club's garage back in the 1970s and I knew it had to have some history behind it. Quite a few years later I started digging. Eventually, I figured I had enough info to tell a story so I put together an article for the MSRA's "Linechaser" monthly, tracing the history of an old race car dubbed the "Bandit". This is the story. We're living a genuine resurgence in hot rod history. Barn-finds and vehicles in "as-found" condition are widely accepted. High-profile cars have been discovered and restored to their previous glory; survivors have been rescued and preserved. Intensely researched, accurate recreations have sold for huge money at collector car auctions. And folks who might own an older hotrod or custom are taking time to research its past and avoid making changes that could destroy its originality and character. History is now cool. Such is the case with this 1934 Ford sedan known as "The Bandit". I've followed its story ever since I first saw it. It's been the subject of at least a couple of discussions on social media. But let's go back to the beginning, at least as far as I know it. According to a feature article published in the January 1965 Rod & Custom magazine (with photos by one "Gerald Johnson" who later became one of the Minnesota Street Rod ***ociation's founding fathers) it was built by Bill Kinn of Hopkins, Minnesota. Fenderless, channeled and powered by an injected Buick V-8, it was a B/Altered drag car that ran low 12-second quarter miles. As the article relates, Bill did well on the show circuit too. Fast-forward a few years and the Bandit is on the street. Circa 1967-68, it shows up in photos taken at early Minnesota Street Rod ***ociation outings. I've been told that it was owned then by Amblers Twin Cities car club member Steve Kastl, who made changes to the car to get it streetable including repowering it with a Pontiac six. Under his ownership, the Bandit was part of a group of around 50 Twin Cities area rods that made the trip to the 1969 Midwest Rod Run in Madison WI. It showed up in R&C magazine's coverage of the run in the October 1969 issue. (Many folks maintain the Midwest Rod Run planted the seed for a national rod gathering, leading directly to the first Street Rod Nationals the following year.) Another fast-forward, this time to around 1973. That's when I first saw it, perched on blocks in the Venturas car club's rented garage in Appleton, Minnesota. By this time it had a cross ram equipped small block Chevy engine and was being worked on by Venturas member Jim Hopper for further street duty. Now you're asking: How did the "Bandit" get from the Twin Cities to a small town in western Minnesota? More to come, stay tuned.
Well now, if that don’t beat all. Interesting article to boot. As for how it got to Minnesota,All HAMB detectives please pick up the white courtesy phone.
Enter Montevideo MN based car painter and bodyman Lanny Ostenson. I think he's a member here but hasn't been too active. Lanny has built, bought and sold a number of high-profile cars over the years and is personally responsible for getting hot rods into the garages of quite a few western Minnesota gearheads. Lanny told me he bought The Bandit, then with V-8 Chevy power, from someone in the Twin Cities area. He doesn't think it was Steve Kastl. He trailered it home in the dead of winter, later finding the small block had been filled with plain water coolant that froze enough to crack the block. He did get it back on the street. That's when it went to Jim Hopper, whose intentions were to make further changes to the car for street use. He never finished the project. It wound up in the hands of Tim Bergeland. That's when things started moving again for The Bandit, although some would say moving in the wrong direction given today's reverence for historical hot rods. But remember, in this time frame - the 1980's - today's interest in hot rod history and provenance didn't really exist. So, Tim Bergeland built the car he wanted. The Bandit was his raw material, likely not much different than if he had pulled a 1934 Ford carc*** out of a grove or shed somewhere. Duane "Tinker" Powell of Appleton, Minnesota has built and owned many cool cars over the years. His bodywork and painting skills, and general building savvy led Tim Bergeland to Tinker's shop doors. Tinker was tasked with raising the channeled body back to stock height atop the frame and filling the roof panel. That done, Tim had Tinker lower the profile with a top chop. In its finished form Tim's sedan sported a full set of fenders and running boards. The paint on the car, laid down by Tinker, was black. View attachment 6652498 But as has often been said, "life happens". In view of his upcoming marriage, Tim Bergeland decided to trade his newly built chopped '34 for a more practical late model and some extra cash. The new owner had it for about a year and it then went to Minnesota-based cl***ic car consignment dealer Hooked On Cl***ics. Tim would really love to know its present whereabouts. He'd love to have it back in his garage too, and who could blame him? He's really serious about tracking the car down - he's made several inquiries and all he's found is that it was sold to someone outside of Minnesota. That's where the trail goes cold. And even if the car isn't for sale, he'd still like to know where it wound up. For now, all we know is that someone, somewhere, owns a chopped 1934 Ford Tudor sedan that carries a healthy dose of Minnesota hotrod history. And no matter what color is now wrapping the car's venerable shell, beneath it beats the heart of a genuine, notorious bad-*** "Bandit"!
It was originally built as a race car in Hopkins Minnesota in the early 60s and it stayed in the neighborhood. What we're hoping to do now is to find out where it went once it left Minnesota! One of the guys who knew the builder told me they built it from a complete sedan, and they actually threw away the fenders and running boards, hood etc.! After all, it was just an old car!!
I remember that car when I was a kid, Absolutely Loved it . I recall showing pictures to my friends, telling them;" THAT is what I want !" I also remember being told: "That axle will fold like a pretzel" What a Great car.4 bar front end in '65. Thanks for the reminder...
Good luck, the chopped top translated well to street rod, that is a sharp car that should still be around… somewhere.
Yeah, that axle was (is??) something else. Tim was a little concerned about the strength of the axle too so he didn't use it, used a conventional dropped I-beam instead. Although the first version being a drag car, who knows? That axle might have survived a wheelstand or two! Kind of a cool sidenote - a few years after Tim built the car I was browsing a swap meet in the Twin Cities and one of the vendors had the Bandit's old axle for sale! I told myself later I should've bought it as a souvenir. Guessing it might be still around, maybe hanging on somebody's garage wall. Whoever has it now probably has no idea where it came from. That's what we're sort of hoping. but even if the car is not located I think the story and history is still cool. Stories like that make it even more notable when an actual survivor does show up. And if the present car does happen to be found, even if it's not for sale I'm thinking the current owner would like to know the history behind it. Thanks for the comments guys!
Wow. East Brainerd, Mn mall was a big deal when I was but a wee lad. My home town with a nice shot of BNSF shops in background. Some buildings gone now. Any idea what year that pic is from? If it raced at what is now BIR, in those days it was known as Donneybrook Speedway.
Yeah, that car puts a smile on my face too! Wise observation! The photo I had was lifted (with permission) from one of those previous social media discussions. If you don't mind I'd like to add that to my collection as yours is a much better copy. Although I'm not entirely sure, I believe the photo may have been taken by Jerry Johnson during one of the MSRA's first group outings. Thanks for posting! The information I have says that the photos at Brainerd were taken when Steve Kastl had it, either 1967 or 1968. Accounts vary but lean toward 1968. It was taken - possibly by Jerry Johnson - at one of the first group outings by the MSRA on a run to the Brainerd lakes area. As far as I know, the Bandit never ran at Donnybrooke/BIR. Its drag strip career was earlier than that, early 1960s, mainly at Twin Cities Dragway which no longer exists. One of the folks I talked to while gathering history, Mike Kittelson, told me he was on the scene at the Bandit's last dragstrip run. He was watching as his brother Paul (nicknamed "Wogg") pushed the Bandit up to the line. When Bill launched something blew, parts flew all over the track and that was the last time Bill drove the car. That's just one of the stories I've heard. There are more yet to come, I'm sure. Sorry, I don't but I'm going to take an un-educated guess. Quite a few of those cars changed hands between Amblers club members so my thought is it's still around, possibly in the Twin Cities area? Now you've got my curiosity ignited! Might be another good project to dig into. I'll ask around. Thanks again everyone for the comments. Kind of a fun rabbit-hole we're into, eh?
Did a little digging. Seems Brainerd mall was built in 1968, so photo would have to been after that. Some of those kids in the picture are my brothers age, but he didnt recognize anyone.
Cool Story. Always fun to see cars and history from my hometown. Grew up just down the road in Aitkin, but my Wife was born and raised in Brainerd.
I love the timeframe posted above. I'm thinking that this 3 window is the same car in the SuperValu pic (arrow) part of the great photo archive Gene Sonnen posted at When Street Was Neat.
I was there at the MSRA cruise to Donnybrook in 1968. I drove my '55 Dodge hemi powered "T" bucket and don't remember much. One thing I do remember is a grudge match at the dragstrip between (I think) that full-fendered '33-'34 coupe in the picture above and (maybe) "Wedge" Benson's chopped 40 Chevrolet sedan. IIIRC, the Ford had a built to the hilt Pontiac engine. Anyone else have any insight to this? Like they say, "If you remember the sixties, you weren't there".
I gotta love it, the look is very interesting it reminds me of the cars racing heads up now days. Just the parts you need and nothing else.
I'm surprised too. Those guys know everything! Very possible. I think several of the cars pictured were owned by Amblers club members and I'm betting there was some parts-trading and swapping done as the cars were built and re-built. I think you're right. I have a theory about what might have happened to that car but I need to do some research. Another rabbit hole.... !! Here's another photo I have that was taken during an early Amblers club run; it was posted online, original photographer unknown but I think it also came from Gene Sonnen's collection. That same 3w is third in the lineup, behind the '34 5w that @tubman mentioned. The Bandit is at the end of the line. Guessing the photo was taken circa 1968-69? I have a few other saved pics that I think were taken during that run. There are several "T" buckets pictured so I double checked to see if one might be yours. But I didn't see any hemi powerplants. And thanks for confirming the year as there's been some discussion about that. Yeah, that's something that was mentioned in post #4 in this thread. I was told that the fenders, hood, running boards etc. were actually thrown away when the Bandit was originally built. No need for any of that stuff when you're building a race car, right! Again, thanks guys for the comments.
The Jalopy Journal
