The power of the HAMB is amazing. In 2005 this roadster was purchased from a guy out of UT, the seller told us he purchased the car from someone in GA, and it was an old racer. That was all the history I had until recently when I posted a picture of the car on a diffrent thread. 48Fordnut stated he used to own the car and knew who built it. I am hoping 48Fordnut will share some his pictures of the car. -Tad
This car belongs to a friend of mine. His name is Tony Capodice, and he lives in rural Bloomington, Illinois. The roadster is not a Ford. It is an early Austin. I rode with him in this car to the Hunnertcarpileup in Morris, Illinois, last October. It's a 4 banger 5 speed and a riot to cruise in!
Lots of cool non-Ford rod material around. I think these smaller roadster rods with 4 or 6 cylinders are the affordabe future of hot rodding!
Hate to burst your bubble but that body IS the front half of a 26-27 Touring Car, not an early Austin. The nosepiece is Austin probably from the 40s-50s. Where in the world did you get that idea? OH, somebody who doesn't know anything about old cars told you, didn't they? That tailpiece looks like the top of a luggage trailer but could be automotive.
Although the grille shell is obviously Austin from a Bantam, the body is the front half of a 26/27 Ford touring. Great car, neat history to look into. Cheers, Stewart
the turtle deck is the back of an old buick laid down flat . the car is infact 26/27 touring put on a home made frame with a volvo eng trans and r/e. the ft axle is a 35 ply std with the same brakes. it has tons of ft room, an was a hoot to drive. i put 300 miles on it one day just cruising.Bob Taylor of Perry Ga built the car. I put unilug wheels and some new tires, the chopped w/s, ft brakes ,and some better doors on it and drove the fool out of it. taught me a lesson about cars. you don't need tons of hp. car probably weighed about 1400 lbs max.
the pics with the radials and round head lights were as it left Ga. I just talked with Bobs wife and directed her to the site. she remembered the car and is going to share with Bob at lunch.
Not to be picky but that car sure looked better, and more "old" authentic, with the smaller bullet headlights than those monster frogeyes. The radials really make no difference except in better road manners and handling.
Ahhhhh! Opinions, aren't they great? Ever seen any of Steve Grimes creations? Almost cartoon-like in proportion. The big headlights add to that look. As far as "authentic" goes I'll have to bow to those who have an extensive background in in short wheelbase roadsters with '26-'27 touring bodies and Austin front ends to decide if this one is "authentic" or not. Frank
The yellow rimmed headlights weren't doing very well, the lights were coming apart and it was doing damage to the nose which appears to be made from a model T shell and two Austin nose ***embles. The larger lights I believe are 31-32 Chevrolet , there were attached to the lightbar as a decoration on the wall of the workshop. The lights were mounted on perches welded on the front axle, to be different we made them turn with the front wheels.
Hi fella's, my name is bob taylor. i am the builder of the 27 roadster in question. The car is a ford, frt of a 26-27 touring car,im sure you all know this!, the rear body is a buick sedan rear panel turned backwards,the grille was made from two A-40 austin sedans of 1948 vintage. the hood was a T big truck,and was louvered on my homemade press as were all the louvers thruout the car. the belly pan was made from a split 47 ford hood. the engine is a 60's 540 volvo sedan with steel crank,forged pistons,etc,all stock internals,very stong! at first build,it was equiped with a 371 GMC blower with stomberg 97;s with a v-belt drive and ten lbs of boost. the trans is a 78 volvo wagon that has an electric overdrive (switch and blue light at back of trans) all the mill work on the pedals dash and trans top were done by me. rear end is 411 volvo from the 540. radios rods were handmade,frame was built from rect. tubing from stock. 50 poncho tailights, the franlin rear cover was bought in moultrie ga swap meet and is just adapted to the volvo rear. its been a while so i dont remeber everything, there was a timing tag on the driveshaft cover inside the car that was also bogus,but looked old enough! i cant recall the steering box? but i think it was an old 51 ply? not sure,way to many rods ago! anyway. i can answer any questions you may have. i loved the car,but had to move on. im glad someone has it that likes it and will do something with it. i still have pics with the blower on it and at differant shows, i used to live in moline ill, moved to ga in the late seventy's. hope this helps bt
No problem Jim,glad its in good hands! thanks for the heads up on this, you know obout my duce! it got touted as as being built by some guy in iowa that did NOT know what he had! see ya, bt
Bob, Thanks for the information. Any chance you could share the pictures? Any reason why the hood is missing one louver on the drivers side?
I have been drawn back to this thread several times today just to look at the pictures another time. In my opinion this is a true hot rod because of the ingenuity shown by its original builder and the way it seems to just keep getting better as it moves on to new owners. I came onto the HAMB because of the Roach rod that Sam built, pure simple beauty and function. I have also seen several other cars built like this that I marvel at like Kevin's modified with the trash can grill shell. I would also like to see more pics of this very cool little car.
I will try and get some loaded on the pc, they are just loose pics in my album. ha ha! the missing louvre was because my homemade air over hyd press broke! i probably stamped a couple of hundred of those things without fail,till i needed it for myself! oh well it added character!.. does the OD still work? that was way good,it was an on the throttle type,meaning you could flip the switch under full power. if it doesnt work,take the solenoid apart (thats just epoxy) and clean the barrell,they are very expensive to replace,and most of them just need cleaning. it sure helps the R's at road speed. does it still have the timing tag? bt
Here are some of the newest pictures of the roadster Picture of my daughter with her "uncle" Tony the car's owner.
The tag is still there: The electric overdrive is great, I removed the mounting plate and switches from the transmission and put them on the dash with some vintage pull switches. This car gets the best MPG of any of Tony's cars (modern or old). Did the speedometer ever work? it is currently missing the cable.-Tad
hi 27 i think this is one o f the best pics that i have seen on the hamb,does any body know a big guy by the mel likes coke trucks?
After talking with Tony, the present owner, this morning, I STAND CORRECTED! It IS a 27 Ford T after all. I mistakenly referreed to it as an Austin;...it has an Austin grill shell. Here's the kicker: I've ridden in it! Please forgive my "mistaken iden***y Faux Paux" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bob Taylor is a true inovator. He had the car for a while and couldn't sell it. I traded a hull of a 57 silver hawk for it, and wish I had the roadster back. It was sold ,because I was going thru cancer treatments, and could not get out in it. I am a survivor, and am now building a 31 roadster. Hope I have as much fun with this one as I had with thatvolvo machine.
that austin nose looks a cool as hell never would have realised if it wernt for the badge then i realised what it was, would look cool as hell on the front of a 40's style streamliner
Nice looking little ride. Over here the Volvo fourbanger is not accepted as a hotrod engine. The only way for a hotrod is a V8, according to most of people. Thou i like it, riding a B18 in my roadster.
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