1932 Ford Carrera Panamericana Roadster

In the legacy of Doane Spencer, Max Balchowsky, Ak Miller and others — this is what I think a bunch of USAC and SoCal racecar fabricators could have assembled with a 1932 Ford Roadster for the 1956 Carrera Panamericana “Mexico” road race of lore. Kurtis K500 Indycar torsen bar suspension integrated into the ’32 frame, Halibrand Indy mag wheels, Firestone Speedway tires, Halibrand quick chance differential, GMC 302ci inline-6 with a Wayne 12-port cylinder head and a POTVIN supercharger running off the crankshaft itself. Wheelbase is factory 106 inch but given the long engine / supercharger setup, the cockpit needed to be moved back which benefits the weight distribution as many of the road race specials of the time period.

note: The unique thing about the GMC engine is that it was extremely popular in the early days of drag racing, raced in the 1955 Indianapolis 500 race and is still popular for use at the Bonneville Salt Flats today. (a friend has run a Wayne 12-port in their streamliner at over 300+mph normally aspirated)

Why the concept? The ’32 Ford roadster is cool — but they all look the same and the influence is the traditional ala hiboy, lowboy, full-fendered or drag race inspired. If someone built this today, it would be different than everything else at an NSRA or Goodguys street rod event and that would be a good thing…

Red is the original version. Orange is without all the lipstick applied.