This isn’t part of it, but I’ve been getting some feedback since I tapped out a column for the April 2010 issue of Hemmings Classic Car, which, in part, described my discovery of a Marmon-powered Ford coupe in one of the terrific Don Montgomery hot rod history books. Hemmings Nation citizen Gaylord T. Willett, who coincidentally lives in Montgomery, Texas, wrote in to tell us that he was at El Mirage, in the Mojave Desert, on that late-1940s day that the Marmon-stuffed Ford turned top speed, in the 140s.
Then this shows up. Mecum Auctions run list for its Spring Classic in Indianapolis, May 19-23, includes this outrageous ultra-high-end street rod, a considerably stretched 1934 Ford roadster that accommodates a highly modified 1932 Marmon V-16 linked to a Dodge Viper six-speed manual. At 492 cubic inches, the 1932 Marmon engine’s displacement is only slightly more than stock. The V-16 was modified by McKee Engineering of Lake Zurich, Illinois – in the 1960s, this firm fabricated Can-Am race cars – and is now billed as capable of 410hp at the wheels (a stock Marmon V-16 produced 200hp) and 1,150-lbs.ft. of torque. It has throttle-body fuel injection and dual microproccesor-managed EMD ignition modules. If this beast sets your ticker a-tocking, go to www.mecum.com for the auction particulars.