HOT ROD has long talked about how cool it would be to build a NASCAR-style car for the street. We were hoping to help jump-start a trend, but few people have taken the bait. Rick Stanton, however, did it perfectly. There are street cars with the paint, wheels, and stripped interior to evoke the raw power of '60s NASCAR race cars, and then there's Rick's Torino Talladega. This is as close to a NASCAR-spec car as the state of California will allow someone to slap a tag on. And you better believe that Rick drives it on the streets of Orange County when he's in the mood. But this isn't a big-paycheck car that was put together in a year or so; it's a product of utter persistence for the past couple of decades and adherence to a dream of youth. Rick had lusted after a Talladega ever since the first time he saw one running in NASCAR's big league, but once he actually sat in one at a local dealer and looked out over the extended and drop-nosed hood, he was fully hooked. He swore one day he'd have one of his own, but the Talladega that Rick wanted, Ford never built.

Back in 1969 Ford and Dodge were the front runners in NASCAR competition. Ford's new Torino fastback that debuted in 1968 was an effective design, but Dodge's Hemi-powered Chargers still had it outgunned. Since NASCAR had banned Ford from using the 427ci SOHC motor, Ford regrouped and decided to come to the track in 1969 with a new engine and a new body. The slippery Torino fastback worked well, but wind-tunnel testing showed that the nose was producing excessive drag. To combat this, Ford extended the Torino's front fenders by about 5 inches and drooped them. The grille was flush-mounted, and the front bumper was swapped for a rear one that was cut and reshaped to fit closely to the body. To skirt NASCAR's minimum-height rule, Ford rolled the rocker panels an inch higher so the Torino could be lowered another inch. The resulting car was named after the newly opened Superspeedway in Alabama, and the Torino Talladega was born.

In those days Stock Car racing revolved around production vehicles, so to homologate the Talladega for NASCAR racing, Ford had to produce at least 500 cars for the public before it was allowed to compete. Unfortunately, since homologation rules were separate for the car and the engine, John Q. Public would never get his hands on a factory Boss-powered Talladega. Production cars had a 428 CJ and most were automatics, while the wicked Boss 429 went into a few Mustangs to compete with ZL1 Camaros.

Through the years Rick gathered parts for the project knowing all along that the only correct engine to put in the car was the Boss '9. Eventually he stumbled upon just the right car in a Southern California junkyard. It was little more than a body sans engine, trans, rearend, and wheels, and there wasn't a straight piece of sheetmetal to be found, but it was all there and rust-free. The pace of the project was slow but steady, as Rick continued to track down the parts he needed. If he'd simply wanted a Talladega with a Street-spec Boss engine, that wouldn't have been so challenging, but Rick's plans had morphed into the desire to re-create one of a handful of Talladegas that did get Boss engines–the actual NASCAR contenders.

Left to his own devices, who knows how long Rick might have lingered on the project, but a spark was lit in January 2004 when he learned there was going to be an Aero Warrior Car reunion at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. In conjunction with the four-day event, on Sunday the Aero Warrior Club would be invited onto the track for a parade lap prior to the start of the big race. Of course Rick's Talladega was nowhere close to completion, and the possibility of the car coming together enough to make the event seemed slim. However, with the chance of a lifetime staring him in the face, Rick and his wife Sherrie made the decision to clear their social calendars and work tirelessly for the next seven months to see if they could make it happen.

With just five days before they had to leave to make the reunion, with the Talladega in rough primer, Rick started the massively stroked Boss engine for the first time. A noise arose from the bottom end, and Rick and Sherrie's hearts sank. Thankfully, the clatter was found to be a connecting rod barely hitting the windage tray in the dry-sump oil pan. With the help of his friends Dave Arter, Gene Crowell, Brian Bruning, and Jim and Brian Tapscott, the engine was yanked, repaired, and dropped back in just in time to leave two days late for Talladega. The tale has a happy ending, though: Rick did get to the reunion in time to lap the Talladega around its namesake track.

The flames didn't cool afterward. Rick and Sherrie stayed diligent, and in August of this year they took the completed Talladega as it's seen here to another four-day Aero Warrior Car reunion in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Rick got to tread more historic asphalt in a parade lap before the ARCA Race on the famous Milwaukee Mile.

All this just leaves us pondering one thing. We have vintage Trans-Am racing–wouldn't a little vintage NASCAR be double-bitchin'?

Quick Inspection:
'69 Ford Torino Talladega
Rick Stanton
Fullerton, CA

POWERTRAIN
Engine: A Ford A460 block received an offset-ground, forged 494 Can-Am crank and 4340 Eagle H-beam rods to yield a 4.600×4.500-inch bore and stroke and 598 ci. Ross flat-top pistons yield 11.0:1 compression with unported Ford C9AE-C heads with 2.40 intake and 1.90 exhaust valves. An Isky solid roller cam is spec'd at 0.672 lift with a 262 intake and 268 exhaust duration at 0.050. The Dominator flows 1,250 cfm through a NASCAR torque box intake.

Power: Though the intake limits its rpm potential, the big Boss still makes 742 hp at 5,800 rpm and 752 lb-ft of torque at 4,600 rpm.

Transmission: NASCAR-spec Talladegas used four-speed Top Loaders, so Rick has one complete with a Lakewood scattershield and a McLeod clutch.

Rearend: A NASCAR 9-inch with full-floating 31-spline axles uses a Ford nodular case stuffed with a Detroit Locker and 3.31 gears.

CHASSIS
Suspension: The front suspension uses stock mounting points with the addition of Afco coilovers and Global West lower control arms. The rear is just as basic with custom seven-leaf springs and Afco shocks.

Brakes: Wilwood 13-inch front and 12-inch rear rotors use four-piston calipers. The brakes also have fluid recirculators.

Wheels: Aero Race Wheels 59-series NASCAR wheels measure 15 x 9.5 all the way around with 5 inches of backspacing.

Tires: Goodyear 28×10x15 Eagles battle for traction, even when they're hot.

STYLE
Body: The Talladega may have been rust-free but it certainly wasn't cherry, since there wasn't a straight piece of sheetmetal on the car. Damage required the driver door, passenger-side doorjamb, and both quarter-panels to be replaced. Jim and Brian Tapscott of Garden Grove, California, handled the metalwork.

Paint: The car was bathed in PPG Royal Maroon (an original Talladega color) by Pro One in Santa Ana, California.

Interior: The stock dash retains the original Torino gauges with the only addition being a 5-inch Auto Meter Sport Comp tach. Other gauges mounted below the dash are vintage '60s Stewart Warner units. An RCI five-point harness holds Rick in a Kirkey race seat. The rollcage is chrome-moly.

Photo Gallery: 1969 Ford Torino Talladega - Featured Vehicle - Hot Rod Magazine

It sounds angry. Really angry. And man, it's hauling ass on thosewooden-spoke wheels on a winding road through the beautiful Finnishcountryside. By the time you catch up to it at a diner down the road,it's chugging, sputtering, and sounding like a standard 200.5ci L-headfour-cylinder engine. What's going on here?

You've just encountered the most clandestine prewar sleeper we've evercome across. What appears to be a nuts-and-bolts restoration of a ModelA sedan is actually a very precisely tuned and stealthily constructedhot rod.

Kari Maekelae and his team of metal craftsmen at Maekelae Auto Tuning(MAT, www.mat.fi), which specializes in building and restoring vintagesports cars and race cars, is the mastermind behind this surreptitiousbuild. The owner of the A, a widely renowned rally driver who wishes toremain anonymous, found it and a '24 Model T while racing in the WorldRally Championship in Argentina in 1993. The cars were mostly complete,and the word is that he didn't pay much more than the price of shippingto get them back to his native Finland. The T received a full resto backto stock standards, and the A was slated for the same until the intrepidrally racer happened to mention to Kari that he'd like a bit more powerunderhood, but without going the typical hot rod or street rod route–hewanted to maintain a vintage look to the car. After a few moments ofbench racing with Kari about what could be done, he mentioned that hisfavorite engine from his decades of racing was the high-strung Group 4Ford Escort BDA built by Cosworth. That sparked an idea, and Kariimmediately started envisioning what the car should be. After airing afew ideas, he persuaded the owner to give him full license to build theA as he saw fit.

The goal was to keep the body, interior, and feel of the A stock whilemaking it perform like a sports car, all the while using as many factoryparts–or at least factory-appearing parts–as possible. That's a tallorder considering the canvas. While he may have relished the idea ofrevolutionizing the art of automobile production, ol' Henry wasn't bigon technology for the car itself. Simplicity and low cost were the keysto the success of both the T's and A's. That meant using the stock Aframe and buggy spring suspension for this build created a multitude ofchallenges.

The key to any good performing car is the platform, so the first orderof business was to strip the A down to its basic elements and develop aplan for the chassis. Of course boxing the rails was on the list, but tomake the frame exceptionally rigid, Kari designed crossbracing andbrackets that would not only stiffen everything up but also blend rightinto the chassis and give a factory-built impression. The stock frontsuspension was strengthened and given a Panhard rod, but the rear had tobe completely rethought. No banjo rearend could survive the wrath of arace-bred Cosworth, so a Toyota 4×4 van rearend (which was actually usedin Toyota rally cars) was selected for its width and durability, and aparallel four-link with a Panhard rod was designed to locate it.Coilovers would have been the easy choice but not the right one for thiscar. Kari's team fabricated mounts to use a stock-style buggy springmodified for a progressive rate and swapped in friction shocks from anAston Martin DP4. Who would have thought? The list of illusory mods islengthy, but to really appreciate the level of detail and time spent onevery aspect to keep the identity of the A correct requires hourscrawling all over it.

Now the answer to the question on everyone's mind: What does anear-stock-height Model A with a race-prepped original chassis and adrivetrain that'll propel it 0-60 in a tick over five seconds feel likeon the open road? Stupid fun–and we don't use that term lightly. A goodsleeper puts a wicked grin on your face, and there's no bigger sleeperthan this. The absolute contradiction of sitting in the gentlemanlyinterior grasping the four-spoke steering wheel and stock-length shifterand hearing the high-strung wail from the Cosworth is delicious.

If given the chance to enjoy the A for a weekend or so, we'd go for theultimate covert action and dress in our Sunday best as if the onlyintention was a leisurely drive to an antique car show–with theMAT-designed ignition misfire circuit activated so it chuggedlaboriously along like a stock Model A. Of course we'd only pull theSimpson race harness over our shoulders at the stoplight once the guy inthe BMW in the next lane had thoroughly dismissed us as nothing morethan an antiquated and sluggish museum piece. Then, with a flip of themisfire switch and a tip of the hat, it'd be time to lower his smugnessa few points. You with us? Bonus points for doing it with vintagedriving gloves and a newsboy hat.

Quick Inspection: '29 Ford Model A sedan

Maekelae Auto Tuning (MAT) * Kannus, Finland

POWERTRAIN

Engine: The little beastie in banger guise is an '81 122ci aluminum Cosworth BDA originally designed for European Group 4 rally and touring car racing. Nearly everything in the engine is original Cosworth-spec including the billet steel crank, forged rods and pistons, and solid-tappet Cosworth L1 cams. The twin-cam 16-valve head received a thorough porting and polishing from MAT and was fitted with stainless steel 1.4- and 1.2-inch intake and exhaust valves respectively. Power: The naturally aspirated Cossie revs to 8,400 rpm to make 250 hp and sees 200 lb-ft of torque at 7,200 rpm.Transmission: At the end of that long shifter is a ZF quick-ratio five-speed transmission sourced from a Group 4 Escort rally car. Rearend: An '85 Toyota Celica rally car gave up its rearend, but a limited-slip diff and stronger axles were swapped in.

CHASSIS

Suspension: It's still original-style buggy springs front and rear, but they've been lowered a little over 2 inches all around and feature adjustable bumpstops between the leaves to create a progressive rate. Shocks are Girling friction shocks from an Aston Martin DP4. MAT designed and built the front and rear Panhard bars as well as the 0.79-inch adjustable sway bar. The front radius rods are the originals but are strengthened considerably by MAT, while the rearend is held in place by a custom parallel four-link by MAT.

Brakes: Toyota manual drum brakes take up all four corners with two 21mm Girling master cylinders providing the push. Pedals are from a Tilton box assembly. A hydraulic hand brake was fabbed up to allow some hand-brake-turn fun.

Wheels: The 19-inch cast-aluminum wheels were made in-house by MAT.

Tires: Dunlop Racing 500-19s take up all four corners and stick better than you'd expect.

STYLE

Body: Though the chassis is full of tricks, the body was restored to stock form with panels from Snyder's Antique Auto Parts (www.snydersantiqueauto.com) and some handformed pieces by MAT.

Paint: The paint is a custom-mixed two-tone acrylic from PPG swirled with an eye toward a classy stock look.

Interior: The interior is almost 100 percent restored original parts with material supplied by LeBaron Bonney (www.lebaronbonney.com). The steering wheel is a custom piece by Moto-Lita, and the Simpson four-point belts can be easily hidden under the rear seat pillows. HRM

Photo Gallery: Modernized Ford 1929 Model A Touring Car - Hot Rod Magazine