1951 Ford Coupe - Jay Leno's Garage

why would another episode of Jay Leno's Garage the car featuring today 1951 Ford hardly stock as you can tell this is the one of the cleverest builds I've seen in a long time then when I was a kid there was a movie starring Robert Mitchum called Thunder Road where he was outrunning Lee he was a moonshiner he's outrunning the cops I think at North Carolina and at 51 Ford all hopped up with a flathead and probably made around 200 horsepower but it was it was a great movie and I just love seeing that I think was a 51 4 it might have been 52 but I remember him turn around they would speed up the films that look like it's going fast and this brings back those memories to me as you can see it's been heavily modified the extent of which we will find out right now let's meet Craig wick Craig you're the fabricator here the Builder your fabrication that's your company yes and what's the website it's wicked babcom wicked dot-com okay okay it's a 51 Ford what happened you want to commit with a flat tire what happened you just stunned him yes something like that yeah I mean what was the thinking here what was this was this the owners dream car what was the deal this is one that he'd been dreaming about since the 50s so the whole idea was he brought us a 51 Ford and a drawing of a race inspired modified car rights okay was that like a moonshine running car was it was it something of mine in NASCAR or a drag strip what was definitely the the thought process was if if Ford would have built something to race the Ferraris in Europe and stuff this this was the car okay so it's all forward running gear and everything man yep okay elmo's means the common tumor so I will never watch your show again since you like I put a Chevy engine afford or four people got all the crime though so you kept it all the lineage yes okay now I'm trying to think of what's been done to the body you know it's funny it looks being lower it looks longer so it reminds me of one of those mid-60s Jack like the mark twos I think they were but obviously it's not has the roof been chopped the roof has not been job yeah we did pancake the roof we took an inch and a half a crown out of the roof okay and we took five inches out of the front and two and a half out of the back okay in the section okay radius the wheel wells yeah we built a you know handmade aluminum hood that's much pancaked from stock and now when you say pancake explain what you mean you're basically flattening it okay so it took the crown out of the top it we used to come straighter up guys yeah and I love the rear scoop you have here is that functional is that just for is its it's just aesthetics okay is there a brake light switch in that nope oh not much about that okay now these normally would have rolled out but you went this way yeah so we made the you we flushed out all the side glass and made it just where it actually has lexan windows so kind of keeping with that racecar theme I see so these drop down not unwind right okay since either up or down up or down well you can actually stop them in the middle if you'd like but yeah just amazing okay now the wheels are weather wheel they're a novi IndyCar copy okay they're true magnesium wheel okay oh really okay very nice I love the big Goodyear has they got traffic haters is that what these it does yeah exactly or did you put the traffic fingers in there or what there yeah we put them in there okay okay now why thats not something American cars would have had in the period nope but trying to kind of be on the European theme oh I see okay sure you look at it all day I mean the door handles I love how and and quite effective quite simple yeah not awkward you know I've got my coming in the precedent thing opens in an act your fingers your figure was this is actually very neat and simple I like the way that works just boom open like that and it's a GT 51 there now why GT 50 fifty-one of because of 51 and kind of I think Bruce pulled that out of a couple different things that he was he's a big Porsche guy right so the they had their GT stuff and then you also have the gt40 yeah it's hard to look at this car and go hey like I must be big Porsche guy about as far from Porsche what's his name Bruce Bruce Levin Bruce Levin okay Bruce couldn't be here today he's not feeling well but this is his car and he must have been thrilled when you finished with it well and more make any more ways than one yeah yeah okay so let's let's move around to the front we still haven't opened the hood we'll do that in a second bumpers are gone and of course in the European theme here and I love the stone guard over the over the fog lights can we open the hood up you bet so there's no inner catch though it's all strictly it's strictly your your belt Wow look at that I didn't know better I'd say that was a 368 cubic inch Lincoln is that correct that's correct okay what year mid fifties yeah 1956 okay so you're really keeping with the theme here and what do we have that that Hilborn Hilborn fuel injection Wow well that dates about from that time done this yeah there was actually a car built in the 50s that had a 368 Lincoln Hilborn injected in it that ran it Talladega Speedway Wow and what kind of horsepower you make it 370 okay now that's see that's real honest horsepower so many people have with cars I'm gonna get about a thousand making 800 then I Drive the car Nicole this is not 800 this is not 370 is huge horsepower and something this light and this is probably pretty light as this we have not weighed the car but it can't weigh more than probably 3,200 pounds yeah that's what I would think I mean there's no steel door guards right kind of stuff all right it's very good now what have you done to the engine I imagine the cam Pistons the whole deal yeah it's got korilla rods in it and it does it has a stock crank in it but you know cam shaft and head work and all that I mean look how high those valve covers are that valve train sits pretty tall then it is a really tall engine yeah it really is it really is but it's so nice to see something different you know everybody has the LS seven which is a wonderful motor yeah but it's just fun to see guys use something more unusual Cadillac Lincoln you know very nice and I love the what do we have yeah what a temperature and oil pressure a little tricky to read that while you're going down the road what's the advantage to having it under the hood just it kind of goes with the old race car theme yeah they would have a gauge under the hood you've got your but you also have a gauge and yeah okay okay so if you're tuning the engine or whatever yeah is that a mag in there it looks like a mag okay yeah so it's a point ignition with a mag cover it actually has a like a MSD pickup in it okay and it just triggers it fires the computer and and this is brass the tank isn't it yeah that's a like of a Ford Fe did you guys make that or where they brass back in the day well that is from like a 390 Ford okay and were they brass yeah they're best yep oh that's pretty cool I like these vents here to get the air out of the engine compartment yeah boy pure on this is a car's clutch brake yeah boy look how clean and you carry spare plugs on the side yep yeah that's cool well European they used to do that that's right exactly carry spare plugs and back in the day they didn't always fire right and that's a power steering unit yep it's got power steering air conditioning oh oh you're gonna creature comforts very nice is that the vintage air unit you have yes oh yeah they're the best we use them on everything okay let's close it up I like the color very understated let's move around to the back I love the Lincoln and gold down there and you have your side exhaust coming out here and this plate is really sexy I like that that's very cool and of course what has to be the sexiest piece I think is your filler caps it's got twin tanks just twin fills so you can fill it from either side of the car okay we modified it or you fill there and that one's a vent oh I see okay Wow pretty cool now the trunk obviously the same sort of latch anything to see in there let's take a look at some cool stuff oh look at that long john silver's treasure chest yes God look all the posh aluminum beautiful not your battery Bob that's the battery box okay in this tool kit over here won't come over here you got a jack there is no jack and the and the ham are supposed to be in there but the Hammers in the trailer I think yeah yeah Wow I just like how everything is drill there we go those are the stock taillights yeah there's stock 4950 right yes that's right we're trying to save them a few bucks I like when I can see the some of the original features on the car these are stock hinges as well 49 hinge a good stock window glass in the back right yep yeah and I really like that scoop that works well it's amazing how low it is because normally this car would have been up to about here on me yeah pretty yeah for sure 251 this is it it breaks or what it's got Wilwood brakes on okay what that terrific I don't think they we use them on everything they were a really well we adapt them to I just put them on my58 Imperial which is a really tricky modification and now I got a car that actually stops yeah because it had those big drums and you could retard progress swiftly but you can't stop right now you can stop obviously full wheel gets all the way around yep so it has a quick change independent rear end it's a three nine one okay and then we did it ended up like a 336 final drive okay very cool and a five-speed Tremec is that one yep the interior is really where everything really starts to shine now what has to be the coolest thing is that gear shift lever you know the Spiker was built in Europe on an Audi platform and they had a similar shifter we could see all the rods which I Rose thought was really cool yeah and it looks really neat in here where'd you get the inspiration for this thing oh it was looking at like can-am cars and stuff like that they have the just a lever and right I love the wood steering wheel I like the seats the seats are really interesting so they're aluminum bucket with leather inserts they look comfortable they don't like those awful Sun of racing seats and people put in what should just kill you right it looks really comfortable I like that sort of burlap look on the floor what is that material it's they call it square weave carpet okay Pagani does this kind of thing really well with a lot of bright work inside okay and it's just nicely done it's not overdone and but my absolute favorite thing has to be the speedometer and the tachometer the chronometric so you can enjoy it stops at each digit which is kind of cool right I mean I think that's really neat and the wood steering wheel really exciting you got a fire suppression system got air conditioning doesn't run on pump gas it does yeah so let's pump some gas and take it for a ride I see you lay another radio he's good here and anyone that wouldn't matter with it when he seems are very comfortable they're pretty good really nice they're a little bit tall for me but yeah many miles on the car I like the suede headliner it's leather leather like the subtle blue gray on the inside the president was the same color in the car and then I realized so we've got blue blue gray on the inside a great blue on the outside hey guys fill cars and forget the hook of the horn the cards we do yeah yeah I gotta get the video so excited to drive the car wanna bring it over yeah I know all about that I love this Aaron will [Music] - I love men 70 like licking a chicken leg brightwork Mason yeah first with oddly but like the turned out well [Music] 195 why these things a lot of fun to drive you know it's such a pleasant place to be everything is nicely polished it's all stainless has not calm so not garish it just has a rich luster to it it's really nicely not nice and color-coordinated here got ten employees actually have to mark they are all marked sell a real car guy that Oh mark I'm supposed to know two weeks later really yeah yeah yeah come on let's drive someone this thing is cool all right good it's great fun to drive how many miles on the car oh what fun this thing is to drive you know it's such a pretty dashboard you just enjoyed looking at it with chronometric gauges phenomena doesn't work TAC is working out and everything is just nicely done you know I thought what it looks so good I realized it just polished stainless it's not chrome Chrome sometimes looks a little blingy and garish which is that nice deep resonance to it it's really a beautiful beautiful job and it's fun to drive you know it's just the 51 Ford was a conic cars really the cars that saved forward after the war because there's so good-looking and you know even heavily modified like this you still see the bones of it I love the fact that it's got the 56 Lincoln engine you know it's all sort of period-correct with some modern things in it and the cars the build quality is just unbelievable and Bruce thank you so much I'm sorry you couldn't be here to join us Bruce's he's battling those health issues that we all go through and but this this will make your day this thing is pretty good man I hope someday I can take a ride with you in it so Bruce thank you very much Craig thank you thank you thanks the guys and check out that website thank you you [Music]

Channel: Jay Leno's Garage

Views: 698,617

Rating: 4.9315104 out of 5

Keywords: jlg, 1951 Ford Coupe, Jay Leno, Jay Leno's Garage, car reviews, compares cars, classic cars, vintage cars, sports cars, super cars, cars, car gear, McLaren P1, Porsche 918 Spyder, Camaro Z28, jay leno garage, jay lenos garage, car collection, cnbc, episode, motorcycle, ford, corvette, tour, dodge, lexus

Id: XISoGSeNZtg

Length: 18min 14sec (1094 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 01 2017