1923 Ford Original Nostalgia Drag Car 1950s Barn Find TROG Rat Rod Heaven!

1923 Ford Model T

1923 Ford Model T Drag Racer:

Ever since the invention of the motor car drivers have been obsessed with speed. But how did this lust for the ultimate fast ride evolve into one of the most popular sports in America? Drag racing was born in the dry lake beds in the California deserts. In the 1930s as engines got better and drivers got braver, speeds began topping 100mph.

But it wasn't until after World War II that a bunch of kids with cars, hanging out with nowhere in particular to go, turned into something more serious. Popularity grew steadily but drag racing still remained largely an underground pastime. Races frequently took place on disused military runways with the first organized event dating back to 1949 at the Goleta Air Base in California.

Things were simple and low-tech in those days. Cars were driven to the track or towed in makeshift trailers. Drivers raced over a quarter of a mile, the length of a city block, but without the aid of safety barriers or regulated track conditions. The spectators in particular got a raw deal with no proper grandstands or seating. As the decade turned drag racing began to get organized. The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) was founded in 1951 by Wally Parks, and within the decade two classes of competition had developed Unmodified Stock' and Top Eliminator' And so it all began.

You are viewing an authentic example of early drag racing history, when young men full of "vim and vigor" expressed their mechanical prowess by modifying early cars to fill the need for speed! This 1923 Ford Model T was built sometime in the late mid 1950s;

This car was retired and put in a barn out in Oak Harbor, Washington (yes, another barn find) around 1960. It stayed there until an old timer, hot-rodder, found it around 1968. From the barn the car was moved to his garage near Seattle. He intended to get it running and drive it someday. However as we all know how things can go, life happened and someday turned into 48 years, one day at a time. The car was still on stands when we first saw it.

Finding a real drag car from the 1950s isn't an everyday happening so we brought it home. We tried to find out some history on the car, but unfortunately it seems that everyone that might have been able to shed some light on it, has passed on to the big drag strip in the sky. (there is on isn't there?)

The car had a Red Ram 241 Hemi engine at one time, and the motor mounts for it are still in place. It has what appears to be a 39 Ford gear box, (shifts good) a 40 Ford rear axle and hydraulic brakes, 40 Ford front brakes, Ford tractor gas tank in the back and nitro tank in the front. It was made long before Dean Moon began to make them. Yes, there is a hand pump for the nitro tank (via WWII Bomber) still attached to the dash.

The engine in the car is a 24 stud, 59-AB Flathead, and it is perfect for the TROG. We started it briefly and it ran smooth and had good oil pressure. It comes with 4 wire wheels with Wide White Wall tires (really old) and Cool old wide-whitewall drag slicks. Look at the pictures at all the other ancient hot rod cool stuff. There are several boxes of parts that include wheel cylinders, fuel pumps, tow bar, backing plates, and bunch of other stuff.

This car was built back in the day, when you used whatever you could find (and afford). The old shoe polish numbers from its last race are still present. Those decals you see are authentic and are from the beginning of drag racing and performance history. Those headlight stanchions were made by Edmunds eons ago and are easy to remove for the TROG! Look at that dash! This car has to be the father of all rat rods.

We are listing this for a family member who is hoping it will go to a good home. When was the last time you set down and started reading a Hot Rod Magazine and there on the cover or in the pages, out pops an article on how someone just found an old time drag car? Did you say "dang I sure wish I could find one"?

Well now you have, so don't linger, exercise your bidding finger! Show your friends that you are "The Big Johnson" !! Don't let that other guy get it! Then you can do the Wendy's (or is it Burger King) thing and have it your way.

Oh, and yes that is a 1923 license plate, and yes we have a clear title.