I came across this lovely little sedan on it’s way to the Hotrod Hayride in Surrey back in August. Got chatting to Frank the owner & his co-pilot, Limpe, & was amazed to hear they’d driven it all the way from Southern Holland that morning. This car was definitely built for go as well as show.
It was originally chopped in the States by Richard “Flat Top” Sanders, who bought the body at the 2005 NSRA Nationals in Louisville Kentucky and hauled it to his Dillehay Street shop in Danville KY. He’d just sold his ‘32 old school truck and was looking for a new project.
The yellow paint is just how he bought it. He cut 6 & a half inches out of the roof height and channelled the body 7 inches over the chassis rails. The chassis itself was built from scratch with a 6 inch kick-up in the front and a huge 14 inches in the back. The motor’s a 350 small block Chevy, with 6 deuce carbs, a 350 gearbox and 9 inch Ford rear axle.
The rear wheels are Dodge truck spares cut down from 8 inch to 6 inch & fitted with 36 inch tall Coker tyres while the front are 16 inch “Gennies”, also running on Cokers.
These days, most lowriders run on airbag suspension, allowing the car to be lifted for driving, then dropped to the ground when parked. The yellow model A does it all old school -no air bags. It rides that low all the time and ride it does. Flat Top put 6,500 - 7,000 miles on the sedan, driving it all over the mid West and South of America to most of the Good Guys shows and anything in between.
The Dillehay style may look crazy but, as Flat Top says, “we drive the snot out of them”.
He was helped in the build by good friends Joe, Kirby, Gary, Jevin, Stewart and many more.

The little yellow sedan was then bought through Ebay about 8 months ago by Dutch rodder, Frank Vangeffen. In the short time he’s owned it he’s already made several changes to stamp his own mark on it, such as new taillights, new exhausts & a lower seat height. He also made the funky winged grille ornament. Frank’s completely treated the rod with “Owatrol”, a clear coating that can be used on any kind of surface, even wood. It keeps rust from spreading further as the weather in Holland is kind of wet. The steering wheel was swapped for one from a '57 Chevy, because the one that was in it was too big for him to be able to see through the windshield!
This car is no pampered trailer queen. Frank intends putting just as many miles under it’s whitewalls as Flat Top did. Not bad for a 60 year old Ford!

-Manky

http://www.dillehaystreet.com/Home_Page.html
rsanders@cuttingtoolsinc.net.

Photos courtesy of Limpe Iven
http://www.limpeiven.com