Jason’s Model A Coupe
Jason’s Holland’s Model A coupe is loud, unruly, and refuses to apologize to anyone. And that’s exactly how he's envisioned it from the beginning.
It was pieced together from a few clapped-out bodies, one of which was so mangled that his buddies made fun of him for dragging it out of the swap meet. But Jason was not to be deterred. Through a lot of hard work and determination, he ended up with one amazingly cool hot rod.
It sits on a Deuce chassis and uses transverse springs front and rear and a dropped front axle. The 9-inch rear features a nodular third member with 3.90 gears and a locker. Like all hot rods, Jason’s car is constantly evolving. It used to be a bit more mild-mannered, with traditional hot rod Firestone skinnies and three carbs on a 390 FE. The version you see here more closely matches the vision of a 60’s drag coupe that had been in Jason’s head from the beginning. The transformation started when Jason swapped in the monster 445-inch Ford FE with a 6-71 blower. Not just a pretty face, it makes somewhere in the neighborhood of 700 horsepower. The magneto is spun by a nifty offset drive by TJ Zessin and is the perfect accessory to top off this fever dream of 60’s horsepower. A Tremec TKO-600 does its best to hang on behind the monster engine. The drag car transformation was complete with the addition of the spindle mount front wheels and real magnesium Americans in the rear. Jason mixed up his own special paint formula to match the repop fronts to the gennie rears.
How fast does it all go? Well, we’re pleased to report that Jason is not afraid to flog this car at the dragstrip, so we know exactly what it can do. Jason’s fastest pass is a 10.8 at 137. That’s moving in a stickshift Model A with a transverse rear spring. Jason reports that it goes straight down the track (most of the time) and the sketchiest part of the whole run is getting it all slowed down.
When you see a hot rod like this at the car show, you fully expect it to have been dragged in on the trailer, unloaded to lump around the fairgrounds, then loaded back up to head home. That’s not how Jason rolls. This car gets driven. A lot. You’re likely to see it sitting in Omaha traffic next to all the econoboxes and minivans or blasting down the interstate on the way to a show or drag race. At our photoshoot, Jason was complaining about uphill starts on Omaha’s brick streets, on slicks, in the rain, in February. This is not a fairweather trailer queen. This is a real hot rod that will only see the trailer if it’s very broken.
Jason (and his friend Nick Hoesing) recently joined us on the What Moves You podcast to talk about their cars. They also happen to be featured in the new Speedway Motors street rod catalog. We’re honored to share the story of a couple regular guys who, through some serious hard work and dedication, put together some exceptional cars.
