Jim's 1931 Model A Roadster Pickup
At last year’s Goodguys Speedway Motors Southwest Nationals, we were thrilled when the Goodguys folks offered to let us pick the Speedway Motors Traditional Homebuilt Heaven award winner. While scouring the rows of amazing cars in the specialty parking area, we kept coming back to this little green Model A roadster pickup. There were flashier cars with better paint, bigger wheels, and fewer rock chips, but this little pick ‘em up was speaking to us. It looked like an honest, well-built hot rod with some stories to tell.
When we talked to the truck’s owner and builder, Jim Sheridan, our suspicions were confirmed. Can you believe this thing has 85,000 miles on it? That’s a ton of driving in a straight axle, wind-in-the-hair hot rod roadster. And it’s not just the insane mileage that impressed us. There are neat details all over this truck.
Jim started with a TCI chassis and added and original Henry steel cab in front of a reproduction box. We were thrilled to see three pedals and a shifter that rowed the gears in the Ford 5-speed transmission. There are neat little sand-cast details all over the truck that were made by Jim, and in spite of the rock chips, the fit and finish all over the truck is top-notch.
As neat as the whole truck is, the engine was that part that really sucked us it. The 355 wears what appears to be a Hilborn mechanical injector and a good old-fashioned magneto. And no matter how close you look, there are no modern doohickies like fuel rails or throttle position sensors to give away the secret tech hiding under those 60’s-vintage goodies. But there is, in fact, and EFI system and electronic ignition hiding in there. Jim carefully hid the fuel rails under the valley cover, and a crank trigger actuates the spark. That mag is just there for a place to hook up the plug wires. All of this obviously works since Jim has logged so many trouble-free miles.
In the end, we were honored to award Jim the Speedway Motors Traditional Homebuilt Heaven award in Scottsdale. We’re looking forward to seeing it next year with a few more rock chips in the fenders, wrinkles in the seat, and miles on the odometer.