Track Day: 1927 Ford Roadster

Street rodding has come a long way over the past 50 years. In the beginning, rodders were left to their own ingenuity and craftsmanship when wishing to stylize and build a car. Well, the desire to stylize still exists today, but what about those of us who want to have fun with cars but lack one or more of the ingredients in the mechanical cake mix?

The plethora of available fiberglass bodies, chassis components, and countless critical accessories has made street rodding a viable hobby for any car guy no matter how "restricted" his mechanical "cookbook." For decades there have been companies who have offered component packages that allow rodders to quickly get a car on the road. Don Davis Race Cars (DDRC) out of El Paso, Texas, offers rodders Don's 23-plus years of experience in building championship caliber drag race cars, which are now coupled with streetable characteristics. Their Super Gas C5 and '57 Corvette have won numerous Championships including the 2003 Super Gas (SG) Championship.

Their latest entry into the street rod market is here after 1 1/2 years of dedicated research. (Although, according to Don, he drew the original plans for this car while still in high school. Class time well spent!) The DDRC '27 Ford Model T roadster is intended for those who want performance and drivability. It is undeniably a go-fast street rod that comes in a variety of stages from a base kit, which features a chassis and body (first ten to be ordered are offered at the introductory price of $14,995), to a turnkey roadster starting at $34,995. The '27 Model T has been smoothed and massaged with slight updates throughout. The extended body (similar to DDRC SG cars) has a fiberglass composite as the core material for improved strength and durability.

The roadster presented on the pages of STREET RODDER started life as a "test mule," where it was driven daily through the typical driving grinds, road trips, and parts chase. Different combinations in gearing, suspension, and drivetrains were tested. Initially, the car was developed with a carbureted small-block Chevy, but a GM Performance Parts Ram Jet 350 crate engine was selected for its combination of power and ease of drivability. The GMPP Ram Jet was tuned and decked out with brightwork by Jim Shaffner of Arizona Speed & Marine in Tempe, Arizona. It was then supplemented with a K&N air filter, headers from Dynateck, and a MSD ignition system.

Jim Hughes of Hughes Motorsports (Cave Creek, AZ) was thoroughly involved in the final selection of the powerplant as well as the transmission. The 700-R4 overdrive-equipped transmission is desirable given the stout 4.56 rearend ratio. (There are other combinations available to the buyer.) His expertise in transmissions and torque converters called for the roadster to be outfitted with an overdrive transmission, thereby taking full advantage of the aggressive gear selection. Afterwards, a 2,800-rpm stall speed lockup converter was selected, again adding to both performance and drivability. Handling the gear selection chores is a B&M ratchet-style shifter, while an Inland Empire Driveline (Ontario, CA) driveshaft is utilized.

The chassis is hand-constructed from a pair of side rails made of .120-inch 2x3-inch rails with an upper structure of 1 1/4-inch tubing. A 112-inch wheelbase is well suited to both performance and highway cruising. The rear suspension is a unique Davis four-link with laser-cut bars securing a Strange aluminum housing (equipped with 31-spline axles) that's hung via AFCO coilover shocks with 175-pound springs. The front suspension is a chromed straight tube, again with coilover AFCOs and 220-pound springs. Also in front is a Flaming River Mustang box for steering utilizing Davis-fabricated steering arms, tie rod, and draglink. The chassis is also treated to front (1-inch) and rear (1 1/8-inch) antiroll bars. Braking can be accomplished through a Wilwood four-piston disc setup at the corners or a set of GM binders. Our test car was outfitted with the Wilwood Dynalite calipers and a pair of 10 1/2 inch rotors in back and 11-inch rotors in front.

The award-winning roadster (yep, class winner at this year's Grand National Roadster Show) was painted by Andy Stapp of Lockknee, Texas, in House of Kolor (Picayune, MS) Tangerine. Inside, tan colored leather was used to cover the Davis buckets matching the tan carpeting all done in-house at DDRC. The DDRC-built dashboard is home for the Auto Meter gauges, while Scott Anderson (also of DDRC) laid down the wiring.

What can we say about the DDRC T roadster? Well, it went through the acceleration and braking phases of the Track Day as we expected with a chassis that hooked up extremely well and turned in superb numbers on both counts. Where we expected the roadster not to fare well it did very well, turning in highly respectable numbers for both the slalom and skidpad tests. In fact, we found the skidpad to be one of the car's strong points. Such driving characteristics as road behavior were also strong. Now, you are driving a topless hot rod so be forewarned...although we did find a surprisingly ample-sized passenger compartment, even for a 6-foot-plus driver and/or passenger. Plenty of room in this roadster; remember, the wheelbase is that of a '33-34 Ford and the body has been lengthened, yielding much needed legroom.

Its mannerisms were predictable and the ride was very good, especially when one realizes it is a solid-axle car. Even though the car is outfitted with extremely large rear tires it rode well. This is a tribute to DDRC, as they developed the correct combination of chassis settings coupled with the correct shock and spring rate. Our past experience with the GMPP Ram Jet engine told us this would be a strongpoint on the car and we weren't disappointed. The transmission operation, shifting under hard acceleration or placidly gliding through traffic was slick as slick could be--another winner.

What would we like to see? Well, not everyone wants a Pro Street look. According to Don Davis, this was the first car out of the shop and the next phase will be a Pro Touring. This version will have more traditional tire and wheel combinations with the intent to develop a street rod ideally suited for a more conventional street rod appearance mated to the desirable handling characteristics that accompany this kind of street rod. We are told that this next iteration should be in our hands for testing before the year is over. We will let you know when we know.