1929 Ford Roadster Pickup - The Land Speeder

It's the curse, or maybe the pleasure, of every hot rodder who has ever scoped out a car that, in their mind, they immediately start to tear it down and rebuild it in the image they believe would be of a superior design. If you could get a nickel every time someone started a sentence with, "Well, I woulda done it this way . . ." then you'd be a rich man. But, most of these people then simply go about their day, while others might possibly use one or two of their ideas on their next ride.

After viewing a great many cars at local car shows, 36-year-old Mike Goins and 37-year-old Rick O'Connor believed they could not only build a better mousetrap, but took the big step of starting up a shop to do just that: provide the public with a unique but limited-run hot rod.

While many of the cars the pair looked at around their SoCal base were glossy in all the right places, the duo felt there was something lacking underneath, namely in the suspension. And, though some of these high-end cars were assembled to the highest degree, Mike and Rick looked at each of the individual items used to build it (i.e., wiring, fastener choice and use, routing of those lines, basic engineering, and attention to detail) and knew they could come up with something better.

The result is the Land Speeder roadster pickup-a vehicle that lends its look to the rat rod and/or traditional crowd, but with a much higher degree of build quality and parts. Starting up Old Speed Hot Rods (OSHR) less than two years ago, Mike and Rick decided to showcase their concept in a vehicle and debut it at the '08 Grand National Roadster Show, where their ideas and talent would be placed alongside some of the best in the industry.

They also felt they could do a better job than what they'd witnessed and be able to turn out a popular product for less money. The idea was to hand-build 10 cars of one type, each using their proprietary chassis and suspension components. Mike's father-in-law, Gerry Bierman, loaned him the money to start buying the parts they needed, and soon they were off and running.

In June of 2007, OSHR purchased the '29 roadster pickup body package from Last Refuge Hot Rods, who offer a steel '29 Ford roadster pickup cab and bed. Rick combined some of the parts he'd been saving for a '30-31 closed-cab project, and Mike rounded up the rest of what was needed, plus began designing some of the parts he'd have to fabricate himself.

Operating on a shoestring budget while trying to keep the doors open of their new shop, Mike and Rick would often put in long hours, and many all-nighters, to get to the next level of completion. They wanted to have people see their hot rod in a new light, so they started from the ground up by creating their own frame and suspension package. The 'rails are 2x4-inch, 0.180-wall steel, filled with sleeved lightening holes, and set up on a 112-inch wheelbase. There is a 12-inch kick in the rear, to get the car as low as possible, and a unique suicide cantilever suspension design up front. While the rear works with split 'bones, an OSHR Panhard bar, and a pair of Romic aluminum shocks, the front is a bit more tricky.

It's based on a Magnum monoleaf spring, which sits above and crosses over the custom framerails, as does the drilled-out I-beam axle. The shackles are bolted to split 'bones, and connect on the other end to a fulcrum that pivots just inside the framerails where another pair of laid-over Romic aluminum shocks actuates. The result of the rear kick and this unique front suspension makes the vehicle very low.

Drum brakes from a '40 Ford, with the backing plate drilled out, are used on each corner, as are 16-inch steelie wheels. The front wheels are 4 inches wide while the rears are 5 inches, and Firestone Deluxe Champion rubber wraps all four wheels, with 6.00s used up front and 7.50s out back.