The pod on the driver side...
The pod on the driver side is the external oil tank, as the motor is set up as a dry sump system. Steering is achieved with a modified Model A box, which was reworked to be a center-steer unit and found under the cowl.
How much fun can you have with 1,000 pounds? Most folks wouldn’t be able to come up with a good answer, but Rich Oakley did. You see Rich has been involved the past few years with crossing a T Modified type of car with a vintage dirt oval racer from the ’50s. He’s built three of them, each one pushing the envelope a little farther than the last.
The first, called the “L.A. Special,” was an early T-roadster body set up with a louvered hood, a gas tank out back, and red wire wheels. The second was a little more involved. Nicknamed the “Ace of Spades,” the black ’n’ scalloped ’26 roadster was more like a one-man in that it was a little more narrow than his first car, and it even featured a hand-operated gas pump mounted to the exterior of the cowl. This third vehicle is the product of the natural evolution of the first two, with a little bit of Rocketeer thrown in for good measure.
Obviously a fan of ’40s-era dirt track racers, Rich explains his design concept as having “a Miller Indy racer meeting a Dry Lakes roadster with a little bit of ’50s Indy racer thrown in, too.” He knows what he built isn’t “period perfect,” but that wasn’t the intent—it was to have some fun.
Rich Oakley also fabbed the...
Rich Oakley also fabbed the headers and the exhaust.
The scratch-built roadster started life in Rich’s Archdale, North Carolina, garage. Using 1-1/2-inch round tubing, he constructed a cage-like framework that not only would allow him to attach body panels later, but provided a fair amount of safety to the driver, too. The wheelbase was dialed in at just under 98 inches, and Rich made his own hairpin radius rods, which work with a Model A spring and inboard-mounted shocks out back, and another Model A spring up front mounted behind the Super Bell axle.
The rear end is comprised of ’40 Ford axle tubes, a Dick Spadero V-8 quick-change with a 3.48:1 ring-and-pinion. The front uses ’40 Ford spindles and another set of inboard shocks (which are hidden behind the grille shell). The brakes are the same both front and rear: ’40 Ford with Lincoln drums, and the steering is a modified Model A unit that was made into a center-steer unit by Rich after some machine work was done by Hedgecock Racing. Rich is a fan of early wire wheels, and he used a set of black ’35 Ford 16-inchers wrapped in Excelsior 6.00 up front and 7.00 Tornel tires out back.
A Pinto 2.3L (140-inch) motor...
A Pinto 2.3L (140-inch) motor backed to a Pinto five-speed trans is what gets this ride down the road. Rich says the Weber 45 DCOE side drafts take a little bit of getting used to, as they are a bit sensitive. A Speed Pro camshaft was installed, and the spark is regulated by a Pro Comp ignition system with Moroso wires. Water is circulated with a Speedway Motors pump.
In order to get a fair amount of power into such a tiny engine compartment, Rich turned to a 2.3L (140-inch) Pinto inline-four assembled by Allison Machine. Mostly stock internally (except for the Speed Pro hydraulic camshaft), the four-banger is fed by a pair of Weber 45 DCOE sidedraft carbs mounted to a Pierce manifold while gases exit custom headers into 3-1/2-inch exhaust tubing (both fabbed by Rich). Spark is handled by a Pro Comp ignition with Moroso wires, and a dry sump oil pan was used in the buildup. Backed to an ’81 Pinto five-speed trans, the drivetrain is more than enough to produce a decent power-to-weight ratio.
Rich, who operates his own shop called Retro Rides by Rich, moved onto the construction of the body, which he made from 0.063 aluminum sheet. Rich owns all the right tools to do sheetmetal fabrication (an English wheel, slip roller, shot bag, a Mittler Brothers bead roller, etc.) but, more importantly, he knows how to use them. For the nose of the car Rich first made a wooden buck, then made a cardboard pattern for the grille surround, then had a CNC program done by Dan King at Extreme Fabricating Machine who laser-cut the piece out of stainless steel. Rich then brought it home and welded up the vertical bars to make up the grille insert.
Once you get in there, there...
Once you get in there, there isn’t much space for anything else! The master cylinders are from Wilwood, and the removable four-spoke steering wheel came from Speedway Motors. Rich bent up his own aluminum bucket seat for his ride, then had Bob Hill Upholstery stitch up some black vinyl for it.
Rich’s metal-bending talents were utilized for the interior, too, as he made his own dash before adding an engine-turned panel with Stewart-Warner gauges and an Auto Meter tachometer. It’s also a classic case of trying to stuff 10 pounds of “stuff” into a 5-pound bag: there’s no space! Once you mount the twin Wilwood master cylinders (brake and clutch), the center steering, the hand-fabbed aluminum bucket seat, and a fire extinguisher, there isn’t room for a whole lot left. The Speedway Motors four-spoke steering wheel is removable, and that’s probably a good thing. Bob Hill Upholstery in Sophia, North Carolina, did what was needed in black vinyl upholstery, which admittedly wasn’t very much.
Rich did his own paint and body prep, and used materials from Nason, covering the ride in a Cardinal Red shade. The car’s “Thimble Drome” nickname, Flying A logo, and other graphics were brush painted by Harold Page, who also did some fine line pinstriping on the car, too. The Thimble Drome name is in reference to a type of tether car that was made by the Southern California–based Cox Manufacturing in the ’40s and ’50s. And since the previous car Rich built used another famous name in tether car racing (the Dooling Brothers), it just made sense to continue the theme.
Once you get in there, there...
Once you get in there, there isn’t much space for anything else! The master cylinders are from Wilwood, and the removable four-spoke steering wheel came from Speedway Motors. Rich bent up his own aluminum bucket seat for his ride, then had Bob Hill Upholstery stitch up some black vinyl for it.
Little one-man Modifieds have always been popular with hot rodders, from when they were raced in the first half of the last century to today with those who can appreciate their lone wolf standing in society. There really is something to it—when it’s just you and your ride rolling down the highway with nothing, especially all those creature comforts, to get in the way of what it truly means to enjoying driving an open-wheel topless roadster, feeling the earth below you, the sky above, and the road stretching out to the horizon in front of you.
Rich knows the tube chassis...
Rich knows the tube chassis he created for his Thimble Drome Special isn’t “period perfect” but it is safe. Once the 1-1/2-inch tube framework was complete, Rich had Randolph Powder Coating coat the structure in a gloss black.
An aluminum tonneau cover...
An aluminum tonneau cover for the cockpit swings out of the way for entry and egress. All of the body panels are aluminum, which Rich then covered with Nason Cardinal Red paint. The wheels are ’35 Ford 16-inch wires, wrapped in Excelsior front and Tornel rear rubber.