Even though early examples suffered from oil consumption and cooling problems, the flathead soon caught on with hot rodders. The '32 roadster's rugged K-member meant that later flatheads could easily be inserted. That same piece, narrowed a bit, helped create many an A-V8. Ed Winfield continued his hot camshaft work along with Pierre (Pete) Bertrand, Clay Smith, and later, Ed Iskenderian, in the postwar era.
By the mid-'40s, legends like Vic Edelbrock, Sr., Barney Navarro, Eddie Meyer, Earl "Pappy" Evans, Phil Weiand, and countless others created and sold high-compression heads and intake manifolds. Ignition wizards Charles "Kong" Jackson, Kenny Harman, and the Spalding brothers furnished sparks. So-Cal Speed Shop, the Granatelli Brothers, Bell Auto Parts, Honest Charley, Ed Almquist, and Railway Express ensured speed equipment reached every state in the union.
The flathead was the rodder's engine of choice until Ford ceased producing it in 1953. Even then, Zora Arkus-Duntov's Ardun overhead valve conversions gave the old three-main-bearing boiler a few more competitive years before Chrysler's Hemi and GM's overheads, soon led by the new Chevy small-block, became popular.
From the beginning, Ford Motor Company understood that racing could help sales. Fully 100 years ago, Ford's monstrous 999 racer, usually driven by the great Barney Oldfield, raced every comer, and often won. Ford himself drove that fearsome car on the ice at Lake Sinclair, Michigan, in 1904, winning a match race with a speed of over 91 mph. Modified Model Ts and later As competed in tracks all around the country.
By 1932 and through 1934, fenderless Ford roadsters were the scourge of the Elgin, Mines Field and other road races. In 1935, Preston Tucker convinced Henry that a team of front-drive, low silhouette racers could win at Indianapolis. In record time, Miller completed ten remarkable cars. Flathead-powered, with cut-down '35 grilles, twin or four-carburetor intakes, and Bohnalight aluminum heads, their engines reversed and mated to a clever transfer case designed by the brilliant Leo Goosen. These two-man racers were well in the fray until one by one, they dropped out, mostly due to the fact that the graceful three-into-one exhaust header (later copied by Sandy Belond) ran too close to the steering box and cooked the steering lubricant until it melted. Restored examples are priceless.
Thanks to Edsel Ford and E.T. "Bob" Gregorie, Fords of the '30s, even as stockers, were stylish, lightweight, affordable, and fast. Due to Henry Ford's practical side-some would say frugal nature-there was continuous parts interchangeability. Although Henry clung to cable brakes ("The safety of steel, from pedal to wheel," was his motto), when Ford's hydraulics finally arrived in 1939, they were easily retrofitted to older models. Prior to WWII, California hot rodders raced their stripped "gow jobs" at the dry lakes northeast of Los Angeles.
Talented men like Harry Westergaard and Jimmy Summers restyled older Fords and (new in 1938) Mercurys to rival more expensive cars. Ford produced more wood-bodied station wagons than any other company, thanks to its plentiful Iron Mountain, Michigan, forests. Surfers, rodders, and rockers memorialized the woodie for all time. Ford's attempt to build a truly low-priced, economical car resulted in the V-8-60. While it was never a commercial success, that little engine was a competitor in midget racing for years.