Ford A Speedster: Further built its own classic
This article was first published in Finansavisen Motor.
RØMØ, DENMARK: “The devil is in the details,” it says. And the details of Vidar Haugen’s Ford can be studied for hours without getting tired. It is a work that is unparalleled in Norway!
– I wanted to build something new based on my own thoughts and ideas instead of restoring or modifying a car. Call it the creative urge and a desire to learn many of the methods and techniques that were used to build a car by hand in the past. Among other things, I had never used an “English wheel” to form plates before I embarked on the project, says Vidar Haugen, while we look at his beautiful 1929 Ford A Speedster, designed and built by himself.
After more than 20 years in the garage, he is ready to show the result to his European friends and audience at Rømø Motor Festival.
Hundreds of car building enthusiasts and tens of thousands of spectators have flocked to the beautiful beach on Denmark’s southwest coast.
And perhaps the most beautiful and fantastic building they see is Norwegian, built in a garage in Lillehammer.
– The inspiration is perhaps first and foremost from a Bentley 3/8 Per Gjerdrum had built in the early 1990s with a fantastically beautiful body in raw aluminum. I was also inspired by the Nordic special breeds which were built in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway in the period immediately after World War II.
Most often, these races were built with simple means on the pre-war Forder, powered by the Ford V8 engine. Here in Norway, too, a handful of such racers were built, and when they ran the first Gardermora race in September 1947, nearly 40,000 spectators came.
– However, I had a desire to raise the standard of the building itself a few notches from the home-built breeds from that time. The goal was also to make as many as possible to share yourself, says Vidar.
Grew up in the garage
– I grew up in the garage of my father, who was one of the founders of Lillehammer Veteranvognklubb. So the choice to become a mechanic was not that difficult.
Education as a mechanic was taken at Nordre Ål VGS, and in the military he worked as a car salvor and did in UN service in Lebanon in the early 1990s. Since then, it was many years in the car salvage service in Lillehammer, before he started in the car rental industry a year ago. Both for the Sulland group.
The idea of an extensive construction project was concretized, and in 1996 he found a real Ford A chassis. It was to be the basis for the project, which still lacked most things, except courage. The ideas for a special building to be presented and approved by the Danish Motor Vehicle Inspectorate a few years later, and then it was just a matter of starting up.
Minimal starting point
Since this was not about a restoration towards a defined original goal, Vidar designed and built details along the way to fulfill the purpose. Almost every part that is not taken from Ford’s driveline, chassis and engine is specially made.
The 1929 A-Ford frame was narrowed to the rear to adapt it to a speedster body of its own design. The engine is a 1949 Ford V8 stationary engine delivered to Norway with Marshall assistance. It has got «goodies» like Offenhauser tops and intake, double Stromberg 97 carburetors and comb from Iskenderian, all recognized names in the hot rod environment.
The gearbox and rear axle are from 1937 Ford, while the brake drums are from 1938 Lincoln and the front axle is machined from a 1929 Ford A.
21 years of detail focus
He probably did not expect that it would take over 20 years of leisure effort from time to time in the garage to complete the project. But such is life. You do not always have time to spend hundreds of hours in the garage each year combining work, family and other interests. Vidar did not lose sight of the target, even when it did not happen much. Taking shortcuts was out of the question.
All of the body parts were shaped and manufactured at home in the garage with inspiration from old contemporary buildings and race cars from the 1920s and 1930s. Both Ford, Bugatti and other brands have been studied in detail to find solutions and designs on even the smallest brake or breakage.
Slowly but surely, the project progressed with a wealth of ideas, precision and level of detail that goes beyond most that have been built by car in Norway in the past. The goal was not to finish quickly, but to create as much as possible yourself.
In the period 1999 to 2014, only individual parts were built pending access to English wheels. A tool that was far too expensive at the start of the project, but when it was in house, the body was shaped bit by bit. Eventually also with help from his son Simen in recent years for completion.
Danish debut
After showing the project at the Oslo Motor Show, “everything” was ready for a fast-paced and glorious debut at Rømø Motor Festival. The praise was many and the admiration was great from both experts and the general public.
– It is the construction itself that is the goal and the joy for me. When the car is finished is less interesting. And when it is finished, it is there to be used, so that it can collect use patina, says Haugen before letting his forces unleash on the sandy beach.
The rear wheels spin down and throw the sand upwards before the speed increases by more than 200 meters until the finish line in the friendly show race on the beach. And should you wish to embark on such a construction project, he has some good advice.
– I could get some of the subjects needed to build this car, so this is something everyone can do. It’s interested who decides what you get for. But you have to be willing to spend a lot of time, very much.