Pro Vintage 1956 Ford Victoria  

For the 1931, the Ford Motor Company introduced an all-new body style, a two-door sedan with extra wide doors and a unique rear "bustle" known as the "Victoria," The body style continued through the 1934 model year. 

In 1955 Ford Motor Company renewed the Victoria nameplate for it's premium hardtop coupe in the Ford Fairlane model range. Ford had last used the Victoria nameplate in 1932, but after disappointing sales the Victoria was dropped at the end of 1956 model year.   

The Victoria name returned to the Ford lineup in 1982 through 2011 as the top of the Ford LTD range, but these were four-door sedans.

Wes Allison’s Wild Wes Paintworks and Hot Rod Factory debuted their Pro Vintage 1956 Ford Victoria at the 2018 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas. This beauty rides on a custom Wild Wes Signature Series frame fitted with Detroit X Gen 595 front suspension and Summit racing 9-inch rear end suspended with a Wild Wes Signature Series triangulated 4-link rear suspension.

The 305-cubic inch Ford Y-Block is fitted with Holley Sniper fuel injection and twin Vintage Torquestorm superchargers connected to a Cyclone F2 Automatic overdrive transmission.

The body is painted with custom-mixed Axalta paint – Mandarin Twist Pearl over Victorian White Pearl - over Schott Magnitude wheels fitted with Mickey Thompson tires.

The gorgeous interior with stitched by Jeff Elwood.

All photos by the author.

WoO and All Stars announce 2019 schedules

The two major nationwide 410-cubic inch winged dirt-track sprint car series announced their 2019 event schedules at the 2018 Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show in Indianapolis Indiana. 

The World of Outlaws Craftsman sprint car series will stage 92 races across 25 states. 

The Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will present 56 events across 12 states.

Trent Stephens’ ISMA supermodified

The Schaeffer’s Specialized Lubricants booth at the 208 PRI (Performance Racing Industry) show in Indianapolis Indiana featured the ISMA (International Supermodified Association) race car driven by Trent Stephens of Talmadge Ohio to an eighth-place finish in the 2018 ISMA points.

During the 2018 11-race season, Trent who has three career ISMA victories, scored two fifth place finishes, with four other top ten finishes.     

The #19 car, owned by Steve Stout’s ACME Racing team, in addition to the typical supermodfied details such as extreme offset engine location, push-rod front suspension and air cylinders which allow the top wing to “plane” on the straightaways, also sports a very unusual cantilevered rear suspension.

During the PRI show, Steve Stout announced that the ACME Racing team will expand to a two-car program for the 2019 season with 2015 and 2016 ISMA champion Dave Shullick Jr. joining to drive the #49 supermodfied.  

In 2019, ISMA’s forty-third season of operation, the supermodified racers have a 13-race schedule with two visits each at Oswego Speedway, Delaware (Ontario) Speedway, and Sandusky (Ohio) Speedway.

Schaeffer’s Specialized Lubricants founded in 1839 in St. Louis Missouri offers engine oils, greases, hydraulic and transmission fluids, gear lubes and fuel additives for the agriculture, trucking, heavy construction and racing industries. Check them out at  https://www.schaefferoil.com/

Toyota Supra display 

at SEMA 2018 traced 

the history of 

the Toyota Supra in America

At the 2018 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show in Las Vegas, Toyota USA showed off the 2019 NASCAR (National Association of Stock Car Racing) Xfinity Series Toyota Supra which will debut at Daytona International Speedway in February, although the street version will be sold by Toyota as a 2020 model after 22 years away from the market.  

The fifth-generation Supra Xfinity race car developed by Toyota Racing Development (TRD) and Calty Design Research (a Toyota subsidiary based in Southern California) was shown alongside the four Toyota Supra passenger cars and presented an interesting history of the development of the Supra from 1979 through 1998.

 The original Supra debuted in 1978 and was introduced in the United States in 1979. The first Supra featured a longer wheelbase and was wider than the Celica it was based upon and was equipped with a 4ME inline six-cylinder 2.6-liter (158 cubic inches). Fitted with fuel-injection and a single overhead camshaft the 4ME engine developed 110 horsepower transmitted to either a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmission. By the time the first-generation Supra left production in 1982, it was equipped with the 2.8-liter (170 cubic inch) 5ME engine that developed 116 horsepower. 

The second-generation Celica-based Supra debuted in 1982 powered by a 145- horsepower 5M-GE DOHC (double overhead camshaft) 2-valve per cylinder inline 6-cylinder engine that displaces 170 cubic inches. The Supra featured MacPherson strut front suspension and independent rear suspension and the P-level Supra featured Recaro seats.   For the final model years of the Supra from 1984 to 1986, the engine power had increased to 160 horsepower transmitted to either a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmission.

The third generation Supra introduced in 1986 was stand-alone design powered by the 183-cubic inch 7M-GE six-cylinder engine which developed 200 horsepower, while the turbocharged version, the 7M-GTE produced 276 horsepower. Sold until 1992, this was the first Supra available with electronically controlled suspension dampening.

The fourth-generation Supra was powered by the 183-cubic inch 2JZ straight six-cylinder engine with Sequential Electronic Fuel Injection and an aluminum 4 valves per cylinder head that produced 220 horsepower or 320 horsepower in the twin turbocharged version mated to an optional six-speed manual transmission. The turbocharged version could reach 60 miles per hour (MPH) in 4.6 seconds and run the 1/4-mile in 13.1 seconds with a top speed of close to 180 MPH.  While it was an awesome performer, sales in the United States were never strong, and after 1996 the turbocharged Supra was only sold in the United States with a 4-speed automatic transmission until Toyota ended sales in the United States in 1998.

   
All photos by the author