Henry Ford’s Flathead V-8, introduced in 1932, gave power to the people. It was more than just a bigger engine: FLATHEADS FOREVER: HISTORY OF HOT RODDING, and the rodders & racers responsible for making it happen.
Until the advent of modern OHV V-8 engines in 1949, Ford’s Flathead V-8 was the enthusiast’s engine of choice. It still is for traditional ‘old-school’ hot rodders, and competitors in Pre-War class road racing. It’s truly an “evergreen” story: FLATHEADS FOREVER: HISTORY OF HOT RODDING.
As early as the 1930s, Ford was capitalizing on what would become known in the 1960s as “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday” marketing. It all started with the ‘32 Ford side-valve Flathead V-8, the first engine of its kind to be mass produced and available in popular-price vehicles. The 221-inch V-8 was rated at 65 horsepower at 3,400 rpm and, in 1933 and 1934, output increased to 75 and 85 horsepower, respectively.
A major win at the 1933 National Road Race in Elgin, IL established Ford as a feared competitor in road racing. Savvy dealers wasted no time bragging about Ford’ is win in the Nationals in local advertising. This drove customer traffic and V-8 model sales. Almost instantly new V-8 Ford roadsters could be found, less mufflers and fenders, tearing up racetracks. The 1932 Swedish Winter Grand Prix was won by two mechanics driving a Ford V-8 Special.
While modified Model T and A Fords gave birth to hot rodding in the 1920s, it was the Flathead V-8 that took it to the next level in the 1930s. Displacing 221 cubic inches and weighing just 585 pounds, the first V-8 was just 20-percent larger than the Model A Four, yet produced 62-percent more power. It didn’t take long for stripped-down Fords with modified V-8s to become the cars to beat at Southern California’s “dry lakes.” Then came World War II and the military took over many of the high-desert dry lakes.
Racing engineer, Henry Miller and partner, Preston Tucker of Miller and Tucker, Inc. had been trying for years to get Henry Ford’s son, Edsel, to commit to racing programs. They finally succeeded in the early-1930s. Edsel signed off on building a team for the 1935 Indy 500. Miller and Tucker built ten front-wheel-drive Miller-Ford Specials, powered by Flatheads for the 1935 race. They were the first front-drive four-wheel independent suspension cars seen at Indy. Unfortunately, it was not a successful venture; none of the cars finished. Years later, Preston Tucker would develop and build in 1948 the highly advanced and controversial Tucker 48 sedan.
After World War II, hot-rodding, racing and the speed equipment industry experienced incredible growth. As the dry lakes became less and less available for racing, the popularity of quarter-mile drags surged. One of the pioneers of hot-rodding Flatheads was Vic Edelbrock. Bobby Meeks, left, and Fran Hernandez, above, prepare a Flathead racing engine for dyno-tuning at Edelbrock.
It would not be until 1950 that the first organized track, Santa Ana Drag Strip, would open on a Southern California airfield. In 1951 Wally Parks, then Editor of HOT ROD and founder of the National Hot Rod Association, produced the first official NHRA race at the Los Angeles Fairgrounds in Pomona, California. The Flathead also distinguished itself in NASCAR competition. Jim Roper, driving a Lincoln, won the first NASCAR race on June 19, 1949 at Charlotte Speedway.
For more about FLATHEADS FOREVER: HISTORY OF HOT RODDING, read Preston Lerner’s article, ‘Ford’s Flathead V-8 Gave Power to the People’ which originally appeared in the September/October 2024 issue of Hagerty Drivers Club magazine @ https://www.hagerty.com/media/automotive-history/fords-flathead-v-8-gave-power-to-the-people/?hashed_email=e323c71347790f699ba35a9dc01d49ac3f938885a7df6321087c8c9b4c0dd333&dtm_em=e323c71347790f699ba35a9dc01d49ac3f938885a7df6321087c8c9b4c0dd333
