The Ken Atkinson ’52 Ford

Most people in Texas hear the name Ken Atkinson and immediately think of the early years of Texas Drag Racing. Ken campaigned a number of cars throughout Texas from his Corpus Christi home town and was also a member of the Mackey & Veselka AA/G race team. If there was a race in the great state of Texas in the 1950’s, it was a pretty good bet that Ken was there either crewing or racing himself.

What a lot of people don’t know, however, is that Ken was also a custom guy. Pictured here is his 1952 Ford Club coupe as featured in the January, 1957 issue of Rod & Custom magazine. It was a simple car with a clean shave, an aggressive stance, Buick side trim, and a 1953 Chevrolet grille bar. And like most of Ken’s race cars, it was Cad powered – all 371 cubic inches of it.

The car was actually built to be a hauler and a push vehicle for the Mackey & Veselka effort. Ken used it in this capacity from around 1956 or 57 until around 1960.

In any regard, check it out: