Been thinking on this a bit... @Ryan ’s posts about his great-uncle’s clandestine hot rodding and a recent article I read somewhere has me curious about those Prohibition- and Depression-era hopped up cars that were essential stock in appearance but had some speed goodies under the hood. What were eventually come to be called ‘sleepers’. I’d love any history HAMBers might have or examples of cars that have been built in this style. You know... a ‘30s bootlegger or road agent’s hot rod.
The 38 Buick Century was pretty hot in its time. Small body like a Chevrolet with the 320 cu in big Buick engine.
Bonnie & Clyde's Ford V8 sedan. Clyde wrote a letter to Henry Ford saying it was the best car to steal for a fast getaway.
My best friend built a true sleeper in the late 60s or early 70s, it was a early 50s Ford panel truck and dropped in one of his 392 Hemis with a 4 speed in it and put on some quiet mufflers. That surprised several guys on the main drag that thought they had fast cars!
I’ve read up on the Century. And it seems the introduction of the Ford V8 was a game changer. Also read that Hudson, Essex, and Terraplane were popular factory-built horsepower. The research has been slow going but fun. I think a stocker with a serious hop up of the mill and suspension would be a fun and interesting build. Sort of a ‘restoration-meets-hot rod’ project.
I think the closest thing you'd find, if you could even find a real example, would probably be a rum runner car built before prohibition ended. When I think of prewar cars that were modified to go faster by the owner I would be more inclined to think of more stripped down cars like the Isky T or John Athan roadster.
My Grandmother saw that car when they brought it through Coffeyville, Kansas. She said the Brains and blood were still stuck to the headliner and the whole thing stunk of rotting meat. They charged a dime for adults and nickle for kids to walk past it on a trailer. She must have driven down from Topeka where the owner of the car was from and she had a Sister living at the time.
Also keep in mind that even though Prohibition ended on a Federal level December 5, 1933parts of the country were dry well after that Kansas had prohibition until 1948 in fact my real maternal Grandmother spent some time in Prison in Kansas for running booze in Grandpas 38 Chevy some time ether right before or right after my moms birth in July of 1940 the car was never returned even though Grandpa was active duty US Cavalry at the time and had nothing to do with the crime. This I am lead to believe was a big contributing factor in their divorce. SO you could look for a Prohibition car Rum runner as late as a 1948 if it came from Kansas well actually much later then that as there are still counties in Kansas that are dry now.
The Jalopy Journal
