When there were far fewer people around, far fewer laws and regulations, when the legal speed limit was 75 mph, when gas was cheap, when driving was a pleasure, if you owned a hot machine you could point the grill down an empty road and go!

X-51 in Miniature

In the mid-1950s Ron Courtney, a bodyman at a little shop in a little town in Oregon, built the X-51, a sectioned and restyled 1951 Ford that appeared on the cover of Hot Rod Magazine as “the Ford of the future”. In the 1980s the late Dale Poore built a model of the X-51 and created this diorama. He later sold it to John Corno, who owned the X-51. Dale later got the diorama back when it was found in a yard sale. I don’t know where it is today, but the X-51 exists in California, in perfect condition, owned, I believe, by Bob Page.
Copyright 2010, Albert Drake and Flat Out Press.

Made in Detroit


I took this photo in 1985 at the union parking lot in Lansing, Michigan, where the Mid-Michigan Street Rod Association held its meetings. In those days there were strong feelings against foreign machines. Fortunately, I was driving this 1977 Ford pickup, which was totally Made in Detroit.
Copyright 2010, Albert Drake and Flat Out Press.
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The Lincoln Cadillac

Proof that not all the ideas applied to custom cars worked out. It’s impossible to tell what the builder began with, but we can be certain that the car was built before 1950. Front end is from a 1942 Lincoln, and rear is from a 1946-47 Cadillac. The front fenders and hood have been lengthened. Split windshield has curved glass at sides.
Copyright 2010, Albert Drake and Flat Out Press.
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