LINCOLN V8-POWERED 1951 SHOEBOX FORD COUPE

Bruce Leven's radical shoebox Ford slayed 'em at SEMA 2016 Lincoln V8-powered 1951 shoebox Ford coupe

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Photographers: Alastair Ritchie


With its wild styling and radical engineering, Bruce Leven’s ’51 shoebox Ford slayed everyone at SEMA 2016

This article on Bruce’s Ford coupe was originally published in the April 2017 issue of Street Machine

VINTAGE race cars are currently one of the hottest items in the US car scene, and the attraction largely comes down to the fact that each car is a unique piece of history. This has led plenty of wealthy Americans to build their own version of history – like Seattle’s Bruce Leven and his radical ’51 Ford spinner called GT51, which blew everyone away at SEMA 2016.

“This car started out as a dream and a rendering, with the design based around a heavily modified, vintage race car-inspired 1951 Ford coupe,” Bruce says. “Starting with a complete car that had an older restoration, Wicked Fabrication in Washington stripped it of all running gear, interior and trim and lifted it from the original frame.”

Most of the stock 1950s Ford parts were binned and the GT51 build started with a set of Art Morrison-bent frame rails and front suspension, while the rear features a trick independent Speedway Engineering set-up with a quick-change centre. IRS has become a hugely popular modification for high-end cars in the US, and Wicked Fab completed the rear cradle using custom-made rear control arms based off Ford Thunderbird uprights.

While that sounds like some intense engineering, it was nothing compared to the work Wicked Fab put into the body of the shoebox Ford. To give the car its unique, almost European look, they chose to section it with a taper from front to rear, taking five inches out of the front, dropping to 2.5 inches in the rear.

shoebox ford coupe wheel“The body was a huge undertaking,” Bruce sighs. “The extreme wedge section led to plenty of metalwork in the doors, fenders and quarters, inside and out.”

As with many race cars of the era, the bumpers were shaved and custom rollpans built to smooth the look, and the rotund stock roof skin was pancaked to slick the tubby Ford’s profile even further. Once Wicked Fab zapped it back on with the welder, a rear-facing scoop was added, just to yell ‘race car!’ that little bit louder.

Because a custom chassis and independent rear suspension had been added under the Ford, Wicked Fab had to whip up a full set of floorpans, as well as the new transmission and driveshaft tunnel. The boot floor also had to be scratch-made to clear the rear suspension components.

Shoebox Ford Coupe engineMaking the front end stand out took many hours of work piecing a custom billet grille together that still looks era-correct. The aluminium bars were machined into shape and welded together, before finally being chromed to look almost like a stock Ford piece. If that wasn’t enough work, custom foglights and mesh were also added to help GT51 stand out from all those other heavily sectioned shoebox Fords.

Shoebox Ford coupe fuel capI guess Bruce and Wicked Fab must have been getting bored by this stage of the build, as they decided to tackle a huge job, but one that lends the car even more period racing cred: making a custom aluminium bonnet. Rather than trying to work with one giant wobbleboard of expensive aluminium, the new bonnet skin was made from several individual sections that were welded together, then wrapped around a custom-built steel inner structure.

Louvres were hammer-formed into the rear of the bonnet for a bit of period cool, while the boot lid was shortened and then given a hole-punch treatment on the underside that also flows into the boot’s inner structure.

The completed shell was dragged over to Byers Custom in Auburn, Washington, where it was coated with PPG Blue Grey.

shoebox ford coupe indicatorPowering this monster shoey is a motor that would be foreign to many Street Machine readers: a 368ci 1956 Lincoln Y-block V8. One of Ford’s first overhead-valve (OHV) motors, the Lincoln engine predates Ford’s more well-known Y-block by a few flicks of the calendar. Bruce’s was built by renowned vintage and race engine guru Ron Shaver of Shaver Racing Engines, with JE pistons, a custom oil pan and Joe Hunt distributor to make a healthy 360hp on an engine dyno. This was achieved with the aid of the super-cool Hilborn fuel-injection induction that looks like vintage mechanical injection but has been converted to modern FAST EFI.

Bruce wanted power steering, a modern alternator and even air conditioning, so custom brackets had to be machined to position these in the engine bay, along with custom stainless water manifolds to route around them.

The bespoke stainless-steel headers pay tribute to the original styling of the Y-block manifolds and route back to a completely polished stainless exhaust system exiting out of the side like a modern GT-class race car.

A Bendtsen adapter connects a later-model BorgWarner T5 transmission to the Centerforce clutch, which carries down to the IRS. Bendtsen is one of a few famous old-school companies that have been making all kinds of adapters for oddball vintage engine and transmission combinations.

Shoebox Ford Coupe switchesThe interior is by Stitches Custom Upholstery and is a thing of aircraft-inspired beauty, with plenty of rivets and exposed mechanicals. Gauges were custom-built by Classic Instruments to resemble vintage aircraft units, and the aero theme continues with all the switchgear being mounted overhead on a console.

The seats were handmade out of aluminium, riveted together, then partially upholstered, while a custom shifter shaft and mounts were made to resemble old race car shifters. Stitches continued the leatherwork into the door panels, headliner, quarter panels and boot, and the floor was partially carpeted with some painted sections left exposed.

shoebox ford coupe detailThe clutch and brake pedals use a modified Wilwood system with custom bellcranks and linkages that run to individual Jamar master cylinders, with the throttle pedal machined to match.

All of that added up to a shoebox Ford that blew everyone away at SEMA 2016, myself included. People would stare at it for long sessions just trying to work out what make of car it was, and that sounds exactly like what Bruce had in mind when he dreamt the thing up.

shoebox ford coupe gauges“In the end a shoebox Ford has never been built to this extent or even in this style,” he says. “It truly looks like a car you would see out at the race track, but with the fit and finish of a show car. All it took was an idea, quality craftsmen and premium components to make this dream come true.”

BRUCE LEVEN
1951 FORD COUPE

DONK
Type: Lincoln Y-Block
Capacity: 368ci
Intake: Hilborn injection
Brains: FAST EFI
Exhaust: Custom stainless

BENEATH
Box: BorgWarner T5
Clutch: Centerforce
Diff: Vintage Engineering IRS quick-change
Brakes: Wilwood discs (f &r); Wilwood four-piston calipers (f), Wilwood two-piston calipers (r)

ROLL
Rims: Custom magnesium knock-offs; 16×5 (f), 16×7 (r)
Rubber: Goodyear; 175/60 (f), 215/65 (r)

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