OK, so it probably sounds strange that there is a NEW car model called the "'33 Hot Rod", but I think that the latest offering from Factory Five Racing certainly qualifies as a "new" car. While old school hot rods are not lacking in character or coolness, the antiquated cars leave a lot to be desired as far as chassis design and performance potential goes. Factory Five Racing is well known for their popular Cobra kits and their latest design puts combines all of their sports and racing experience with all the style and simplicity of traditional hot rods.
As the name suggests, style-wise the car is based on the iconic early '30s Fords which were (and still are) very popular among rodders. The CAD-designed chassis was developed with performance in mind and weighs in at just over 2,000lbs! The chassis includes front coilover suspension and rear suspension derived from Factory Five's Challenge race cars. The roadster body (with optional hardtop) and a full interior are also included as part of the kit.
The buyer will supply their choice of engine and transmission (the car comes set up for classic or modern Ford small blocks), a rear end, wheels/tires, and paint and just a few other minor finishing touches. All of the hard and expensive work is done with this car, and with the modern chassis design and weight savings, these cars will be serious performers even at moderate power levels.
The whole kit comes in at just under $20,000. That figure may seem pricey to some, but it's pretty reasonable when you consider the amount of engineering that went into it, how complete the kit is, and how much performance potential it offers.
In a perfect world I would have two of them. One with a carb'd small block, whitewalls and steelies and another with a Honda F20C and some super wide TE37's…
Factory Five's website has everything you could want to know about the '33 Hot Rod. Check it out.
-Mike Garrett
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
F20? perhaps. How about a screaming 4AGE or one of the quintessential inline sixes japan has brought us? I've been searching high and low through the net for an old hot rod running a mean 1000+HP 2JZ. My personal wet-dream hot rod? a 33 running an N/A porsche or subie flat 6 with velocity stacks running straight up past the windshield...
i remember going to a classic car show and seeing a hot rod...i can't recall if it was a 30's ford but it had a Lexus V8 in it...pretty bitchin.
@VROCSone, Lexus actually built a concept hotrod based on a '32 Ford with an SC430 V8 in it. It was around 1998 and was a dark burgundy metallic. I'm wondering if this is the car you saw?
my choices for engine would have to be the V8 from the nissan Titan or a BMW S54 engine (think modern six-cylinder M3's, Z4/M-coupé, Wiesman Roadster) and since i'm a huge Dub-head, i'd probably try to shoehorn in a 3.6L VR6 from the R36 passat and twin-turbo it.
wow i usually hate hot rods but dang this is clean... i couldnt resist clicking on the link!!! even i would buy one~
Yeah, there's even a thread on this cars website discussing how it would do as a drifter.
FFR cars are top notch and great price too!
Great blog! I'm one of the first to get a Factory Five 33 Hot Rod and we're going to build it to sort of mimic my Ford GT. We're using a 4.6L Supercharged Cobra engine with over 500 HP. It's dressed like a Ford GT engine with the blue valve covers. We're also using FGT wheels and many styling cues from the FGT. You can watch our build on FFCobra.com. http://www.ffcobra.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=120 Once we finish the car, maybe someone from this site could check out the car and do a write up? With 500+ HP and 2,000 lbs, it should be a lot of fun to test out. Thanks, Bill
1UZFE w/ ITBs in one and a RB25DET in another =]
Hi Bill,
Sounds like an awesome build you have going there! Please stay in touch so we can showcase the finished product.
-Mike
i would go for a 20B peripheral ported wankel, or a 20B with a huge turbo, that would keep the weight down and still have a nice amount of power =) or maybe i'd borrow mad mikes new engine
Your sixes are not likely to fit without some re-engineering of the frame. Check out discussions on ffcobra.com, the site for FFR builders.
Do you have more pictures (interior, suspension, under hood, etc...)? Where are you located? Do you finish upon request? Thank you.