by HoTWire
2. April 2010 02:31
Hot rods are one of those things that are supposed to be an individual expression, which is why people get a little vexed when they see row on row of identikit rods at shows. Building a stand out '32 Ford or Model T now days is going to be harder as they have such a long history of being rodded with such a diversity of modification. One of the best ways to make sure your modified car stands out is to choose a different base model, choose something with the right basic shape, but enough individuality to make is stand out. Don't choose a '34 Ford, choose a 1933 Hupmobile Model K.
Once again we find ourselves looking to Sweden, this time the car came to our attention via the excellent Street & Strip magazine. Luckily for us names and car models don't require us to know Swedish and the internet is a handy tool for finding stuff. The car has been built by Nordlund racing and is reputed to be the world’s fastest Hupmobile. Sitting on its original chassis the guys at Nordlund have dropped in a 454 Cubic Inch Chevy engine with a blower strapped onto it which, as far as our rather basic Swedish tells us, kicks out around 650 bhp. The car is fully stripped down with a rather solid looking roll cage fitted to the interior, the dashboard is more functional than pretty.
Looking at the pictures you'll immediately notice the rat styling on the car, this is genuine patina from having been sat in a field before Mikael Nordlund picked it up and decided to go racing in it. The rear wings have grown a bit wider with new metal being welded in, the grill has gone and the front arches have gained large holes, we're assuming for heat dissipation, or maybe they were just rust that had been cut away. The Hupmobile's roofline gives it a natural rake and an almost chopped look which suits hot rods, being four door however it does sit as quite a long car.
For all its rat look and obvious leftfield nature Nordlund Drag Racing have built a very capable, serious, drag car out of the Model K, as you can see in the video below.
Once again the Swedish provide us with a high powered interesting approach to hot rods and customs, keep up the good work.
Subscribe