Ford Custom Tudor

Known as one of the toughest on and off road races in the world, the Carrera Panamericana, has long been run and in the early 1950s Ford entered cars similar to this one. The Tudor sedan was lightweight and rugged, and with a Flathead V8, which had proved reliable and durable, the car was ideal for the nlong distance event. Five decades later the same cars are still proving tough contenders, though this version has far more packed in than the original race machines.

It has a similar chassis layout but is strengthened with a six-point roll cage. There are double wishbones up front and leaf springs at the rear, uprated and supplemented by anti-roll bars front and rear plus a Watts linkage on the beefy 9-inch (229mm) Ford axle. The Flathead has been bored out and stroked for extra displacement and power, and the gearbox is the ultra-tough Borg Warner T10 'Toploader'.