Car of the Week: 1928 Ford Model A roadster custom

Back a few years ago, when third-generation garage owner Willie Martin first expressed interest in building himself a roadster, he wasn’t exactly discouraged by friends. What Willie had in mind wouldn’t be just another roadster, but rather a close clone of the 1928 Model A that his father and grandfather raced together in the early 1940s.

As rumor of Willie’s intentions spread through his hometown of Riverside, Calif., friends began dropping off parts. In rolled a salvageable frame, then a pair of headlamps, a windshield frame, a usable steering gearbox and so on. The parts pile grew quite rapidly, but a month or so in, one key component just wasn’t materializing. Willie still needed a body.

Then, along came Father’s Day. During the LA Roadster Show, it happened — at Brookville Roadster’s vendor space. As Willie’s wife and friends cheered him on, a wallet came out, and the missing puzzle piece was soon after delivered to Willie’s shop, the family business established in 1934 and known as the original Ed Martin Garage.

Beginning at the beginning with Ford-brand Model A frame rails, Willie’s fabricating friend Jim Grady stepped in to install Dagel’s Super X crossmembers and boxing plates. Stance enhancement for the buggy-sprung roadster comes via dropped beam axle the old-fashioned way.

Since the original roadster was four-cylinder “B-banger” powered, so is the clone, but that didn’t come without aggravation. Although Willie is an engine builder in his own right, he thought it best to pay up for his own and stay focused on the needs of his customers. Long story short, when alleged banger-building “experts” failed, and also failed to make it right, the barely road-tested roadster was stored for a spell, as it was time to rethink.

Although he could’ve had a V-8, Willie remained determined to run a B-banger as his father and grandfather had prior to World War II. This time with better parts, Willie went about building his own mill with a Scat crank, H-beam rods, CP pistons, Brierley cam and a Carl Zich-modified oil pump. To top it all off, he ordered up an overhead-valve conversion from Steve Serr’s Miller High-Speed Head Co. The same source supplied a dual-Stromberg-compatible intake manifold, a header and a transmission adapter kit. So, the much-better banger is backed by an S10-type BorgWarner T5 this time around.

As an all-around mechanic, Willie Martin can rebuild rear ends, too. With the T5 upgrade, the roadster’s banjo would require an open driveline conversion. Whenever possible, Willie goes with who he knows. For that order, and a side-order of Lincoln Bendix-type self-energizing brakes, he telephoned friends at Hot Rod Works. Bringing up the freshened banjo is a Jennings-style torque arm. That’s a slick trick involving an extra Model A radius rod.

Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels roll with 750-16 and 550-16 Firestones from Coker Tire. Steering those is a reproduction four-spoke Bell wheel atop a 1957-‘59 Chevy pickup steering box which, by the way, is an easy swap for a four-banger-powered Model A.

So, as the main preserver of Martin family tradition, how far would Willie go? His elders’ roadster featured a real Mahogany dashboard, fashioned from the missing leaf of the family’s dining room table. Willie’s sister is the keeper of the table today. Since she was unwilling to contribute another leaf to the cause, Willie’s clone version features AutoMeter instrumentation in an Auburn-style bezel with termite-tested faux Mahogany by yours truly on a brand-new Brookville steel dash.

While we’re on the subject of brand-new steel, let’s try to imagine this build without it. Had Willie been able to obtain a Ford-brand body complete with rust and bullet holes, it would’ve required work. The new body did receive some refinement, but only around the edges. The half-hood and radiator shell are Henry’s originals. Those were stripped and straightened, as pounding and painting was a tag-team collaboration between two North County San Diego shops: Bowden’s Auto Body and Gopher Grove Garage.

During the final phases of the build, the clone received a few niceties that the original would’ve also, had it been possible in the ’40s. Perhaps most notably, finished interior trim by The Upholsterers.

If one picture is worth a thousand words, the dog-eared black-and-white by Jim Miller must be priceless. It pictures Willie’s father John Martin and friend John Riordan tightening the first roadster along the rugged road to Bodie, Calif. That was in the summer of 1942. Today, Willie Martin’s close clone — The John Martin Special — is about as fitting as a tribute can be. 

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