Summit Racing Project Car Update: News and Videos

Now that the 2018 SEMA Show is over and we’ve finally caught our collective breath, it’s a good time for some updates on the Summit Racing-supported project cars that made (and didn’t make) the show. You can also get some more insider info courtesy of video interviews done by our friends at Wrenches and Rides/Workshop Addict.

Cool Hand Kustoms 40-440 Dodge Pickup
EJ and Amy Fitzgerald’s latest creation was on display in all its Summit Hot Rod Flat White glory at the E3 Ignitions booth. In case you missed our intro to the project, the 1940 Dodge sits on a custom-bent frame with a QA1 E-Body torsion bar front suspension and an 8 ? inch rear axle held up with a RideTech four-link and QA1 coilovers. The truck is powered by a rebuilt 440 pulled out of an old motorhome, and the amount of metalwork it took to get the 78 year-old body into shape is just staggering.

The Fitzgeralds got the autocross bug when they ran their 1955 Dodge pickup on the Optima Challenge track at last year’s SEMA, and the 40-440 was also set up for autocross duty. EJ ran some laps on the Optima track and reported throttle response was kind of sluggish; plans are to swap the 850 CFM Holley carburetor for something smaller like a 670 Holley to put the snap back in the throttle.

EJ and Amy are already busy planning out their project for 2019, and it’s going to be a major departure from the trucks they’ve been building. We’ll bring you details as we get them.

SEMA Interview Video

Courtney Barber Project Road Warrior 2.0 1978 Bronco
Perhaps you recall our coverage of Courtney Barber’s Project Road Warrior 2.0 Bronco on our OnAllCylinders blog. If your recollection is fuzzy, check out the stories here. The idea behind the project was for Courtney to build and drive the Bronco from Charlotte, North Carolina up to the Arctic and back, duplicating the trip she made in 2017 behind the wheel of a 1965 Mustang.

By this past October she was roadtripping to the frozen North, getting about 1,000 miles into the trip until Hurricane Florence slammed into the Carolinas. Worried about her friends and family back home, Courtney made the agonizing decision to turn back. But that didn’t stop her from making the 4,800 mile round trip to Las Vegas and back home again. She even took time to take the Bronco ‘wheeling in the desert. We’ll keep you updated on the second attempt to reach the Arctic, scheduled for 2019.

SEMA Interview Video

Wild Wes Paintworks 1956 Ford Fairlane Victoria
One thing about Wes Adkins, owner of Wild Wes Paintworks and Hot Rod Factory: he overdelivers, big time.

The ’56 Vicky he built for owner Tony Confalone is no exception. Starting with a car that had suffered 30 years of Ohio’s winter wrath, Wes built this show-stunner in a style he calls Pro Vintage, combining the car’s classic factory appearance and trim with a modern drivetrain, suspension, and amenities. Pro Vintage even extends to the engine compartment, which houses a 312 cubic inch Y-block Ford with aluminum cylinder heads, fuel injection, and twin superchargers.

This is probably the nicest car we’ve put out to date,” Wes said in his interview with Wrenches and Rides. “We’re best known for our paintwork, but we want people to know that we can build complete cars of the highest caliber.”

SEMA Interview Video

Tinman 2 Kustoms Tinmama 1940 Chevy
Luke Merrill is a one-man show at the Tinman 2 Kustoms shop. That’s a good thing because the quality of the cars can be tightly controlled. That’s also a bad thing when issues crop up, a not-uncommon situation with high-caliber SEMA Show builds.

Try as he might working 16 hours every day for months, Luke had to pull the plug on having the Tinmama ’40 Chevy ready for this year’s show.

“I ran into some wheel fitment issues, and it was taking way too much time to fix some metal- and bodywork that my dad and I did years ago. I just couldn’t resolve the problems before the show,” Luke said. “Rather than show a car that didn’t meet my quality standards to the thousands of people at SEMA, I decided to take another year to finish the car properly and take it to Vegas in 2019.”

A wise decision, we say. Luke explains the issues, and also gives you a sneak peek of the paint he custom-mixed for Tinmama using Summit Racing 2-Stage paint, in this video.

But all was not doom and gloom. Luke took Wild Torquey, the Cummins diesel-powered 1931 Chevy 4-door sedan that won Top 10 Young Gun and Top 40 awards in the Battle of the Builders competition at the 2017 SEMA Show, to Vegas. And wouldn’t you know it, the darn thing won more Top 10 Young Gun and Top 40 trophies.

SEMA Interview Video