Cars from our youth are funny things, conjuring up as many differentemotions as memories. While nearly all of us can recall the hot machinesof the era in which we grew up, precious few were lucky enough to ownthem. Case in point, yours truly racked up thousands of miles in my highschool and college years behind the wheel of a Plymouth Valiant sedan .. . a car you couldn't pay me to own today. Conversely, there are guyslike John Hicks who owned cars we tend to be more passionate about.While Hicks didn't own the hottest thing on wheels during his collegeyears in the late '50s, say, a factory supercharged T-bird, he did drivesomething worthy of mighty fond memories--a red and white '57 Fairlanehardtop.
Hicks bought his first Fairlane as a used car in 1958 whileattending Iowa State University, and enjoyed the attractive 292ciY-block machine through 1962. Ensuing years saw military service,family, and a busy career. while Hicks always maintained an interest inautomobiles, it was retirement that hooked him back up with an earlyFairlane memory. In 1998, Hicks bought a near twin to his old set ofwheels, a Phoenix area car that was advertised as a frame-offrestoration. Hicks chuckled when he said, "yes, it had been off theframe," but you quickly glean that "frame-off" means different things todifferent people.
Regardless of the modest quality standards, Hicksenjoyed the '57 for a few years before launching on a major rehash. whena cracked sector case relieved itself of 90-weight gear oil all over anew driveway, Hicks turned to Dennis Bryden, who had a passion forbuilding vintage American hot rods. Bryden's business, Red Horse HotRods, was born just as he and Hicks developed a plan to address theFairlane's mechanical maladies.
First up would be replacing the ancient292-inch, Y-block V-8 and Ford-O-Matic with a Ford Racing 5.0L crateengine and AOD transmission. Next came the underpinnings, consisting ofnew springs, Bilstein shocks, Fat Man 3-inch drop spindles, powerfour-wheel disc brakes, and, of all things, a GM 605 power-steering gearintended for the shoebox Chevy crowd. A narrowed 9-inch housing wasfilled with a Limited-Slip dif' and 4.11:1 gears, tamed by a custom setof Traction Masters traction bars.
All of these initial modificationswere made in the name of performance and reliability, but Hicks alsoadded a strong visual statement in the form of billet aluminum rims fromColorado Custom. Measuring in at 17x8 inches, the custom hoops mount245/45-17 Goodyears in front, and 255/55/17s out back.
As the projectcame to completion, including a now sparkling engine compartment, therest of the car looked sadly out of synch. Within a year, the decisionwas made to completely finish the Fairlane, and when you consider theimpeccable standards of Hicks and Bryden, you could predict the stellaroutcome.