Put on the show, and the people will come–that’s all that needs to happen whenever Goodguys comes to town. At the recent show down near San Diego in Del Mar, we got the chance to soak in some rays and some rides as we wandered around the lovely Del Mar Racetrack.

Christened in chrome and coated in black was one car we immediately liked: a 1949 Ford, sporting something more than just good looks. We got to talking with the owner and restorer, Bill Burton, to find out more on the background side of things.

“When I was 16, I had a coupe, not a club coupe,” he said. “So after years and years of searching, I found this car out in Texas. My son insisted I buy it, so we bought and restored it over the last two years.”

More than just a simple restoration was at play, however. As we soon learned, the hidden gem of this car was its supercharged 4.6-liter V8, which was taken from a 2000s SVT Cobra, and then mated to an overdrive automatic transmission.

Paint was applied by a professional shop out of Azusa called Autobahn. “They do awesome work,” affirmed Burton. “They do all our cars for us, as you can see.” The interior, meanwhile, was the work of one of Burton’s employees at his restoration business, a man named “Chepe.”

Asked what he liked best about it, Burton didn’t even hesitate: “Everything!” Our feelings were the exact same. We expect Burton won’t have too much to do to his Blue Oval in the near future, because how can you top a top-notch ride?