Video: Chris Mangan Discusses His Custom 1931 Ford Model A Roadster

Hailing all the way from Hamilton, New Zealand, hot rod enthusiast Chris Mangan tells us the story of his vintage roadster build. Featured on HotRod Revue, we listen in to Mangan’s triumph with his custom 1931 Ford Model A Roadster.

A fan of hot rods with a handful of years being a general mechanic, Mangan always had his hands dirty and oil dripping from his veins.

“I’ve been doing cars for many years,” he said. “I began to lean towards hot rods and roadsters over time. When the appeal came to me, that’s when the roadster came about and I decided to build one.”

His interest with roadsters brought about much insight towards his love for hot rods and racing. He said what he appreciates the most about roadsters is the vehicle’s simplicity.

“It’s the basicness and rawness of it,” he said. “The rawness of a roadster is the basic engineering. You know when you’ve been driving a roadster for at least an hour. There’s no process you have to go through with them either. You just park it and don’t have to clean it.”

When he first bought his roadster, he and his buddies decided to take it out to the streets to see what kind of shape it was in and what it was capable of in its original condition.

“We put it on the road as more of a shakedown to see what it could do,” Mangan said. “The chassis squeaked but it wasn’t a problem we couldn’t solve. So we had the body and chassis redone and custom fabricated.”

As each piece was redone and fabricated, Mangan began to appreciate the Roadster more and more. He said once they dropped a new motor in, the car began to have the vintage flavor they hoped for from the get go.

Under the hood of the well open roadster is a 303 cubic-inch 5.0 liter Oldsmobile Rocket V8 engine. First produced in 1949, it is the first generation of Oldsmobile Rocket V8 engines, which was used in the 1949-1953 Oldsmobile 88 and 98 model applications.

Known to be reliable, durable, and coupled with an excellent power-to-weight ratio, Mangan made an excellent choice with the Oldsmobile 88 Rocket engine. Utilizing the engine in a small roadster frame, it is sure to provide plenty of power for the lightweight roadster.

All this power is controlled by a Muncie shifter and a Currie 9-inch rear end to help keep the back of the Roadster in check. A split wishbone suspension and a disc brake kit provides the roadster’s driver with plenty of confidence when putting the car under a heavy load.

“We just want to drive and enjoy it,” Mangan said. “We use it primarily for dirt racing and drag racing occasionally. Buying a roadster has evolved over time and it’s really special.”

What are your thoughts on this vintage roadster build? Would you have done it any different? Be sure to share your opinion below.

About the author

nicaguon

Nic Aguon is a graduate from San Jose State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism and mass communications and holds a passion for sleek and unique automobiles. Serving as a Staff Writer for multiple publications at Power Automedia, Nic pledges to bring readers clean and concise storytelling that hits the nail right on the head. A jack of all trades, his interests range from imports to American muscle, hot rods, and Kustoms.
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