Disclaimer: I do like almost all hot rods, spend more than 3 minutes on dWrenched and you'll convince yourself of that statement. But from time to time, you spot one that really sticks in your head for good. It might be its paint, its chopped roof/body or its wheels or even a cool emblem on it. Or it could be the sum of all of its parts, as a whole. This is the case for me, right here.
My good Australian friend Kenton McKay of ''Notnek Garage'' introduced this amazing lakester hot rod to me and all I needed for a (proper) feature on it was a little something called... time. And maybe some mojo.
What is a lakester you ask ?! Well...
''Ultrasimple, the basic structure is an elongated truss welded of tubular steel, covered with an aluminum body just wide enough to cover the width of the engine and the driver's shoulders. Early lakesters were built from production car parts, and the rules still set minimum track width that means the wheels are exposed like an Indy car.'' -says Popular Science in the 1993 April issue. They are your typical Salt Flats racers of the good ol' days, I might add.
It's called The Kwik Silva, a very smartish acronym I just debunked, from Quick Silver... Took me a while hahaha. Built back in 2012 by the very talented; well d'oh; (coach) builder Frank Spencer from Australia. Frank is the original owner and builder of this magnificent ride. As you can image, it was a big hit at Victoria Hotrod Show. After its big debut the lakester went off quietly and without a fuss away from the spot lights, hidden away in certain part of Victoria / Australia. It's never clever to give the exact coordinates...
There are over 700 hours in the body alone and about 2000 hours in building the ride itself. Probably more. Responsible for all of the 700+ hours of incredible body work applied to this build is another very skilled coach builder, Richard Noske, located in Victory, Australia. This also includes many of the smaller sheet metal fabrication and body work, both inside and outside, throughout this roadster. Kwik Silva features a handbuilt polished aluminum body. Modified Hallock surround windscreen. The bomb shaped headlamps are E&J type 20, originals. Restored Bell 4 spoke steering wheel. Mustang P51 aircraft rear wheel chock lock used as interior door handles. Love these by the way, along with the handmade bomber seats. Custom stainless brake and fuel lines. Halibrand Quickfill tank cap. Stewart Warner ''Wings'' gauges in allard surround style. Custom aluminum interior. It rolls on a 28 Ford original boxed chassis.
This handcrafted masterpiece of a Ford Model A is powered by a late 30's, early 40's vintage V8 and has a 4.25" crank at 296ci that was completely rebuilt. With dual chromed Stromberg 97 carbs on top. Custom stainless exhaust system. Harman Collins race cams .363lift. Modified Eddie Meyer heads and inlet. Aluminum Ford 4 speed top loader gearbox. Custom engine turned firewall. Halibrand ''No Change'' magnesium rear end. 16'' original Ford wire wheels and polished aluminum belly pan. 12'' Ford hydraulic brakes, front and rear. In the video below you can admire the whole build-up process from zero. I could never express in words my deep appreciation and respect for this kind of people who can do this kind of work at this level. Because I know it takes (a lot of) time, sweat and tears to get it done right. Well I think I could, but I guess I'd sound just like a groupie at a rock concert !
^Badge of honor
At that time my bud Kenton tried to make Kwik Silva his own but did not hit the button on it. Fast forwarding to late 2017, the lakester finally started to get ''the Notnek Garage'' treatment. The (gorgeous) wings had been ditched out, exposing more of its hot rod pedigree and the wheels were painted from red to black. Now the black wheels with the black frame are in big/ger contrast with the aluminum and chrome. A very nice touch in my opinion, that red was a bit too ''rock and roll''.
As we all know how it goes with this kind of projects, it's never completely done... So I'm really excited to see what small or major mods K will bring to the table.
Cheers Kenny for the infos and photos my friend and thank you for bringing into my attention sucha amazing ride, hope to see you soon ! You and Kwik Silva, of course...
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