When Calgary’s Tom Racz retired back in 2003 he finally had time to pursue one of his life long dreams, which actually led to the fulfillment of another dream. “I always dreamed of building a ’34 Tudor so I started it and a couple of years into the build my wife Leslie (Leone) and I decided I was hanging around the house too much and needed something to do outside the house.” That something ended up being a hot rod restoration business called the Rod Shop, which started in 2005 (same year as this publication) and today has a 10,000 square foot shop with 11 employees and a full retail outlet as well. For more, check out www.rodshop.ca.
     But back to this beautiful ’34 Ford Tudor. The car was found in Gooding, Idaho (home of Boyd Coddington) and body wise was in pretty solid form for a then 69-year-old vehicle. Over four years, Tom and the boys at the Rod Shop put 3,500 hours into the car, now dubbed Leone. While the Ford still sports most of its original sheetmetal, it did lose some with a 1½” top chop and in a process that saw all four hood panels pie cut to match both horizontal and vertical lines. The stock head light and taillight stanchions were chopped 1” while the hinges were tucked into body ½”. These mods make the car look longer, lower and more refined and the elegance quotient was ramped up when the original grille shell was reworked and triple chromed.
     While the paint appears to be black, it’s actually a custom mix dark green with triple Oxblood belt line stripes. When the sunlight hits the curves it reveals the dark metallic green. The custom hood ornament, inspired by Halle Barry’s cat woman was sculptured in house, then cast in brass by a local foundry, smoothed and chromed. The original fire wall was reshaped to accommodate the SBC mill, but if that seems like a rather pedestrian choice, you’d be wrong.
     This ’34 Ford is powered by a 440hp, 383 stroker with 470 ft/lbs of torque. The stroked out screamer breathes through a set of Edelbrock aluminum heads and intake with a 750 Holley carb mixing fuel and air. Spent gases exit through a set of ceramic coated Hedman Hedders, through 2 1/2” pipes and Dynomax mufflers. A Griffen aluminum rad with 10 and 12 inch pusher fans keeps things cool under the hood. The tranny is 4L60E with a 2,500 stall converter and a CW compushift and Gennie shifter. An aluminum drive shaft spins power back to a Concours West Industries Jag IRS with Ford 9” differential in an aluminum quick change housing with Wilwood inboard disc brakes.
     Up front a Total Cost Involved IFS setup was used with Aldan coil over shocks, Wilwood discs and a power steering rack. The chassis itself was body worked, color sanded and painted body colour and the car’s amazing attention to detail continues with polished stainless steel fuel and brake lines. If that’s not enough, all suspension components are either polished aluminum, stainless or chromed and all fasteners are polished stainless.
     The flawless exterior and chassis creates high expectations for the Tudor’s cockpit and it doesn’t dissappoint. The dash was created from two ’34 Ford dashes while a set of Classic Instruments guages replaced the stock versions. Dash knobs are art deco style and hand carved from walrus ivory tusks. The Honda Accord buckets and rear seat, as well as door panels, headline, kick panels, etc are all covered with fine Italian Oxblood leather with the dash and interior garnish mouldings painted to match. Power accessories include a power cowl vent, power suicide doors, power windows and door locks. An Ididit column is topped by a Oxblood leather wrapped Lacarra banjo wheel. Vintage Air takes care of both the heating and cooling needs while a Clarion deck/CD unit plays tunes enhanced by a Kenwood amp and two, 10” and 2 six inch speakers.
     You might think a car this nice is more show than go, but you’d be waay wrong. This car has been driven more than 11,500 miles (yes, miles) since it was done in 2007 and Tom drives it to work every day in the summer. Hey, when dreams come true you have to make the most of them.