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Once the fuel injection unit was installed Humphries says he never lost to another Flathead-powered car. The next change was installing a 4-speed Toploader transmission in 1969. While the ’50s Ford pickup transmissions were easy to shift they were somewhat explosive. “We went through so many trannys, they usually blew in first or second gear,” says Humphries. “I got a Toploader that had been in a Fairlane GT with a 390 and after that we never had another problem.” You guessed it, the transmission is still in the car with the original swap meet Hurst shifter he bought back in 1969.

All of a sudden heads up class racing was gone and replaced with Bracket Racing. Humphries was not impressed. “Now one guy gets a head start or I get a head start and you play catch up. I hated it,” says Humphries. “You’d see cars go down the track and the other guy puts the brake lights on, it was ridiculous.” After one Sunday’s racing in about 1972 or ’73 Humphries had enough and when he got home he rolled the Model A into the garage and didn’t touch it again until 1986.

Much like finding the Model A in the first place, it was serendipity that got it back on the track. While vacationing in Florida in the spring of 1986 he bought a magazine and found an ad for the Nostalgia Drag Racing Association. “I don’t know why I bought that magazine, I was bored I guess but I saw that ad and it said to send in a dollar to get more information so I thought, what the heck and sent the dollar,” says Humphries. “I got the information and whatever reason I was hooked and decided to go racing again.”

Of course drag racing safety had evolved quite a bit since the days when Humphries drove while seated in a kitchen chair with only a lap belt and an exhaust tube roll bar to protect him. He knew changes would be necessary and figured if he was going to make changes the car could also use some other upgrades. His deadline was the June 1987 NDRA North American Nationals at Milan Dragway.

When he looked at the suspension he also noticed that the Model A frame had seen better days. He decided to cut it out from about the driver’s seat back and had a square tube unit built, while leaving the Model A side rails in place to keep the old school look. “We literally cut the chassis in half,” says Humphries. Along with that upgrade, a transverse “buggy” spring was added as the solid-mounted rear axle (with 4.11 gears) had been prone to tire hop in the old days. A certified roll cage was added and was fabricated so it would bolt in place. That modification means the body can now be removed if necessary. The original, chromed top portion of the old roll cage was bolted to the top of the new hoop to retain the original look. The rear fenders had to be widened but they ran out of time before their the event to do any bodywork so you can see where the cuts were made. They also did some structural upgrades to the front spring mount which led to capping the Model A front frame ends which he didn’t really want to do as it changes the original look.

The original wood Model A floor was swapped out for a nice aluminum floor and aluminum door panels were also fabricated to clean up the cabin. A portion of the Model A steel firewall was also modified so they could an additional scatter shield. A racing seat, fire extinguisher and 5-point harness were added, as was a kill switch for the magneto. Because the car only had front brakes, a parachute was added as per the NDRA rules.

As for the or the flathead, they simply ran out of time and despite it sitting for almost 13 years they didn’t even fire it before they had to leave for Milan. They arrived on a Friday and early Saturday morning they pushed the Model A to the end of the return road, then turned around and started to push it back. Humphries let out the clutch and the flathead fired immediately. They ended up changing one spark plug and, in 105 degree heat, after a few tune up passes the car ran a best ever 13.10 ET at 105 mph. Humphries was elated and would be more so once Sunday rolled around.

“We were parked far out in the pits under some trees to get some relief from the heat and this guy comes running up all out of breath,” says Humphries. “He says, ‘We were worried you left, you guys won Best Appearing Car.’” They also won another award plus $50 cash and Humphries is still floored by the response his old Model A received that weekend. Even though he’s raced his Model A since the 1960s he says it was that weekend and the 11.10 ET that sticks out most for him after all these years. He didn’t race in 1988 and raced it only once in 1989 and you get the sense he’s happy just preserving the car’s history. We can’t blame him. It is one cool, fast time machine.

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