Recently, I’ve become aware of a surge in interest in American “Sport Customs”, a term used by Geoff Hacker at this website to describe postwar one-offs that eventually led to some of the more popular sports cars in the United States. Usually, these cars are based on American chassis, but this presumably unique example is based on a British Ford Prefect. It’s located (not surprisingly) in Riverside, California and is up for sale here on eBay, with early bidding under $4,000 but the reserve has not yet been met.

Given the level of craftsmanship, I’m betting someone out there knows the history or at the very least the origins of this car. I spent a good 30 minutes trying to identify the tail lights and was unsuccessful, but I’m sure one of the first few comments on this post will have me saying “of course.” with the right answer. Don’t disappoint me, Barn Finds readers!

Although I can’t say I love the styling, it does look far better integrated than many of these customs and it seems to have been put together with a purpose. Anyone got a guess on the bumpers’ origins? I can’t quite make out the year on the plate sticker; maybe some of you have better eyes than I do. It’s not a coincidence that I went to the ophthalmologist yesterday.

While the interior looks barren here, you can see a glimpse of it’s former glory (purple and teal?) in the side door panels. There’s also a picture showing gauges and switches and part of the original dash, so you have more to work with than it looks like. It sure is narrow, though!

picture courtesy of oldbike.eu

In case you are wondering, this is what the original car would have looked like. As you can see, it’s not just the rear fenders that are different; this took a LOT of fabrication to create!

Mechanically, it doesn’t look like much was changed from the Prefect’s original 1172 cc engine, which would have been connected to a three speed transmission and could propel a stock Prefect to all of 67 miles per hour (according to Ford). On the bright side, there were plenty of “speed” bolt on components available at the time, so my hope is that some of them found their way into this special. But even if they didn’t, how often do you get the chance to own a car that no one else has? There was a class recently at the Amelia Island concours just for cars like this; wouldn’t it be neat to learn the whole history? Please comment if you know anything about this special car!