It’s Chicago so you shouldn’t be surprised by surprises. The 2017 O’Reilly Auto Parts 55th Annual World of Wheels and its legendary Legend Cup has seen its share of surprises but that shouldn’t be surprising. The week after the Detroit Autorama and the legend of awards is the Ridler. Typically the Ridler winner comes to Chicago and competes for the Legend Cup. However, every so often the winner of the Legend Cup isn’t a repeat of Detroit but the surprise this year rests in the fact the winner of the Legend Cup was the same car that took home the Grand National Roadster Show impressive America’s Most Beautiful Roadster Award. Now that’s the surprise.
The 1936 Packard (Packard 1401C) roadster belongs to Bruce Wanta and was handcrafted over a number of years by the staff at Hollywood Hot Rods in Burbank, California under the watchful eye of Troy Ladd. The coach built roadster was designed by eBlack Design & Hollywood Hot Rods, built at the HHR shop in Burbank, California with the paint handled by M.G.J. Enterprises (Mulholland Merlot applied by Mick Jenkins) with the interior aptly stitched by Elegance Auto Interiors under the careful stitch work of Mark Lopez. On the interior the instrumentation is original Packard fully refurbished. The windshield is a heavily modified 1936 Duvall.
The winter grille and the suspension are all controlled by smartphone apps giving this one-of-a-kind roadster a look into the future with its modern touches. While modern electronics abound within there are any number of vintage parts, and a tremendous amount of creativity to absorb.
Horsepower is plenty but it comes from an unusual and rare starting point…a Lincoln V-12 sporting 292 cubic inch with Hogan aluminum heads. The engine features a three-pot Winfield (Double-D carbs used) intake where the forward hole is blocked off, the middle hole is used for the Latham-Hogan supercharger, and the rear hole is the “pot-off” valve.
Power is run through the gears and shifted to the rearend by a Borg Warner T5 (five-speed) which in turn move it along to the Winters IRS quick-change rearend using inboard drum brakes resting on ¼-eliptical springs while the front IFS utilizing twin-dropped I-beam axles is resting on ¼-eleiptical springs too.
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