There’s nothing as intriguing as old-timers talking about classic performance cars. If you know anything about Tom Cotter from Hagerty, you understand his love for classic cars. Specifically, barn finds. On his latest episode on Hagerty’s special series Barn Find Hunter, he showcases his friend’s collection of classic gems.
Pardon me for my biased opinion, but like most good friends, Tom Cotter and Dave Coleman met through their cars on a race track. They have some excellent memories behind the wheel, but perhaps the most captivating is when they drove a Ford Model T across the United States.
“I wrote a book about it called ‘Ford Model T Coast To Coast.’ That car did not break down once. We had one light bulb that went down. That was it,” he confessed.
Apart from reminiscing their epic adventure, Coleman showed Cotter his priceless collection of rare classic cars.
In the middle of the car pile, there was a 1951 Hudson Pacemaker. The Pacemaker has a rich history of dominating NASCAR Championships between 1951 and 1954. Coleman’s Pacemaker isn’t your ordinary cheapie but a performance-tuned classic. Since he loves turbochargers and hot rods, he installed a modern turbocharger, a British carburetor, and a 5-speed transmission in the car.
He also owns a Ford Merkur (a version of the European Ford Sierra XR4i for North America) with a 2.3-liter (140.4 cu in) turbo engine and a 5-speed transmission. It’s a rare underrated classic performance car comparable to the Cosworth version. It comes with good aerodynamics and features an iconic rear wing. Coleman says a similar version clocked 200 mph (322kph) at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.
Later, Coleman opens one of his storage containers and backs up a yellow Ford Model T Hot Rod. It’s not the ordinary classic you’d find in car shows but what he calls “the remains of a Ford Model T.”
It has a Ford frame, chassis, transmission, rear-end, running gears, and suspension. It’s a Model T engine from the head-gasket down but has a roof 16-valve overhead valve conversion. According to Coleman, it doubles the power output of the Model T from 20 hp (20 ps) to 40 hp (41 ps) and can do 80 mph (129 kph).
Coleman shows Cotter two more classic gems. You can watch the intriguing conversation in the video below.
Humphrey is a car enthusiast whose love and passion for automobiles extended into collecting, writing, driving, and working on cars. He got his passion for cars from his Dad, who spent thousands of hours working on his old junky 1970 E20 Toyota Corolla. Years later, he would end up doing the same with a series of lemons he’s owned throughout his adult life. Full profile
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