The Diablo Rojo Hot Rod Looks Low Enough to Sneak Under a Door

I don't know if anyone has had a good long look at the custom industry to see what decade from the past is best represented today. At first glance it seems that the 1950s, 1960s, and to some extent the 1970s rank very high, with a lot of cars made during those years being reinterpreted for show and sell purposes all over America.

But have you ever wondered which car that steals the custom world's attention nowadays is the oldest?

American carmaker Ford introduced the Model A in 1927 as a replacement for the venerable Model T, the vehicle that for all intents and purposes popularized the horseless carriage and introduced to the world the concept of assembly line manufacturing.

Just like the vehicle it replaced, the Model A was quite a big hit, despite staying in production for just three years (by comparison, the T was made for no less than 19 years). During this rather short time, Ford sold well over four million units of the thing.

The story of the Model A would have ended all those decades ago if it weren't for a breed of custom car makers called hot rodders. Tracing their roots to the bootleggers of the 1920s, who tried to modify their vehicles to escape the law during the Prohibition era, hot rodders are particularly keen on the A. And for all intents and purposes, at close to a century old, it makes this kind of Ford one of the oldest platforms still in use in the custom industry today.

Granted, "still in use" is a rather loose notion, as most of the time very few of the original bits remain on a modified Model A. Kind of what happened to the one sitting before us now, looking so different than what Ford made in 1929, the year the vehicle hails from, that you may easily mistake it for something else entirely.

Then hot rod is the work of an Indiana-based specialist called Sik Customs. It's known among enthusiasts as the Diablo Rojo, or the Red Devil. The reasons for its name are immediately clear through its shape and color – that would be a mean and low metal apparition in House of Kolor Candy Apple Red.

The vehicle uses, naturally, a custom frame, one that has been specifically made for this project. It was sectioned, chopped, and channeled to allow for the installation of a Ford steel body and makes the entire build look low enough sneak under a door.

In the usual style of this kind of project, the Diablo Rojo wears its wheels outside of the body, and the engine is fully exposed to the elements, sandwiched between the vintage grille and its flanking round headlights and the cabin.

The engine is not particularly impressive, but nothing to scoff at either. We're talking about a 350ci V8 equipped with Keith Black pistons and a Holley Sniper electronic fuel injection system.

It's unclear how much power the engine develops, but it is handled in its entirety through a Turbo 350 automatic transmission. Which, in turn, is commanded by a Lokar shifter, installed in a cockpit that is almost impossible to see.

The "almost invisible" part is owed to how low the hot rod is, but also on account of the severe chop, and yet the habitat does hide everything a vehicle needs to be functional, and then some: custom seats, a dashboard snatched from a 1959 Chevrolet Impala, but rocking Dakota Digital gauges, and even power windows.

The thing has a pair of doors, but they oftentimes may prove too hard to use, so a sliding top has been fitted to allow for fresh air, as well as entry and exit if needed.

At least on paper, and despite the cramped appearance, the Diablo Rojo should ensure a rather smooth ride. That's because its builders didn't cut corners when it comes to the mechanical bits, and fitted a four-inch drop axle, a Chevy-sourced ten-bolt rear end, a custom 2-link suspension system at the rear, and coilovers. The hot rod rides on Divco milk truck wheels wrapped in Coker tires.

We're bringing the Diablo Rojo hot rod up because it's about to sell during an auction run by Mecum over in Glendale, Arizona, at the beginning of March. It is listed with no mention of expected sale price, and with an undisclosed reverse, making it impossible for us to make an estimate on it.

We will come back to the story once the hammer falls and update this story with the relevant info.