Taking flight with a custom-built '55 T-bird.
all contributors: Evan J. Smith
Racers and race fans owe a great thanks to the builders of this fabulous '55 T-bird.
The brightly painted and ghost-flamed machine was prepared with the same hands that built the Mecca that is Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey.
The Bird is the creation of Mike Napp and his father, the late Richard Sr., who began the restification in 1997 to complement the lineup of T-birds already in the Napp fleet.
JDM Engineering prepared the four-Cam Cobra engine and dialed in thefactory EEC computer. That's a Novi 2000 on the far side; it producesabout 8 psi.
But this story begins long before 1997.To understand the true meaning behind this fab Ford, you must look back to the early '60s when Richard Sr. and his younger brother, Vinnie, raced another '55 T-bird at Island Dragway in Great Meadows, New Jersey. The T-bird was a gift from Richard's father, and it was quite effective on the track and with the ladies.
At the time, the family business was construction, and it was very successful. But the Napp boys were more interested in drag racing. Richard Sr. and Vinnie Jr. proposed to their father, Vincent Sr., that he sell his portion of the business and help them open a dragstrip. Amazingly, he agreed, and they began an exhausting search for a piece of land, finally settling on a property in the middle of nowhere. That place was called Madison Township (known today as Old Bridge Township).
Madison Township Raceway Park opened on July 4, 1965, and it was a hit. Racers flocked then and they still do today. In fact, the facility has grown to be quite a jewel, combining drag racing with motocross, drifting, karting, music concerts, and more. Most notably, RP is host to the NHRA's K&N Filters Nationals--but in some circles it's equally as popular for its Ford and other specialty events.
The huge motorsports facility absorbs a great amount of time, but the Napps never tired of building their own cars, namely early Fords. Through the years, their penchant for T-birds grew, as did the amount of Birds in the garage. Actually, Richard Jr. still drives the original '55 that Richard Sr. and Vinnie Jr. raced at Island.
The stereo is compromised of an Alpine head unit with six-CD changer, an XM radio, two 4-inch in-dash speakers, two 6-inch woofers, twin tweeters mounted in the doors, and an amp and crossover mounted behind the seat. There's also a box in the trunk with two 10-inch speakers for added kick. Thanks goes to Zippo's Custom Car Audio Centers for help with the tunes.
The '55 before you is one that Richard Sr. dreamed up long ago. He had a few restored T-birds and a heavily modified '53 F-100 (which was featured years ago in MM&FF), but this one was to be built with a modern flare. It was the quintessential basket case, but that was OK, says Richard Sr.'s second eldest son, Mike.
"My dad wanted to build a modified T-bird, but he refused to cut up a good one," he says. "This car looked like it came from the bottom of a pond. It was totally rusted out. The best thing about it was that it had only small dents; it was never hit hard."
The '55 was torn down and completely stripped by Quick Strip (Carteret, New Jersey) using a media blaster. Then Richard Sr. and Mike began to address the frame. Mike narrowed a Lincoln Mark VIII IRS by 6 inches, while Richard Sr. cut the rails and welded the IRS to the frame. They modified the X-chassis to fit the large Explorer transmission, and they fabricated mounts to fit a '97 Cobra four-cammer.
"The Cobra engine needed to sit low in the chassis to fit under the stock hood," Mike says, "so we had to do some serious work to the frame, reconfigure the steering, and relocate the oil filter. My dad also bolted up a Paxton Novi 2000 blower and installed a Griffin radiator."