One of the most creative attempts at melding old and new came from the Ford booth as Detroit Street Rod and Experi-metal Inc. took an all-steel replica '34 Roadster and shoe-horned a brand new 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 into the engine bay. The engine was slated to live in a 2009 SHO Taurus but was delivered to Detroit Street Rods about five months ago, when much of the work frantically began.
1934 Ford Hot Rod With Ecoboost Side View
As you might imagine, turning the normally front-drive, transverse-mounted engine into a rear-drive powerplant was no easy challenge. The engine was literally torn down to the block and reconfigured to make all the fuel lines, piping, wiring and exhaust tubes fit within the extremely tight confines of the coupe's side-opening engine compartment. Of special note, the twin turbos had to be moved to the front of the block and the exhaust headers had to be custom fabricated to allow for the dramatic side-mounted exhausts pipes. The engine is reported to produce 400 horsepower at 5000 rpm and 400 lb-ft of torque at 2000 rpm, with a realistic fuel economy number somewhere in the mid-to-high 30s.
The '34 uses a Tremac 5-speed manual to drive a Ford 9-inch rearend with 3.89:1 gears. Fred Blum, vice-president of Detroit Street Rods, wouldn't give us a guess as to how fast this vehicle might run the quarter-mile, but he did offer if anyone wanted to have another one like this built for them, he'd be happy to take their order (assuming they had about $225,000).
The entire project took about a year from start to finish, and offers one of the most comfortable and stylish interiors you'll ever find in a hot rod. Maybe that's why it won Best In Show for SEMA 2009.

1934 Ford Coupe