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Bill Taylor photo
(This article was first published in the July 1971 edition of Custom Car magazine)
Quadrant Racing debuted Alleycat at our Custom Car Show in January. A fine Fordson of the '51 variety, it took them two years to build. Read that again and visualise spending two years in a Mitcham lock-up. The boys - Malcolm Watts, Malcolm Beakhust, Steven Gillian and Chris Wilson - sank £400 and a '62 3.8 Jaguar mill into their project and first time out in April clocked a best of 15.13sec and 93mph for the quarter. This was a shakedown session and rapid improvements can be expected as the season goes on.
The power unit is modified rather than hogged, with an E-type head and pistons, Cord rings, Glacier bearings, stock crank, balanced and lightened (to 18lb) flywheel and an E-type inlet manifold with three 2in SU carbs. Aluminium-finish exhaust headers were constructed by Falcon Racing.
Alleycat will run on five-star gas and Castrol Competition Oil, with ignition taken care of by a competition coil and KLG plugs.
Mr Borg and Mr Beck have been contracted to feed power through to the Jag MkII manual box - equipped with a remote shift from a MkVIII - and '60 MkIX 4.55 rear end. Prop is a Jag MkII unit shortened by 14in. Rear springs are from a 15cwt tankin' Thames, while the J A Pearce wheels carry Goodyear rubber.
Alleycat's boxed frame is original E93A Fordson, as is the Armstrong-damped suspension, front axle and spindle assembly. Ford 100E wheels are used via adapted 100E backplates, with Pirelli Cints as the rubber that points the way. Steering box is ex-E93A.
The Quadrant kids did their own spraygun waving, treating Alleycat to a few coats of Chrysler UK's metallic turquoise, with french blue for the chassis. As a contrast they dressed the engine, cogbox, axles, roll cage and propshaft in orange. Calbrook Cars helped out with the lettering.
Alleycat is for show as well as go. Interior trim has the full treatment, taking in wads of inch-thick foam padding covered in studded black leatherette and groovy cedarwood flooring with generous helpings of poly-whatsit varnish. The seat is a Rallye 3, the carpet royal blue Cyril Lord and the kinky lightweight windows are American Oroglass. And how about the ally/cedar steering wheel and two gallon glass fibre fuel tank moulded from E93A hubcaps? Sorry Henry, the Transit will never catch on.
Mike Lintern
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