Art Gerrick began building this single-seat Model T Lakes Roadster in 1936.  His objective was to build the best 4-cylinder salt/lakes racer around by keeping it lightweight and very nimble to drive.  Like many racers of the day, he built the car from parts he could find around. His ingenuity paid off, as the car turned out to be the benchmark for many race cars to come, and earned a Hot Rod Magazine feature spot in May of 1951.

• Art’s quintessential lakes modified is the product of a short, but highly important era for land speed racing history. Cars like this one would precede the more aerodynamic belly tanker designs that were pushing the envelope at El Mirage by 1951.
• When stiffer SCTA safety restrictions put an end to Gerrick’s racing on the dry lakes, he began hill climbing the car in Long Beach and raced it there late into the 1960s

• Gerrick started with a set of frame rails liberated from a ’24 Olds, added a rear kick-up, and topped it with a ’27 T roadster body narrowed by 10 inches to cheat the wind.​
• He sourced the front axle and highly-sought-after close ratio steering box from a 1920’s Franklin car.
• The ’24 Model T engine block has been bored, then outfitted with high compression pistons, early Model-B crank, Model-A rods, Winfield cam, Pierce Arrow dual ignition, and Rajo Model BB-R head with eight spark plugs.​
• The full-length, polished exhaust pipe is actually an early Ford torque tube, widely used by racers in the 1930s – early 1950s and indicative of their resourcefulness.
• Art hand-formed the slope-back windshield by heating the Plexiglas with an acetylene torch over a form to get its shape.
• Gerrick used a Model-A rear axle assembly, suspended by a Model-T rear leaf spring and crossmember, and damped with Hartford friction shocks.
• The roadster’s bomber seat and driver restraint were sourced from Air Force surplus.
• Art moved the hand brake lever that operated the early Model-A Ford brakes inside the cockpit for safety.