Eli Horst's 1932 Ford Three-Window Coupe

Velocity takes its toll on machinery. Between race modifications and running all-out, most ex-drag cars find themselves relegated to the scrap heap or parts pile. But now and then, one survives the torture and finds its way back to the street.

Such is the case with Eli Horst’s three-window coupe. It started its long life like the vast majority of Henry’s other products, but by the late ’50s, it had been turned into a quarter-miler. It saw most of its action at Maple Grove Dragway in Pennsylvania before it was retired in the ’60s and sent off to clutter up someone’s garage. Relieved of its dragway drivetrain, it passed through the hands, and garages, of two others, both times as one of those “I’ll get to it eventually” project cars, before it was rescued by Eli.

Wasting no time, Eli tore into the project immediately. Many of the parts had seen far better days, so Eli kept only the body and the Jag rear and then started fresh. After four long years of buildup, mostly by Eli’s own hands, the coupe was back on the street in grand fashion. Now, instead of maximum velocity, Eli’s coupe seeks maximum fun and finds it every time Eli races out of the garage.