When one thinks of all things hot rod, a BMW is not what usually comes to mind. Owner Mike Burroughs has taken hot rodding to a whole new level with his BMW M60 V8 powered 1928 Ford Model A. This car is Burroughs' first ground-up build and it had to be perfect. Combining his love of BMW's with his love of classic rods, he set out to find the perfect combo. After a long search, he settled on the Model A he found on Craigslist as the chassis. For power, this hot rod truck runs BMW power, sourced from a 1995 BMW 740, the 4.0 litre overhead-cam V8 with a Getrag 420 6-speed tranny from an E39 M5 to mate to the M60. This lump pushes out right at around 300 horsepower and 300 lb-ft of torque which is huge power for a car that weighs in at 680 kilograms (1,500 pounds).
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No hot rod is complete without a proper two tire roaster rear end. Power gets put down to the ground via a Ford 8-inch rear end, pulled from a 1966 Ford Mustang. The internals were tossed, and in their place, Burroughs installed a Yukon posi differential along with a 3.55 gear set to allow everything to fit properly. Between the rear end and the output shaft of the Getrag transmission sits a custom driveshaft, built by the team at Drivelines, Inc. A custom adapter was machined to allow the use of U-joints on each end of the driveshaft, as well as a slip yoke to account for the short 4-link that was required out back. With everything mated up, and solid-mounted to the frame, there's no slack or give left - it's all tire-spinning hoon power straight to the wheels.
While purists may shake their heads and scream for blood when they realize that this beast is BMW powered instead of running a traditional Ford or Chevrolet powerplant, Burroughs built this car for himself from the ground up. Now that it's complete, what he has to say gets us right in the feels.
"That brings the story to now. The truck is complete; or at least complete in a sense. It'll never be finished, and there's always room for improvement, but it runs, drives, and it looks the way I want it to. Mostly. I sit, writing this article, with the truck just 20 feet away, and I can't help but glance over ever half-hour or so, where I'm struck with excitement each and every time. It is still caked in dirt, dusted in an off-white and yellow powdery silt from the El Mirage dry lake bed. I'm living a life-long dream, and while I've shared the effort that has gone in to the build, I've yet to share what makes this 1928 Pickup not only my own, but entirely unique."
We're excited to see what Burroughs and Co. will be working on next. Rest assured, it'll certainly be of the same calibre and then some.
Check out the video below, the gallery above courtesy of Stanceworks and take some time to check out his detailed and complete build article posted over at Stanceworks. It's worth a click and then some. We take no responsibility for the well-spent time you've used poring over this build. Also check out another rat rod that Stanceworks have had a hand in. Enjoy. LINK
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