Bernie & Carol Mcatee
Bernieâ??s 1951 Ford CoupeOct. 3, 2012Bernie called him to inquire about the car:Frank La Casse purchased the car from the original owner, Mac Kenzie in 1962 for $25.00It had the original flat head V8 stock motor in it.He painted it 64 Mustang tangerine orange.He raced in 1965-67.He ran Stock Class at Dragway 42 and would do 71mph in the quarter mile.He said he won all the Winner stickers on the side window.He won Ohio State Champion plus NASCAR National Champion in this car!He won 21 trophies and still has them in his basement.He still has the cheater slicks from it in his garage.He said he took the business coupe panel out and put a back seat inside.He took the original grille out and replaced it with the current custom one.He said he doesnâ??t have any photos of it on Dragway 42, but he has other pictures.Original color was greenish/blue.He blew the transmission up at Dragway 42, and his pit crew was only his wife, Agnes. The floor panel comes off, she is inside while he is underneath and they changed it right there and went right back to racing.His wife told Bernie she used to watch him race.He took the flathead out and put a Chevy motor in it in 1967.It has been parked since then. (last licensed in 1967 also)Agnes said when the tangerine orange car rumbled in to town, everybody knew Frankie was gonna shut em down. It was a really bold thing to do at this time to paint a car mustang tangerine orange.With the mill being a flathead at that time when big block 426 Hemmys were coming on strong, the little flathead could hold itâ??s own!No brag, just the facts, got the trophies to prove it!Class winner stickers on the window to show it!Frank took a production flathead motor from 1932 little flathead that Henry Ford produced but Frankie made it sing.In 1932 Henry Ford created a production flathead motor that Frank custom tuned into lightning, and could outrun anything in itâ??s class.Bernie recalls being at Dragway 42 the summers of 1964-66 watching the big blocks shutting everything down, but seeing a little Ford still holding itâ??s own.This car is going to be back rumbling at Dragway 42 this summer, burning up the asphalt, sounding like a Led Zepplin concert coming out of the pipes and smelling like gasoline and oil!