You may be familiar with the name Mariani, even if you’re not into hot rods or even land speed racing for that matter. Mariani Farms, Mariani Packing Co. (Mariani Premium Dried Fruit), and Mariani Nut Co. are all part of the same Santa Clara Valley, California, Mariani family legacy, of which brothers Mark and Dennis Jr. are part of (fourth generation).
Outside of their agricultural roots, no pun intended, the Mariani brothers also do a little dabbling in salt flat racing—old Model B and Model 40 based hot rod roadsters to be exact. Troy Trepanier at Rad Rides by Troy is responsible for getting the most recent version of number 346, the 1933 Mariani A/GR racer, on the Bonneville proving grounds, as well as Dennis’ hand-formed aluminum-bodied, 900hp C/GS Streamliner, which debuted at SEMA 2014.
There was another Mariani-inspired project taking shape at Rad Rides following the Streamliner—and if you happened to be at the very same show famous for unveils this past year, you got to see it in all its bare-steel glory in the Flowmaster booth … in the buff. Trepanier conspired with Mark and Dennis to build something with slightly less in the horsepower-proving department (not much), but overly packed with one-off hand and machine–built goodness from stem to stern. The result, as you see here, a drastic yet welcomed deviation of Henry Ford’s 1929 Ford Model A Tudor.
The longer you look at the brothers’ sedan, the more you realize (and hopefully appreciate) all the particular deviations that Trepanier, Adam Banks, and the rest of the Rad Rides team skillfully integrated into the project. Take the visor, for example: while some would forego the brow altogether, not only has it been retained (as a separate unit, not welded), it has been shaped to dictate the later-style two-piece windshield below it. What has been welded and blended, however, the upper cowl (stock gas tank) now rolls seamlessly into to the side sections, bordered beautifully by reshaped doglegs to the rear and a shapely, engine-hugging firewall at the leading edge. Probably the first thing that catches your eye, though, is that grille—part Deuce (kind of), part 1935-1936 Ford (somewhat), part custom-made for the occasion (completely), it not only serves its purpose visually, but also serves as the only frontal protruding item below those commercial headlights. Turning the opposite direction, behind the chopped top (with leaned-back A-pillars, soft-lip driprails, and formed metal insert), the rear section was fitted with a removable lower tail panel with reveals for the exhaust and Halibrand quick-change centersection. The non-stock front, side, and rear glass was supplied by AM Hot Rod Glass. Suffice it to say, the Mariani Tudor is an exercise in metal remodeling executed rather well—but also to the point where it will definitely have its skeptics (which is just fine … that’s why there’s chocolate and vanilla).
That 1929 body and all its various alterations sits semi-highboy over an American Stamping 1932 Ford perimeter ’rail chassis. Among the unique features, what may stand out the most to some are the radius rods, which are actually torsion bars (the rear uses Johnson’s Hot Rod Shop’s aluminum Dog Bone ladder bars that have been reshaped to match body/frame contour). These, along with all the remaining steering and suspension components, were designed in-house at Rad Rides and programmed/machined by Lawrence Laughlin. Mechanically, the sedan uses a KSE power dirt track steering box mounted in the interior, with the machined bell crank and draglink protruding through the cowl side. Lincoln self-energizing drums have been matched up with machined-aluminum backing plates that truly accent the design of the aforementioned steering arms, while RideTech shocks literally disappear into the one-off headlight bucket rear halves, which serve as dual purpose mounts for both. Despite all that was just said, you first have to get past those wheels—those 19- and 20-inch Banks-designed/Laughlin-machined aluminum works of art running Excelsior Stahl-Sport radials from Coker. Stare at them long enough and you may come up with a number of potential sources of inspiration, from early wide-fives to mid-century Indy racer … but one thing you won’t compare to is any other “modern” wheel out there today.
In keeping with the uniqueness of the build—not to mention the Mariani’s NorCal racing heritage—the sedan’s powerplant is based on a Bob Panella Motorsports–prepped 377ci Dart/Chevy V-8, complete with a Sonny Bryant crank, Carillo rods, and a COMP/Jessel valvetrain. Once in Rad Rides’ possession, the aluminum long-block was completely transformed, from the manipulated Billet Specialties TruTrac to the machined (and monikered) valve covers and shapely motor mounts. Induction-wise, an Offy 3×2 intake was used as the platform for a trio of Auto Trend EFI 48 throttle bodies shrouded by an oil bath–inspired air cleaner fabricated by Adam Banks. All engine and chassis wiring, done by Alex Marion, is cloth-covered and discretely routed. The exhaust, which starts out with a set of brushed-finish Speedway Motors Tru-Ram exhaust manifolds, is a slip-fit system fabbed up by Toffer Barta that uses Hushpower mufflers. Lastly, bridging the gap between the 3.50 street-geared Halibrand rearend via a Mark Williams driveshaft, a Legends five-speed sourced from Bowler Transmission has been mated to the small-block by way of a magnesium Quartermaster bellhousing.
Now, despite interior and paint “still to come” (the latter of which will be handled by Rad Rides’ Warren Lewis … in Mariani Maroon, of course), the inside of the Mariani Tudor has an extensive amount of sheetmetal handiwork—such as the patterned and removable floorboards, the underdash structure that frames in the steering, custom pedal assembly, Wilwood clutch/brake masters, and even a Vintage Air unit, and those attractive inner wheelwells surrounding the rear pan accommodation the frame’s 10-inch kick-up.
So, it’s probably safe to say that this will not be the last time you see the Mariani Brothers’ 1929 Ford in STREET RODDER. Its next appearance, regardless how good it looks in the buff, will feature a more formal “attire” come round two!
The post In the Buff: Mark & Dennis Mariani’s Rad Rides-Built 1929 Model A Sedan appeared first on Hot Rod Network.
