Japanese watches are the natural vehicle for hot rodders because they have great design elements and build quality, without costing an arm and a leg. You want a solid frame that is ruggedly engineered, along with a great engine and excellent styling cues. Seikos provide all of these in spades, along with abundant parts, which is another critical element. What I’m not sure about is whether Japanese collectors have taken up the street modding hobby. They do some awesome work on the Z-cars and Skyline GT-Rs, but I hear very little about the modded watch scene over there.

Always wanted an Italian Chronograph. It is a shame the watch got less attention than its bracelet. Another excellent article, Jim. I especially liked the Giorgetto Giugiaro mystery. Sending the e-mail to his design studio made me laugh. For a minute, I thought you were gonna solve the who done it!

It’s a Ford GAA tank engine in a 1970 Mustang. All aluminum 1100 cubic inch V8 used in WWII Sherman Tanks. Rated at 500 HP and 1050 Ft. Lbs. of torque for military service, but are capable of much much more using mostly stock parts. They feature a 60 degree vee, 5.4 bore x 6.0 stroke, 180 degree factory billet cranks, pent roof combustion chambers, shaft driven DOHC’s, 4 valves per cylinder, and dual mags. The guy had a custom made adapter and flexplate made so he could bolt up a heavily modified Powerglide trans behind it. He’s also got a dual 6-71 blower setup that bolts end to end to top it off, or 2, 103mm turbos go to on it which should be good for about 32-34 pounds of boost, he says. Right now though it’s Enderle injected, 2 nozzles per cyl, 2 Impco 3.80′’ throttle bodies. Oh, the engine weighs about 950lbs, add 150lbs to that if he uses the twin 6-71 blower set-up.

Best
TF

Regards the photo with the Mustang frame with sherman tank engine—my dad has always been a big old car buff. When I was a kid we had a ‘49 Cadillac Sedanette (fastback) that we restored that had one of the earliest overhead valve V8 engines in it (I believe that Cadillac even ran one in the 24 hours of LeMans that year - the driver could listen to the radio if he wanted) . I remember my dad telling me that some of the Sherman’s had Cadillac V8 engines in them, only one of them rotated the opposite way (each drove a tank tread directly). So after the war, guys that were restoring whichever model Caddy that used the same engine as in the Sherman’s, would sometimes get a good deal on a “crate” engine and end up with the one that ran the wrong way!