December 2020 • By John Willard • Photos Brad McDonald/TotalExposure.com.au & courtesy John Willard, UK photos Tony Thacker
Presented RatTrapRacing.com & USAutomotive.co.uk

It was the late-80s; I was in my mid-20s and had decided to build myself a race car. Not just any race car, but a 1948 Ford Anglia panel van.

John’s first and second hot rods were Fordson vans—they set the tone and pace for the future.

I built it in my Dad’s shed with my mates Cole James (RIP mate) and Stephen Busch. None of us knew anything about race cars but we got there in the end. It had a 427 BBC with brand new Brodix BB2’s, a Crower staggered injector and a massive roller cam. I loved it; however, it wasn’t many Australian drag racers’ cup of tea. The comment that stuck in my mind though was: “You’re 20 years behind the times.”

Well, that car met its demise on September 4, 1993—nine months to the day before the birth of my son Doug. Were the naysayers right? Was it too much engine for such a small car? I didn’t think so, and I knew I could do better. So I set about gaining as much knowledge as possible so that I could build a car that would perform as good as any pro-built car.

Fast forward 20 years (and a few cars, including an 8 second Anglia Hot Rod) and I find myself building fast cars for a living at Flatout Services in Sydney, Australia. In 2015 I saw a story featuring the build of a Fordson van for Mick Taylor in the UK. The car was to be raced in a class called ‘Outlaw Anglia,’ (OA) apparently these guys can get 30 or 40 cars at a single event, it’s Heads Up and some of them are fast: Mid-7s at 180mph.

The seed was sowed. I had a blown Hemi in the shop that could surely run with these guys if I could manage to get the car over there sometime. I would be in Anglia heaven.

I needed a body to get started so I contacted Colin Millar in Scotland. After initially dismissing me as a bit of a nut, (this would be my third Anglia so I guess I am an Anglia nut) he boxed one up and sent it to Australia—a three-month voyage. The body arrived in January 2017 and we set about the build.

At mock-up stage we realised that the car was going to sit too high if we didn’t do some surgery to the rear fenders, so my son Doug cut them out, made a plug and a mold, and then remade them. UK builders like to move the rear wheels rear of centre to take advantage of the 101-inch wheelbase allowance (standard these cars have a 90-inch wheelbase). I wanted the rears centred in the fenders so we had to do the opposite and move the front wheel openings forward and while we were at it we made them a bit smaller for a more aerodynamic package. While we were on the front clip we grafted the cowling to it to allow for spark plug and valve cover removal. We also made the splitter a bit bigger and filled the hole left when the scoop was removed. After all of these modifications the front weighed in at more than 80 lbs so Steve prepped and painted it before we took a mold and laid a much lighter carbon piece.

Anglias are very narrow making the roll cage very tight so we decided that in order to make some room the door inners would get the flick. The windows also sit very deep into the body and doors so we almost flush-lined them, which freed up more room. As was the case with the front, this was all getting a bit heavy so we decided to bite the bullet and take a mold of the whole lot. As a result, the body, doors, decklid and front clip are now carbon. The only original fibreglass sections are the roof and windscreen surround. It was all then beautifully painted by Concept Paints in Ford Le Mans Red

The engine is a 451 BAE Hemi with Brad 5 fat heads and a 14/71 Littlefield blower tuned by Brett Gillespie. The Enderle Barndoor injector is the last one that was ever made and many thanks go to Gary Corfield and Jim Pisciotta for securing it for me.

By the time the car was nearing completion, the pace of Outlaw Anglia had lifted significantly. During the 2020 season Colin Millar had run a string of 7.1s at 194 mph at Santa Pod in the UK. At the Hot Rod Drags—OA’s last event for the year—Colin ran 7.04/178. This pass would surely have been the first 6s OA pass in history had the camshaft not broken at 1000 feet.

Simon Barlow had also ran some very quick ETs in his ‘Orange Pop’ van besting with a 7.08/194 at the 2020 Classic Ford Show.

As the UK season drew to a close Australia was getting on top of the pandemic so a chance to test was looking possible, however, my local track, Sydney Dragway, decided to pull the entire dragstrip up and lay a 100-percent concrete strip. Although the wait was agonising, it was absolutely worth it. The new track is billiard table smooth.

The winter rebuilds had now become frantic with all of the big hitters gearing up for the 2021 season. Colin Millar had a proven combination with his 632 nitrous BBC so was content with some chassis upgrades. Simon Barlow had a new, much better, supercharger on the way to replace his damaged unit, and the young guns Jedd Guy and Scotty Crookston were busy fitting nitrous-sniffing mountain motors to replace their BBC’s. Jon Webster had run mid-7s in testing at the Hot Rod Drags in his blown car and was also looking ominous.

If only I could remember that guy that told me I was 20 years behind the times. 30 years ago.
So the pressure was on to test the car and do our best to score a 6s pass before the UK guys.

We finally got a chance to test the car on December 5, 2020. It was a club day put on by the 2200 Dragracers Club, and was the second event to be held on the brand new surface. Half an hour before we towed out I got a real bad case of nerves—I hadn’t driven for years and even then not in anything like this.

After two attempts I couldn’t even turn the tyres in the burnout but staged the car anyway and recorded a 1.12 60’ time. On shutting the engine down I heard a loud hissing that turned out to be an airline that had come off one of the shocks—an easy fix. We changed the CO2 bottle but left the car otherwise as was.

After a tiny burnout I staged the car for its second hit. It recorded a 1.09 60’ and 4.54/157. We added a little bit of preload as the car turned a bit right on both hits and Brett made a small adjustment to the tune up ready for the third hit. The crew got excited after seeing that 1/8-mile pass and were pushing for a full pass but Brett demanded a 1000’ pass to check the tune up, so that was the plan for the next hit.

On the third hit, after a reasonable burnout, the car launched straight and recorded another 1.09 60’ 4.51/160 and 5.855 to the 1000’ and a 7.19/157 at the stripe. Now the pressure was really on. Could we run that 6s pass at our first meeting? After another tweak to the tune up we headed out but sprung a leak in the distribution block in the burnout so aborted the run—another easy fix though.

With the fuel leak fixed, we headed out again. While sitting in the staging lanes, all suited up and belted in, ready to go, it started sprinkling with rain. This made me a bit uncomfortable so I suggested that we be happy with the 7.19 and call it a day—an extremely successful day in my opinion. The crew was having none of that and when the rain stopped and they had dragged the track racing recommenced with a couple of pairs of cars in front of us having no problems.

After my best burnout of the day I staged the car and ran it all the way—the car felt perfect. I couldn’t believe how hard the chutes hit and how fast they pulled the car up. I got out and waited for what seemed an eternity to get the news from the crew. I have never run anything like 6s but that sure felt fast! The crew finally appeared with everyone doing their best to look unexcited; this made me pretty sure that we had actually done it. As they got closer they all cracked and started cheering. It was indeed a 6 but amazingly it was also a 201mph pass. Something none of us had dreamed possible at our first outing.

“We had gone quicker and faster than any legal Outlaw Anglia car in the world, on our first full-power pass, on a brand new track. Wow, what a day.” John Willard

This doesn’t happen without a great crew. Neil ‘Gonzo’ Webb has now been with me for many years and has been an integral part of the build putting in hundreds of hours. Stephen Busch has been with me from the start and handled all of the panel work and paint prep. My son Doug Willard handled all of the fibreglass and carbon work. Colin Boyd handled all of the electrical and data work—the guy is an absolute genius. Last but definitely not least is Brett Gillespie. Not only is he a brilliant engine builder and tuner, he also handled the XRP oil and fuel hoses. All off these guys have stuck with me and now form a formidable, well-coordinated crew along with my wife Margaret: I can’t thank them enough.

Sponsors: Atlantic Oil, Concept Paints, Craig’s Automatics, Torque Calibration Services, Peter Mitcherson Engineering, Banshee Racing Drag Team, Flatout Services.

Vehicle: Carbon fiber Outlaw Anglia
Owner: John Willard
• Engine: Brett Gillespie tuned 451 BAE Hemi with Brad 5 fat heads
• Blower: 14/71 Littlefield
• Injector: Enderle Barndoor
• Trans: 3-speed Lencodrive with a locally built Dominator convertor
• Rearend housing: Flatout Services chromoly fitted with Strange floating hubs
• Diff: Strange Ultra with 4.3-1 gears
• Chassis: Double-rail chromoly 25:1 spec
• Chassis builder: Flatout Services, Sydney, Australia
• Front struts: Strange
• Rear location: 4-link
• Wheelie bars: 80-inches long built by Flatout Services
• Wheels: Weld Alumastar with billet aluminium centres by Peter Mitcherson Engineering on the rears.
• Tires: Mickey Thompson 22.5-inch Front Runners, Hoosier 17/34.5/16 (rear)
• Paint: Ford Le Mans red
• Painter: Concept Paints