This Tasca tribute is a 1964 Ford Thunderbolt. Ford made 100 Thunderbolts that were a factory lightweight for drag racing based on the Ford Fairlane. There were 11 burgundy Thunderbolts, and the rest were Wimbledon White.
A fact unknown to most people is that two Ford Thunderbolts were adapted for circuit and NASCAR racing. Even though it set a lap record at Charlotte, due to the success of its bigger brother, the Galaxie, Ford discontinued the Thunderbolt for circuit and NASCAR racing, using it only in drag racing. 10 cars were awarded to Ford dealers with successful racing teams; number 6 was awarded to Tasca Ford in Rhode Island.
Although widely recognised as one of the best-presented cars in its class, the car raced for only two years before being dismantled and converted to a tube chassis with an altered wheelbase. Tasca Ford are still racing today and we are grateful for all the help and information they have provided for this build.
This car was built by Valley Gas founder Jimmy and is powered by the legendary 427 FE Big Block Ford, connected to a Jericho 4-speed transmission and a 9-inch Ford rear axle. The rear suspension is a custom design 4-link with Watts linkage, and at the front is a custom A-Arm suspension set up with coil-overs. It has been built for historic circuit racing and will also get some drag strip action from time to time. There are lots of killer and rare parts on this Thunderbolt that makes it well worth a look, even if you are (unfortunately!) not a Ford fan.
This car has an interesting history, having competed in the Peking-to-Paris Rally. Now it will have a new life as a street rod, with many
cool modifications, such as pillarless doors, a side-mounted rear boot, a flush-fit fuel filler, and smoothed-out running boards. The bonnet has been shortened and nipped in too. The front wings and rear arches have been reshaped, with the rear arches now flared at the back. The rear bumper has had a lot of work, including the exhaust exiting through the overriders. Also on the outside, you will notice the trick grille shell, which will have pop-out headlights. When you get inside this car, the modifications do not stop there! There is also a custom dash and centre console, as well as all-new floor pans.
With all the modern tech around, we stick to the old-skool ways. This Pilot is full of old-skool methods of metal-shaping such as English wheel, lead loading, dollies and hammers. The body then sits on a VGSS Kustom-made chassis with IFS and a 4-bar rear, whilst running a Jaguar V8 under the hood. There are so many killer touches on this car that you need to see it to believe it – and we can’t wait until we get some paint onto this classic saloon car.
We’re especially excited about this build. This Jaguar MK4 has a custom-built IFS and an E-Type Jag IRS, and sits on E-Type wire wheels with the nostalgic knock-off centres. The car will also sit much lower than standard, with large 14″ custom-made brakes and a Daimler V8 built by the legendary Russ Carpenter.
Our team here at VGSS has added a supercharger, along with a fuel injection system from our partners at Aces Fuel. Estimated power will be 300bhp+, which will be put through a modern 7-speed automatic gearbox. This will help this English classic keep up with today’s modern traffic – it might even show up a few at the lights! Inside will be fully loaded with full leather interior, heated seats, AC, electric windows, and central locking. Not only that, but there will also be the latest music system and satnav – everything that is expected from a luxury car of today. There will be all the usual touches you get from VGSS, including our custom stainless steel headers and exhaust system and custom-made aluminium radiator.
The paint will be a custom two-tone mix of burgundy and grey, which will be completed shortly. Stay tuned on our socials for progress updates!
This exciting build has been commissioned by our customer in Dubai, a big fan of Carroll Shelby’s Cobra who has owned several of these Snakes in the past.
In 2018, he had the vision of creating his own modern Cobra and commissioned a designer to bring his concept to life on paper. Before the project gained much traction, the COVID pandemic hit in 2020, and the world came to a halt. After a few false starts, he came to VGSS in 2025 and asked if we could build this special car for him as a bespoke homage to the Shelby Cobra.
Here at VGSS, we are always striving to push the boundaries, and whilst the customer was originally looking for 700/800hp, we delivered even more! We sourced a Godzilla Ford engine from the USA with over 985hp, and paired it with a 5-speed manual transmission, then we had our friends at AME build a chassis to our exact specifications. This chassis has independent front and rear suspension, and Wilwood brakes, which should be able to handle the 985 horses nicely. For the bespoke body, the shell will be 3D printed to use as a buck for the panels, which will then be molded in carbon-fibre composite.
As this project evolves, we will be adding more pictures and information about this awesome project – the Hypersnake.
This gorgeous E-Type is the second car we have worked on for this particular customer. The build was started by his friend, however our customer took the car on and brought it over to VGSS so we could get this Cat over the line and finished.
The power comes from a supercharged straight-6 Jaguar engine, and then is transferred to the road via a GM 4L80E transmission. All the suspension from the XJR, including the brakes and the steering, was transferred across to the E-Type to give it a more modern feel. It has the timeless looks of the E-Type, but with modern reliability – perfect for today’s motoring.
VGSS tidied up the bodywork, and then it was sent off to the paint shop for some magic to take place. We got the car back and got it all plumbed in and running; however, we ran into a problem with the ECU communicating with the transmission. After some trial and error, we managed to find an application that works, and now it is shifting beautifully. The next tasks are to finish the wiring, then it will be off to the dyno to finish setting up the engine. After that, we will do some testing and set up the suspension before it goes back to the owner to have the interior trimmed in deep red leather.
Phil’s gorgeous 1955 Ford F100 was brought to us as a running, driving truck in desperate need of some suspension and steering work. After talking to Phil to get his ideas, it was mutually decided to remove the body from the chassis and fully rebuild it from the ground up.
After we fitted a full air ride system with an IFS and a Ford 9″ rear axle with 4-bar; we then added a load of trick cross-members to stiffen up the chassis. We then knocked the engine build out of the park with a freshly rebuilt 351 Windsor, stroked to 427ci, paired with a 4-speed auto.
Next, we moved onto the bodywork, which is where you will need to look closely to see all the trick things the Unhinged Crew have done to this truck to make it stand out. All the arches have been pulled in closer to the wheels (custom-made for this truck only), and the running boards have been narrowed to stay in line with the wings. The tailgate and hood have both been smoothed and modified too.
The chassis has been painted and is currently being reassembled whilst the bodywork is in our paintshop getting its custom-mix of green/black paint with orange touches – stay tuned for more updates on this incredible F100.
At VGSS, we have built many trucks in our 25+ year history, and we would like to think every truck is different to the last. Alex’s F100 came to us as a tired, but running truck, in need of some revamping – so with a new project, the Unhinged Crew leapt into action.
We ordered in a brand new Blueprint SBF crate engine with over 400hp, along with the 5- speed Tremec manual transmission, IFS, and Ford 9″ rear axle with 4-bar and coil-overs; and got all of these tasty mods installed onto the truck. We have also added Wilwood brakes, and 18″ steel wheels into the mix. The running gear is a fairly common and simple modification; however, it is great to see a mighty Ford engine in another Ford.
Loads of bodywork and body modifications have been carried out on this old girl, including narrowed running boards, smoothed body/hood/tail gate, and a rolled rear pan. We have also added a custom VGSS stainless-steel dual-exit exhaust system, new bedwood, and smoothed chrome bumpers. However, one thing that everyone notices first would be that stunning paint colour – if you are a Chelsea fan, then there is no other colour to have. This is nicely complemented with the wheels and some brightwork finished off in that fetching kustom shade of white.
The interior trim has now been completed, and the truck is back at VGSS for the final push to finish it. When you see this truck on the show circuit later this year, be sure to check it out – it is a very special build.
If you take an MR2 Turbo and a stock Renault 5 with a little bit of magic you can turn it into a Renault Turbo 2, like the ones we all remember as the group B rally cars. The difference with this one is that it will get the Japanese reliability and extra power, but with the crazy looking group B rally look. The first thing we did was work out all the wheel bases and track, and we then slowly cut away the body on both cars and dropped one on to the other. It was then the case of working out the best way to get the strength back into the car. We have now got the front and rear wings, bonnet and light pods all in GRP, which will be fitted to the car on this visit – then the customer will wire the car and paint it in one of the classic Renault race colours.
VGSS is thrilled to be building another vehicle for the team at Burlen Fuels – and we can’t wait to see this trade van finished! It will be carrying the Austin J40 Pedal Car company logo and be used to transport the pedal cars to events like the Goodwood Revival. This former Morris Ambulance sits on a custom fabricated VGSS chassis, using a new Kugel IFS and a Ford 9″ Rear on 4-bar and coil overs. Power comes from a new, mid-mounted Blueprint 302 with Ford AOD transmission. Inside there is a varnished wooden floor all the way through with a Kustom dash and clocks to keep an eye on all the vital statistics of the engine. Keep your eyes out for this one, it will be quite something to see on the show circuit!
The Weineck Cobra was built from 2006 to 2011 by the German manufacturer Weineck Engineering. Only 15 were put into production, plus two concept cars.
All of the production cars boasted a 780ci (12.8 L) engine with 1,200hp and 1,760nm of torque! The engines were naturally aspirated and built in-house by Weineck, though the parts were manufactured by well-known tuning outfit Donovan Engineering.
Stay tuned for more updates on this beastly car soon…
This ’41 Willys is a very well-known car on the show scene – named the “Headhunter”
When it came over to the UK, it was painted blue and renamed “Head Hunter”. It was painted in a stunning, bold orange paint job by Bryan Whitfield and now has a Donovan 417 Hemi adorning the engine bay.
Stay tuned for more updates soon!
This GMC chassis build started with the cab from a 1947 GMC COE in need of TLC and the chassis from an ’80s GMC campervan dually. The customer has requested that the cab be extended and a beavertail be added so he can transport his Ferrari Cup race car.
We have extended the cab, got the GMC diesel engine running, built the chassis extension, and had the cab and fenders painted in a vintage green shade. We are now working on getting the brakes braking, the steering to steer and getting the cab weatherproof for the customer to have back to finish.
This 32 has travelled all the way from France to be here with us at VGSS. It is powered by a SBC which is currently undergoing a full
rebuild with Eagle cams and uprated pistons. It has a 9” rear axle and a dropped I-Beam sat on 32 rails and a Rod Line body. A long term project that should be getting a lot more updates soon!
Hearing about the Andover Soapbox event at the last minute, The Unhinged crew at VGSS stepped up and decided to build a soapbox with only 3 weeks before the event. The body for this was a childrens Totrod, which we cut into 4 and then used our skills as Ally workers to English wheel all the panels to stretch this body to the size it is now. We then set about making a chassis which some will say is probably over engineered, but when you build Hot Rods as a living, it was never going to be the standard 2 pieces of wood you would normally see in this sort of competition. We also then fabricated the front and rear axles and hubs, and used BMX stunt wheels with 14mm axles. We then painted this little sprint car in Orange with white scallops. All the little finishing touches, like exhaust, carb scoops, roll bar, grille shell right down to an orange perspex screen were included too. We think it looks fast just sat there! So after many late nights we finally got this little racer ready and went off to come 2nd in the 1st Andover Soapbox Derby. Next year we WILL be 1st!! watch this space!!
As well as all our projects in the workshop – in our engine shop we build engines from Mild to Wild. Whether it is a street engine or a blown and injected race engine VGSS and the team will get you the horsepower that you need. We also have a machine shop which works very close with us for Rebores, Balancing, and hardened seats etc. We can also Port & Polish your heads, and test your engine on our engine stand to ensure everything is correct before fitting into your project. Remember we are also main agents for Blueprint engines, where we can supply any of their crate engines. Please inquire for more details on engine builds or crate engine requirements on 01264 353 646.
Here you will see some of the other cars we currently have in at the VGSS. We don’t just cater for turn key builds, we also do servicing and small jobs, including engine building and general maintenance.
