Pausing at the National Street Rod Association’s booth at SEMA to get a better look at the period correct Model A with a blown Lincoln V12, we got the background story on this build from Ty Hauer, Operations Manager for Reisinger Custom. Here is the story as Ty tells it:

As a youngster, Pat would sneak his father’s Charlie Ryan LP record – for the younger people, an LP is a really big CD – and he would play the same track over and over. All the time he knew that if he was caught, he’d get a whoopin’. That didn’t stop him though, not even a little bit. Hot Rod Lincoln was his favorite song and somehow someday he knew he was going to have one.

As often is the case, school, marriage, children, and careers can put a hold on even the biggest dreams.  Pat’s life is no exception to the normal pattern,  but he still never lost the passion for hot rods and he didn’t forget his dream of one day having his very own “Hot Rod Lincoln”.

While he was building another pet project, a beautiful black fuel-injected, flathead-powered, 1931 Model A roadster, he was on the lookout for a suitable engine for the Hot Rod Lincoln.  It came in the form of a 1941 Lincoln Zephyr.  The car itself is a story for another time, but the engine was immediately sent out to Mike Herman at H & H Flatheads.

Almost everyone knows that the V12 is not the greatest candidate for a performance engine as it  eked out a mere 125hp from the factory.  The good news is, Mike Herman is a magician when it comes to building flatheads. To say he waved his wand once again in extraordinary fashion would be a huge understatement.  Four new 97’s, a supercharger, Austin aluminum heads, and a host of internal modifications turned the thousand pound behemoth into a 295hp fire breathing beast.

With the engine well in hand at H & H Flatheads, the rest of the project needed to be enhanced to meet with the V12. Pat entrusted the rest to Reisinger Custom Rebuilding in order to create the car of his dreams.  They started with a Brookville Roadster Model A perimeter frame using ’32 Ford rails, adding a Winters’ quick change, a 5-inch dropped I-beam front end with JHRS front wishbones and Alan Johnsons Kidron front brakes. They used the stock model A front shocks and Ridetech coilovers in the rear.  To finish off the chassis the team included an original set of artillery wheels cloaked in a beautiful set of stock Lincoln V-12 hubcaps.

It’s hard to improve upon the classic looks of Henry’s Model A, but it is even harder to leave it stock. Making room to accommodate the Lincoln V12 is a chore in its own right. To accomplish the task of stuffing the big engine into the hot rod without stretching the frame,  two firewalls were used to create the reversed firewall.

The goal was to make it appear to be stock at the same time create the necessary space.  Other tricks included removing the stock fuel tank to make room for the cowl steering, handmade trunk hinges and even a slight chop for appearance.  The rear tail lights are one of two sets that Reisingers created. The other set is on Pats model A roadster.  The headlights are from a 1934 White firetruck attached to the ’32 grill shell with modified headlight brackets that also came from the White.

When Reisingers were finishing up Pat’s roadster, he was trying to come up with a name suitable for such a beautiful car.  His eldest daughter came up with the name “Senorita” for the roadster. Since both cars had similar touches, Pat wanted to come up with an appropriate moniker that kept with the theme, and so without further ado we give you V-Doce, which is Spanish for V-Twelve.

If this build excites you, you should stay tuned. Talking with Ty, we heard a rumor that Pat and the gang at Reisingers are building an evil twin to V-Doce. Could it be another V12 powered Model A coupe?