In 1932, Henry Ford introduced the world to the Flathead V8, the first mass-market V8 engine that would go on to become a hot rodding icon. Many of the big names from the automotive aftermarket, including Victor Edelbrock, got their start tuning and tweaking the 65 horsepower Flathead for performance. Today there are 700+ horsepower Flatheads running under the hoods (on those rods with hoods) of just about every kind of hot rod imaginable.
So this movie trailer for “A Sweet Sickness: The Flathead Movie,” found by Bangshift, just tickles us in all the right ways. Kind of makes you want to run out and buy the first Flathead engine you come across, don’t it?
This film, by Brian Darwas of Atomic Hot Rods, follows modern-day hot rodders who have kept the passion for the Ford Flathead V8 engine alive almost 80 years after it first debuted. Darwas is a fixture in the hot rod community, having built several rods himself as well as having produced other films including The Road to Bonneville (trailer below.) His latest film follows a group of modern Flathead Ford fans and engine builders who have kept the noble tradition of the original hot rodders alive.
This is the original hot rod engine, with mass market appeal and availability that made it a popular motor for engine swaps. For decades it was the go-to engine for many racers, and even today there is still a special class for Flatheads on the Bonneville Salt Flats. This Flathead flick debuts this summer, and hopefully it will inspire a new generation of classic engine fans who will carry the torch of Henry Ford’s original V8 into the 21st century.