Icons Reunited

The Scotty’s Muffler roadster ran a Hemi at Bonneville in the ’70s. Next time, it will be with the famous Tom Senter Ardun.

- TIM BERNSAU

ICONS REUNITED

The Scotty’s Muffler 1934 Ford roadster was well known on the Southern California dry lakes and on the Bonneville Salt Flats for more than a quarter century. Now it’s in Massachusetts, part of Dave Simard’s collection. Running a Chrysler Hemi in its heyday, the historic hot rod is now powered by the Ford flathead that just might be the most famous Ardun engine ever built.

For the last few months, we’ve been hanging out with you—virtually, of course—at East Coast Custom in Leominster, Massachusetts, David’s Boston-area shop, and the barn that houses his impressive corral of traditional hot rods. We’ve previously featured a few of David’s carefully preserved cars—the resurrected Hemi-powered belly tank racer, his lost-for-decades preserved ’50s era 1933 Ford roadster, and his survivor 1955 Ford Thunderbird. This ’34 roadster is another rare gem from David’s treasure chest, and like all the others, it comes accompanied by a long history and a slew of stories.

Charles Scott, a.k.a. Scotty, was an original member of the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) when it was formed in 1937. In 1946, he opened Scotty’s Muffler in San Bernardino, California. By the early ’50s, Scotty’s Muffler was racing an Ardun-powered belly tank at Santa Ana Drags and at Bonneville. Other cars followed, including a 1923 Ford Model T roadster, also with an Ardun engine (and eight exhaust pipes), and a front-engine Top Fuel dragster with a blown Chevy small-block.