After 45 Years, Unique Roadster Continues to Make Memories for Kevin and Sarah Willms
This Ford Roadster has been a part of Kevin Willms’ life for 45 years, been racing at several different points, and recently completed its second drag-and-drive Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.
A 1930 model that has been shortened in overall length by about a foot, it’s created and been part of many memories.
Acquired in 1978 at the age of 17, Kevin bought the roadster as a rolling chassis, and installed a 396 cubic inch big block Chevrolet engine. After winning races at two of his first three visits to his local drag strip, the oil pump picked dropped into the pan and cooked the bearings.
“Being a kid with no money, the car ended up sitting until our wedding,” said Kevin. The wedding would take place in 1982, and despite getting the car running again to use in the wedding, the car sat for the next 18 years while Kevin and new bride Sarah raised a family.
Once 2000 rang in, Kevin’s sons had gained an interest in cars. “We put a new engine in it, and raced it for a few years,” said Kevin. But then, life once again pushed the roadster to the back burner for another couple decades.
“It sat again until Covid,” said Kevin. “During that year, I finally gutted the interior and made it street legal.” With a mild 468 cubic inch big block Chevrolet making around 500 horsepower, and a Turbo 400 3-speed transmission between the frame rails, Kevin decided to enter the Miles of Mayhem in 2022.
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Miles of Mayhem is a drag-and-drive held in Canada, over a period of five days and four different tracks, driving over 1000 miles. “Up until this time, this car had never made more than two trips to our city, which is 25 miles away,” Kevin admitted. But the roadster completed Miles of Mayhem, and in Kevin’s words, “we never knew we could have so much fun in a car!”
The success convinced Kevin to tackle a bucket list item next, and this year we saw the red roadster in attendance at Sick Week. “It was always a dream, but it has far surpassed our expectations,” said Kevin. He competed in the Dial-Your-Own class, running a best of 11.16 during the week. Kevin is now enjoying the car so much, it’s seeing daily driver duties while Sarah and Kevin are on holiday in Florida.
Kevin plans to make a return to Miles of Mayhem once again in the summer of 2023, and continue to have fun with the roadster that’s been such a big part of his life. “Our car is a little beat up, hacked up car that some guy built to go road racing in 1961,” he said. “It even survived a tornado on our farm. But it's brought us more joy and memories than any car I have ever bought or built.”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Kevin Willms and Sick The Magazine.