This Ford Hot Rod Might be the World’s Fastest Phone Booth

BOLD RIDE

Copyright © 2016 Bold Ride LLC.

 

Posted by Zach Doell 

 

                               

                                       

Hot rods, by definition, are a bit wild. They’re big on power, big on noise, and unmistakable in appearance. This jaw-dropping Ford hot rod is certainly no exception to the rule. It packs a rumbling V8, stubby little exhaust pipes, and oh yeah… it’s a phone booth, and likely a fast one at that! 

 

The odd-looking hot rod, known as the “Telephone Rod,” was once a Ford Model T, but it’s safe to say those days are long gone. Now the phone-booth-on-wheels has surfaced on eBay in Moritzburg, Germany, and it’s asking an opening bid of $29,000. Talk about one expensive car-phone.

According to the current owner, the Telephone Rod’s story begins back in the late 1970s as it was the creation of Canadian custom car builder Gerry Nimz. Its first public appearance came at the Canadian International Car Show, followed by appearances at various other North American events, before flying to Germany in 1981 for the famous Essen Motor Show. There it rubbed elbows with celebrities and the press alike, and apparently it never left.

 

A classic car collector purchased a large number of the hot rods on display at the show, effectively removing them from the public eye for years, including the equally bizarre Wine Barrel Hot Rod. Sadly, the private collector has since passed away, but now their collection is once again getting to see the light of day.

And surprisingly after all these years, the phone booth’s engine still runs; in fact, the big block General Motors V8 is said to be quite the howler. The burly eight affixes giant velocity stacks and four carburetors, however this was the ’70s and ‘80s we’re talking about. Horsepower is estimated at around 380 hp.

A three-speed TH350 automatic transmission funnels that power to a set of hefty Goodyear drag slicks. Appropriately, the rod’s gas pedal has been swapped out for a phone receiver. Brilliant. Along those lines, the booth, which is itself a vintage 1970s North Electric model, still retains its original phone and phonebook.

It’s a car that clearly falls into the “you don’t see that everyday” category, and for that we can all be thankful to have caught a glimpse.