Customer Profile Rob Byrnes

Novi, MI, FFR 3601

Forum name – LancAir IV

With the exposure Rob received from his extended family, it’s no wonder that he caught the fever early in life.

The combination of a detail-oriented grandfather, a father with a penchant for flying, and a speed freak of an uncle, meant that Rob had the opportunity to learn all ends of the spectrum.  That has paid off measurably in his previous projects, as well as his Factory Five roadster.

Rob is one of those guys that seems to have done it all.

Between his first project, a 1968 Mustang Convertible restoration, and FFR 3601, a full non-donor build, Rob has enjoyed:

helping out on several airplane builds

assisting his uncle set five land speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats in a Merkur XR4Ti (2.3L turbo)

Robert has no plans to best his uncle’s 205 mph, but does plan to use his Roadster the way we intended – to drive it!

In his words: 

The car went together like a model.  In a little under 16 months … we started her up.  What a rush!

We must have put 20 miles on the go-cart that day.  We knew we over did it when one of Novi’s finest showed up to inform us that someone had complained.  Over the next few months, we reinstalled the body, installed all the trim less carpeting, got the Novi police out for the inspection, and acquired the appropriate insurance. On December 1, 2003 I registered the car with the State of Michigan, and she was done! 

It was cold that day, but (my son) and I sure had fun driving it around.  Boy did we get funny looks.

What the heck – there was no snow on the ground yet, the heater worked well, and we needed to get gas.

I have attended five car shows this year, winning 1st place in three of them and a 2^nd place in an All-Ford Show. 

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