Boston World of Wheels 2004

By Alison Hine

Traffic was at a virtual standstill southbound through the Big Dig in Boston on Sunday afternoon, January 11.

Wait a minute. A major traffic jam on Sunday? Where was everybody going?

The 2004 Boston World of Wheels auto show, that’s where! The biggest gathering of car nuts – and their cars – in the whole of New England.

A delighted potential FFR builder tries Rick Lacourse's FFR Roadster on for size!

Factory Five was there - and so were several of FFR’s most enthusiastic customers. These dedicated FFR builders had a great time proudly showing off their beautiful creations to the thousands of visitors who passed by the FFR display during the three days of the show.

One of the interesting things about these FFR owners and builders is that they all have extensive experience with cars, either building cars or components, or racing them, or both. These serious car guys all chose to build FFR cars.

Joe Leone

Joe Leone’s stunning FFR Roadster is painted House of Color Black Pearl, with contrasting metallic stripes. The deep black theme is carried on throughout the car, with carbon fiber mirrors, dash, and other accents throughout. These provide a striking contrast to the polished wheel and silver/clear coated side pipes.

Joe did the upholstery in black, and the trunk is finished inside just as beautifully as the interior. The car is equipped with an optional hardtop with flip-up side curtains. This lets him drive the car even in chilly New England weather! Joe completed the car in June and has already put 1200 miles on it.

Joe Leone with his gorgeous Black Pearl FFR Roadster

Joe’s a real estate developer by trade, and was the SCCA New England Region Formula 440 champion a few years ago. Joe also raced a Showroom Stock Mustang GT in the SCCA and also raced with EMRA. Like many successful racers (including six time World Champion Michael Schumacher!) Joe has a karting background. Joe clearly knows cars, and the fact that he chose a Factory Five for his personal ride says a lot about FFR’s engineering!

Rick Lacourse

Rick Lacourse is an automotive technician for a car dealer. He finished his luscious red FFR Roadster, FFR chassis number 1248, four years ago. This immaculate car has over 24,500 miles on it!

Rick built the engine to be as authentic as possible. It’s a 289 Hi-Po – not a 302 – built to vintage specs. Under the dual 4-barrel carburetors is a vintage aluminum manifold that Rick bought many years ago at a swap meet for a small fraction of its value today. He said, “I didn’t have a car that needed it then, but I knew someday I was going to build one.”

Rick Lacourse grins as he shows off his deep red FFR Roadster.

Rick’s car has a 3-link rear suspension for extra-precise handling, with 450 pound springs in front and 350 pound springs in the rear. PS Engineering Halibrand replicas hold up each corner. It’s one of the few FFR Roadsters around that’s equipped with an automatic transmission.

Rick painted the car himself, and did the vinyl static cling stripes that adorn the hood and trunk. He hasn’t raced it yet but he autocrosses it, and with that many miles on it, he clearly enjoys driving it a lot!

Bill Hough

Bill Hough is a longtime racer and car enthusiast. He raced his own Lotus Europa in SCCA races for many years, and also drove a Chevron B16. He’s run with COM Sports Car Club and in the Skip Barber Race series. Bill also happens to be a pilot.

Many years ago Bill worked at the famed racing fabrication shop Autodynamics in Marblehead, Massachusetts, where he worked on Sam Posey’s ferocious Caldwell D7 Can Am car. While at Autodynamics, Bill also helped build one of the earliest kit cars, a replica of a Lotus Elan built on a VW chassis and worked on a number of other serious race cars including Sam’s Porsche 904.

Bill Hough stands with Dave Smith's jewel-like FFR Type 65 Coupe. In the background are many of the enthusiastic show visitors.

So what is this serious car guy doing for fun now? He’s driving the very first customer built FFR Type 65 Coupe, that’s what! Bill built his FFR Coupe himself and drives on the street regularly, and he loves it.

The Coupe in the photo belongs to Factory Five president Dave Smith. It’s currently serving as the test bed for a slew of Roush performance parts, including a monster 402R 525 hp engine! Under the hood and all around the chassis it’s loaded with enough polished aluminum, chrome, and other dress-up goodies to make any car enthusiast drool.

Chris Richards

Chris Richards is perhaps the most passionate of all of the FFR builders at this show. Chris built his first FFR Roadster more than five years ago – and he loved it so much he gave up his job and started building them full time for other people!

Chris had a perfectly good career in the auto industry. His training was in auto electronics and restoration, and he worked at various times as a service manager, a tech rep, and as an auto restoration specialist.

Chris Richards with his latest FFR Roadster.

With this kind of background, Chris could do just about any job he wanted to in the auto business – and he chose to build FFR cars for a living!

Your World of Wheels!

If you were at the World of Wheels this year, chances are you caught the FFR display and feasted your eyes on these cars. Maybe you were even lucky enough to sit in one.

But what about your own dream car? Although some of these FFR builders had previous experience working on cars, many others who had never done more than check their own oil have built fantastic FFR cars.

If you take the plunge – or if you’ve already got your kit and you’re working away on completing it, keep the World of Wheels show in mind. Maybe next year or the year after that you could be the one watching hundreds of car nuts look at your car and wish they owned one just like it!

FFR wins 1st place at World of Wheels 2004 (click here)