This 1947 Ford belly tank racer was built by a young woman during WWII. She had dreams of racing it one day, but unfortunately she was never able to fulfill her dream. For some unknown reason, the car was sealed up in a secret room in the basement of a mill. There it sat for decades until it was discovered in 2007.

It’s a good story, uh? Well, that is because it was made up by some guy for his college thesis project. Randy Regier is an artist and obviously a car guy, so when it came time to do his final project, he came up with this. He created the story and pieced together the car.

It is period correct though, so there might actually be some value here besides the apparent artistic worth. He even went so far as recreating the secret room where it was unearthed.

This creation was purchased by a collector after its museum debut and was apparently lost for a while, so this could be considered a replica of a barn find that then became a barn find. Bizarre…

The body was crafted from a real aircraft drop tank and the engine is a 1947 Gray Marine straight six. It was originally fitted to a boat, but was good for 112 horsepower. Being a marine engine, it spun the opposite direction, but the Model A axle was flipped by an attentive builder to compensate for that fact.

A ton of work went into this project. We appreciate the creativity and all the authentic details, but we would rather drive it than showcase it as a work of art. The seller claims that it could be made to run with some work and we think that is when the fun would really begin. Take a look at the eBay auction here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1940s-Belly-Tank-Dirt-Track-Race-Car-Lost-Drop-Tank-Circle-Track-Ford-Chevy-/130921483328?ViewItem=&item=130921483328&forcev4exp=true

Read more at http://www.barnfinds.com/1947-ford-belly-tank-racer/#JS5vIY7mYdKamERC.99