Words Luke Ray & Frank Napoli Photography Luke Ray

LR: A couple of months ago, I snatched a Focus RS from Ford Australia H.Q. and headed off on a fun roadtrip to hang out in a field with lots of Model As.

Amongst all the awesomeness of the Ford Model A 90th Birthday event was Frank Napoli’s 1928 Tudor. I could see that the car was recently built and it sat there, hugging the ground coated in fresh, minty-green paint and an exposed big block.

I just had to find out more, so I pulled Frank aside and we did a speed-shoot at the back of the campgrounds. Over to you, Frank...

FN: My name’s Frank Napoli, I'm based in Picton, New South Wales. I got the body for this project about seven or eight months ago. It's a dream car of mine, the ‘28 Model Tudor. I had a 1937 truck which I sold to get this. I bought the body and made it into what it is today.

It’s a steel body, I bought it from Brett Ford in Melbourne. It’s chopped and channeled; chopped about four inches and channeled about four and a half. It was all done before I bought the body. I bought the body and the chassis as they are now, then I did everything else myself.

I put a 454 big block in it with a two-speed Powerglide. A friend of mine was selling the engine. I knew how good the engine was, so I jumped on it real quick.

My brother Joe Napoli from Naps Tuff Street did some bodywork and then painted the car for me. It’s a look that I always wanted, so I’m happy for it to be what it is today. The color is two-tone pond green with forest moss green. I felt that these pastel colours were right for the year of the car.

I made the interior myself with an aeroplane bomber cockpit look. I did all the bead rolling myself on the seats, door trims, kick panels, and the dash itself. The gauges are from Classic Instruments, they fit the look of the car perfectly.