Jim Sartori's 1940 Ford Coupe is not just a pretty face. It runs 10.30s at the drags and we see daylight under that left front tire. Sartori is a '40 Ford freak who has several examples in his collection, this one was our favorite, head through the photo gallery to find out why. You can also watch action video at http://www.bangshift.com/blog/Car-Feature-Jim-Sartori-s-Aluminum-FE-Powered-1940-Ford-Deluxe-Coupe.html

With one of the most iconic shapes in hot rodding, the 1940 Ford coupe is a great platform to build off of. This beauty started life as an all original, 55,000-mile car that Jim bought out of Oklahoma. Over the course of about a year and a half it went from that to this. The car blends a near perfect stance, some modern parts, and a classic hot rod vibe to stop you in your tracks.

The body went to Jim Lowrey's Auto Restoration in Tilton, New Hampshire, to be loved on. Lowrey's shop is known for turning out amazing hot rods, like concourse quality stuff, and their work shows here. We all know how hard black paint is to do, and this car is absolutely flawless in the paint and body department.

One of the subtle modifications made to the body at Lowrey's shop was to stretch the rear wheelwells 4 inches in order for the tire to fit and to maintain the stance that Sartori had envisioned. Unless you are a pro judge, you'd never know. The Torq-Thrust wheels work very well here.

It's the stance that we're so obsessed with. The car rides on a set of factory frame rails that have been boxed. The frame is narrowed 4 inches on either side in the rear and the rear suspension is a custom built ladder bar set up by Tube Chassis Designz. It uses Strange springs and coil-over shocks and Strange brakes are used all around. Up front, it's the factory original beam axle and leaf springs. Jim reports that on the strip, the car needs to be driven the whole length of the track and it like to nose around some on the top end. Jim's son races an 8-second Mustang and likes that ride better than this 10-second '40!

The fenderwell headers that play the wonderful music of the big FE motor were custom built by Tubular Automotive of Rockland, Massachusetts.

The Strange disc brakes are a major league upgrade over the factory drums. Those modern stoppers are hung on the end of a beam axle that is original to the car. When quizzing Jim about the car, we got into the front suspension. He said, "Stock" and we said, "HUH?!"

All that is needed to make this car street legal is a pair of license plates. Jim said it will hit the streets when its racing days are over. Don't cry for him though, he has at least three more '40's that are street legal.

Nope, that vintage logo is not floating in black liquid. It's just the level of perfection reached by Jim Lowrey's shop, which did the paint and body work to the car.

Sure, it's a trunk handle to most, but if you are a hot rodder, this is art!

These little nerf bars at the back of the car are perfect. A chrome bumper would not have fit the look and a body colored bumper would have been lame. This is the perfect solution.

This New England Dragway win sticker has a neat history behind it. Jim was working on getting the drag racing hook set into his son, so he took the kid up to the track with him on weekend. Upon arrival at the track Jim told him that his back was sore and that he would have to drive the car. Although he had never sat in it before he took the challenge and went on to win the stinkin' race! He's talented and we have personal experience of being humiliated by him on go karts.

We dare you to find a flaw. It'll be the rest of your life before you do.

Ford added sealed headlights and a fixed windshield to the 1940 Deluxe models. Other than that they were virtually unchanged from their 1939 debut models.

Here's the iron-free FE. It has been bored and stroked to 485ci. The motor uses Shelby aluminum block CSX# 741, a Scat crank, Scat Rods, Ross 12.5:1 pistons, a Comp 0.660-lift roller cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM aluminum heads, a factory 427 high riser dual-quad intake, and a pair of Chuck Nyutten tuned 750 Holley carbs. It made 610 hp on the dyno.

The engine bay in these cars is larger than outward looks would make you think, but fenderwell headers help fit the FE. The fender well jobbies have the right look and man do they make a nice sound!

Small air cleaners are used so the hood did not have to be hacked. We dig that!

Ignition is all MSD.

The interior is a tight fit. These cars are small inside, no way around that. The Kirkey racing seats certainly look badder-asser, but sitting in one for a couple of hours may not be the most enjoyable experience.

That's one hell of an expensive steering wheel. This is the correct wheel for the car and they are not growing on trees. The whole motif would have been for naught if a modern wheel were used. This one rules.

The speedo needle spends most of it's time buried on the other side of the gauge.

This Quarter-Stick is used to shift a FB Transmissions built Powerglide that is equipped with a 1.80 first gear.There is a 9-inch, 4,800-stall converter built by PTC in the mix as well.

The motor makes peak power at 6,800 rpm, so we're guessing that the shift light is set to come on right around there.

Modern but not obtrusive, these gauge pods are set to allow Jim to spot trouble at a moment's notice in the event of an engine failure.

The fuel tank was built by Triangle engineering. The fuel pump is a Magnafuel 500 and the battery is an Optima red top. What can't really be seen is the hand formed wrap around firewall at the back of the passenger compartment built by Tube Chassis Designz.