Ah, to be different. That is exactly what Chuck Boyle of Reseda, CA thought when he decided to build this ’32 Ford Roadster in the early 1980s.

While others were putting small block gas engines in these classic autos, he had an unusual and extraordinary idea: why not put a diesel under the hood? And what diesel would be the best choice?
As a heavy truck operator, Boyle learned to appreciate the power and efficiency that diesel engines offered. At the time Boyle decided to pursue his diesel-powered roadster idea in the early 1980s, he chose GM’s infamously unreliable 5.7L V8 diesel. After witnessing the unpredictable nature of these engines due to a 5,000-mile bottom-end failure in his wife’s ’78 Cadillac Seville, the diesel provided him with a unique challenge. The task at hand: make a better motor. He was determined to prove that the problem-child engine could be made to do what diesels fundamentally do, last. Described as an “odd-ball perfectionist” by his friend Mike Nelson, Boyle knew that putting the engine in a custom ’32 Ford Roadster built from the ground up would set him apart from the rest of the crowd… (to be continued)