Hot Rod Made Out Of WWII Plane Fuel Tank

Meet Joe Alessandrino, a man with a garage where he likes to make hot rods from scratch in some cases. One such case is the one we found a video of below which is made out of a P-47 Thunderbolt fuel tank.

Joe bought this 150-gallon monstrosity back in 2010 and wanted to fit it with a Chevy V8 engine, something his friends basically laughed at. A seasoned builder, Joe wasn’t phased and just looked forward to proving them wrong.

After just a few years, he figured out how to fit the engine in there, what drivetrain to use and lo and behold the beast in the video below. Although it looks a bit sketchy to drive, the guys who test drove it really loved the way it felt on the road.

For all you gearheads out there, here are the full specs of this build:

Body:

• P-47 Thunderbolt 150 gallon fuel tank

Chassis:

• custom frame 2×4 tubing
• 0.120 wall or thicker
• holds 12 gallons of coolant

Suspension:

• front – Austin-Healey Sprite, springs made for 1,200 lb car
• rear – ladder bars, Nuespeed coilovers with 115 lb springs

Engine:

• Chevy 350 ci V8
• New World S/R heads
• mild camshaft

Drivetrain:

• Muncie four-speed manual
• GM rear end with 3.07 gears

Brakes:

• front – Austin-Healey Sprite disc brakes
• rear – 10.5 vented disc brakes

Cooling:

• chassis holds 12 gallons of coolant
• 2 x Bus double pass heater cores
• 2 x 10″ electric fans
• large oil cooler

Watch the video below to hear Joe talk about his build and fire her up.