Debuted at the 2018 March Meet, Kamaka Pocock's 1948 Ford Anglia is a head-turnin' crowd pleaser.
Manufactured by Ford UK and sold in Europe and Australia between 1939 and 1967, the Ford Anglia is a compact runabout you don’t often see cruising around streets of modern-day America, let alone tearing down seven-second passes at its drag strips.
That’s why it was perfect for the Pococks. “My dad and I have always been into the odd and different cars to try and separate ourselves from the crowd,” explains Kamaka Pocock. “There are so many beautiful Novas, Camaros, and other drag cars out there – we wanted to be different.”
As the owner and operator of Born Again Vintage, a shop in Bakersfield, California that specializes in high-end hot rods and custom fabrication, Kamaka has achieved that rare feat of turning one’s passion into a profession. “I own the business with my buddy Broc Hopkins,” he says. “We have worked together for the past five years, and it has always been a dream of ours to own a shop. We were finally able to make it happen in November of 2017. One of our most recent builds – a white 1969 Camaro – made the cover of Super Chevy magazine.”
Suffice to say that Kamaka is pretty handy in the garage. But as it turns out, sometimes scoring a car that’s ready for show time and pushes all the right buttons can be just as good as building it yourself. “I wish I could take credit for building The Boogeyman, but the car came up on our radar a few years ago from a builder out of North Carolina,” Kamaka tells us. “As soon as we saw the ‘48, we knew it was the car for us.”
He also explained that while he grew up around the sport, Kamaka is still something of a rookie behind the wheel. “I’ve only been racing for about a year now,” he says. “We also have a 1959 Anglia that I was running before The Boogeyman, and I ran that car at a hand full of local events here in Bakersfield.”
As you may have surmised from the photos, The Boogeyman doesn’t share a whole lot with an original, 70-year-old Anglia. The tube chassis racer is motivated by a small-block Chevy with a BDS 8.71 blower injected on alcohol that was built by Spike Gorr of Gorr Fuel Systems in Lake Havasu, AZ, and dishes out roughly 1,200 horsepower. “The JE pistons we’re using have been working out awesome so far!” Kamaka says. “Gregg Suyenaga got me the best of the best when it comes to the pistons.”
That potent SBC is hooked to a Powerglide transmission from Transmission Specialties and sends the grunt to the rear wheels via third member from Strange Engineering, who also supplies The Boogeyman’s axles and suspension. Power gets to the ground through Mickey Thompson slicks, which are wrapped around American Racing wheels.
“March Meet 2018 was our first race of the season in the Boogeyman,” Kamaka tells us. “It was a shakedown event for me and the car. We are looking to compete in A/Gas, which is a 7.60 index class. We were able to get in 4 runs at the March Meet with a personal best of 7.92.”
Kamaka says they already have a plan in place to knock down those extra tenths. “We just put a brand new BDS blower on it and are looking to turn the power up and get to our number,” he says. “Our next race will be at the end of April for the ANRA season opener.”
