I'm not exactly a Luddite, let's just say I am slow to embrace (or trust) the latest widgets.
@Smokin Joe I have,and normally drive my modern 4x4 pu these days because I have been having health and strength/mobility issues,and it has ps,auto trans,and air-conditioning.
If my health were better,my normal daily ride would be my flathead 6 cylinder 1951 Ford business coupe. The modern pu is nice and comfortable,but it doesn't make me smile while driving down the road and it doesn't make me want to do a little "happy dance" when I walk out of the house and see it parked in the yard.
I recently found and bought a finned aluminum Knudsen high-compression head for it (ALMOST akin to finding a needle in a haystack these days) ,with the matching 3 carb intake. I already had 3 glass bowl Holley 1brl carbs for it. Took me over 3 years to find a head for sale,and this was with haunting the old race car,junk yards,and parts suppliers on a daily basis. Ironically enough,I found it on ebay,and immediately hit the buy it now button.
I had no trouble at all finding brand new high-compression heads for the 251 DeSoto flathead 6 engine I am putting in my 33 Dodge 4dr sedan,or the 230 engine in my 42 Dodge business coupe. You can buy them any day of the week by just picking up a phone. Everybody that bought a old Ford to hot rod back in the 50's bought one with a flathead V-8,though. Flathead V-8 high performance and dress up parts are as easy to find as it is finding that stuff for small block chevy's. Most people didn't even know that Ford HAD a flathead 6 as standard in some year cars,and had never heard of or seen one. Ironically enough,the flat 6 with a 1brl carb on the stock engine had more torque than the V-8,and would turn faster times in a drag race. The flathead V-8 with the stock 2brl carb only had 10 more hp than the single carb flat 6. Put a 2x1 or 3x1 intake on a flat 6,and it suddenly had more torque AND more horsepower than the V-8.
The flat 6 Fords were more popular for boat racing than the V-8's,though. Clay Smith was a 17 year old kid working in his father's machine shop when Henry Ford attended a race back in 47 or 48,and thought the kids boat seemed to be turning up a lot of RPM's,so he wandered down to the shore to talk with him about it. Come to find out this 17 year old had a flathead 6 Ford engine turning up 7,000 RPM,and not exploding. Ford asked him how he did this,the kid told him,and Ford gave him a consulting contract with Ford on the spot,sealed with a handshake. That was how the Clay Smith Camshaft Company came about. Henry Ford was so smart he realized he not only didn't know everything,but he even knew there were people out there smarter than him,and that he needed to hire these people where ever he found them.
Soon I hope to be smiling even wider as I tool down the road listening to the sweet,sweet sounds of a inline six that is cammed up,has 3 carbs and a high compression head,and is playing it's tunes through dual straight pipes with glass packs. I may never turn the radio on.