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The Flathead Movie Overview

Hot rod builder and award-winning filmmaker Brian Darwas talks with the world’s top engine builders and fabricators in A Sweet Sickness: The Flathead Movie. In a relatively short film, Darwas introduces us to Ryan Cochran of the Jalopy Journal, along with Vern Hammond and Jack Carroll of The Burbank Choppers.

Ford’s iconic flathead V8 is arguably the very first hot rod motor. Not only did it have enough power and grunt, but it was easy to modify with aftermarket equipment. If you don’t know the whole story or want a refresher, A Sweet Sickness: The Flathead Movie will do the job in under an hour.

If you are a “give it to me straight” type of gearhead, you will appreciate this about The Flathead Movie. It starts right when you hit play. The film moves from engine builder to hot rodder to machinist and so on.

To the credit of Darwas, all in the movie are seriously into flatheads with a genuine appreciation and interest for cars. There are no armchair quarterbacks here. Subject matter experts, who gained their knowledge working with their hands, are the stars of A Sweet Sickness.

This is what a typical Southern California ’32 Ford looked like. This one was photographed in 1962 at fifth-mile drags in Virginia Beach, Virginia, running 79.53 miles per hour in the 14s. Owned by Joe Montgomery, its power came from a 100-horsepower, 292-inch flathead with a single carb. From the book Ford Total Performance by Martyn L. Schorr, published by Motorbooks.

Hanging With The Guys

A Sweet Sickness: The Flathead Movie plays out like you happened into a shop in the middle of the day. There are no big introductions, no overall schemes, or pomp and circumstance. 

I find documentaries like this enjoyable. I love reality TV car shows, especially ones where people are working under the hood. It reminds me of being a kid, growing up, and hanging out in the garage with my dad and uncles. I would watch as they disassembled this or that or fit a new such and such into its rightful home.

A Sweet Sickness is similar to the kind of experience many of us had in the garage with our older family members. You get to see inside one of history’s great engines and learn the differences between variations of flatheads. Despite the short runtime, some older assembly techniques are covered, along with some very nice hot rods.

One of the more interesting things about A Sweet Sickness is its soundtrack. Two kinds of songs are used: straight-up roots rock and hardcore punk. The roots stuff sounds like Drive-By Truckers, and the punk stuff sounds like ’80s vintage SoCal hardcore.

Should You Watch The Flathead Movie?

It’s important to note that A Sweet Sickness is a different breed of film when compared to what might typically qualify for the “best car movie” designation. While non-car people can enjoy some of those films, The Flathead Movie is for those who already belong to the group, as it were.

If you are just getting into the hobby of collecting and restoration, A Sweet Sickness can be viewed as a masterclass, where the younger crowds can learn from the more experienced on camera (for example, there is a part on how to find a good block).

If you have a long lunch break one day, consider watching it on your phone. As of this writing, A Sweet Sickness: The Flathead Movie is currently available for rent or purchase on Amazon Prime. Commissions from Amazon come to us at no additional cost to you when making a purchase through that link.

Longtime Automoblog writer Tony Borroz has worked on popular driving games as a content expert, in addition to working for aerospace companies, software giants, and as a movie stuntman. He lives in the northeast corner of the northwestern-most part of the Pacific Northwest.

Original article: A Sweet Sickness: This Flathead Movie is Old School Gearhead Fun