A 2006 Audi S4 built for the track and a 550 horsepower 1965 Ford Galaxie waiting to be put into orbit are both sitting in Tom Welles’ garage. But those cars would never have been possible without a 1951 DeSoto Custom that he restored from the ground up and sold for a profit.

When Welles, a junior aerospace engineering major, bought the DeSoto, it had been sitting in a barn for 30 to 35 years without moving an inch.

“All the tires were locked up, the trim was off the car, and the car wasn’t running,” Welles said.

However, within about a year and a half, he had the car running strong and in showroom quality condition, eventually selling it for a $6,500 profit.

Even though Welles’ work often ends up with a good payoff, it’s not the only reason he’s in the game of restoring cars.

“I love taking something that is currently broken, dirty and dingy and restoring it back to its former glory,” Welles said.

While dirty and dingy might describe his restoration process, Welles’ German sports sedan is quite the opposite. The Audi is Welles’ daily drive here in Syracuse. When he’s not working on his start-up drone and aerospace technologies company, you can find him out in his S4.

The Audi is an extremely professional build with one purpose in mind: speed. Everything has been tinkered with and adjusted exactly to Welles’ desires, as his modifications list is years long.

To keep the list short, he’s swapped out most of the engine’s stock internals for upgraded aftermarket parts, added bigger brakes with steel braided lines, and implemented a full H&R racing coil-over system and forged wheels.

One can only have so much fun on the streets, so Welles takes his car a step further and heads to the racetrack. While at school, he only has time for autocross events, but during the summer he competes in time trial competitions where he attempts to set the fastest lap around the track.

Welles has his racing permit and is currently working toward his wheel-to-wheel license. Once he receives the license, he’ll compete in actual grand touring sedan races.

Life doesn’t just revolve around the Audi for Welles. In addition to that ongoing project, he’s cooking up something even bigger. Welles is working on another complete restoration of a car, this time a 1965 Ford Galaxie 500XL 2-door convertible.

But instead of just restoring it and making it look new again, Welles has decided he’s going to make this car better than when it rolled off the Ford factory floor. To start, he’s decided to make this a frame-off restoration and take every nut and bolt off the car.

Though it sounds like a big job, that’s basic in comparison to what he’s done to the engine. Instead of using the 289-cubic inch motor that came with the car, Welles decided to build his own 390-cubic inch motor. He put every feasible upgrade into this engine and it has been dyno rated at 550 horsepower.

Welles has big dreams for his future in the automotive world. One day, he hopes to help design the aerodynamic packaging for a Formula One car and keep building anything he can.

Said Welles: “I have the drive to go fast; I love speed.”

Published on February 3, 2016 at 9:18 pm

Contact: zipalmer@syr.edu