WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS HOT ROD

Bruce Meyer donates the WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS HOT ROD – ’32 Ford McGee Roadster – to the Petersen Automotive Museum.

WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS HOT ROD

“The McGee Roadster is so much more than just a car. It is the symbol of an entire era and generation of innovative hot rodders,” said Terry Karges, right, executive director of the Petersen. “We are honored by Bruce’s donation and proud to preserve this piece of history.”

Constructed by noted hot rod builder Bob McGee, the McGee Roadster introduced an aesthetic that quickly became nearly ubiquitous in the roadster community. This popular hot rod will become part of the Petersen’s permanent collection.

The Petersen and the McGee Roadster share an origin story that stems from HOT ROD Magazine, founded by Robert E. Petersen in 1948. The McGee Roadster’s popularity skyrocketed after appearing on the cover of HOT ROD, the first street car to do so. Petersen’s subsequent success in publishing allowed him to launch one of the world’s finest automotive museums in 1994.

“Hot rods are vital to the entire automotive industry, and Robert Petersen is the man who really brought hot rodding to the people. This car is an important piece of automotive history, and there is no more worthy destination than the Petersen Automotive Museum,” said Meyer, who is also founding chairman of the Petersen.

WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS HOT RODThe iconic roadster has raced on the Bonneville Salt Flats, served as a daily driver and originated many of the design cues synonymous with hot rodding. McGee, who started working on the roadster in 1947, created the signature look with plenty of customization, including lowered suspension, larger Lincoln Zephyr rear wheels, a three-piece louvered hood, peaked and filled grille shell, hidden door hinges and shaved door handles all painted bright red with a custom interior.

In 1956, McGee sold the roadster to Dick Scritchfield, a legendary So-Cal hot rodder and staffer at HOT ROD.  He had contacts in the film industry, and started leasing the car to movie producers and television shows for use in their productions. Repainted by a friend using Candy Apple Red paint and silver Metalflake, the roadster also became the first non-experimental Metalflake paint job in the industry. Over the following years, the car underwent many additional modifications before Bruce Meyer restored it to its original 1948 configuration in the late-1990s.

The McGee Roadster paved the way for hot rodding’s entrance into mainstream culture. It appeared in many films and classic television shows, such as Happy Days, Dragnet and Fantasy Island, helped it become an icon for a generation.It was featured on the U.S. Postal Service’s Hot Rods Forever commemorative stamp in 2014; designed by Derry Noyes and digitally rendered by graphic artist John Mattos.  The roadster has also been shown and won in its current configuration at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the Grand National Roadster Show. On April 12, 2017, the McGee Roadster became the only hot rod added to the National Historic Vehicle Register.
Check out the Legend of the McGee Roadster, WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS HOT ROD @https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS9ty4DpAVg

The WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS HOT ROD is currently on display in the Ross & Beth Myers Gallery at the Petersen Automotive Museum. For more information about the Petersen, please visit https://www.petersen.org/

ORIGINAL ’32 FORD V-8 COUPE!

No one car celebrates hot-rodding more than the ’32 Ford. And this preserved, not restored, classic Deuce coupe powered by its original Buick V-8 deserves to be the ‘poster’ car for hot rod history. ‘Best Preserved’ is how Rod & Custom historian Pat Ganahl describes this ORIGINAL ’32 FORD V-8 COUPE!

ORIGINAL ’32 FORD DEUCE COUPE!

There’s no better word for it. I looked in the Thesaurus. Of all the hot rods I’ve seen – and that’s a lot – I’ve never seen any better preserved in its original condition than this one. I’m not talking rebuilt, restored, dug out of a barn, or saved in a hermetically sealed collection. This Buick-powered, metallic blue, hot rodded Deuce coupe is exactly the same as it appeared in a feature in the November 1963 Rod & Custom, as well as when Dale Mack built it in Glendora, CA in 1956. And, perhaps more amazing, it’s been running and driving the whole time!

This is one of the cars I showed two columns ago, in beautiful black and white, when we were studying early 1960s (and late 1950s) hot rods. Shortly after that column ran, I got an email from Christopher Ostlund from Big River, CA (just across the Colorado from Lake Havasu, AZ), saying “That Dale Mack ’32 coupe you showed in your column is sitting in my garage.”  Of course, I was intrigued, but not overly hopeful. Lots of people have told me they had a “famous old hot rod” hidden in their garage, barn, backyard, whatever, and hardly ever has it been any sort of gem or treasure. Well, look at the two photos above. This is a gem, a treasure, an incredibly preserved piece of hot rod history. And we haven’t even gotten to some of the best parts, yet.

Continue reading best preserved ORIGINAL ’32 FORD V-8 COUPE! @ https://patganahl.com/2021/12/13/best-preserved/

DUECE COUPE: OLD SCHOOL; NEW SCHOOL!

DUECE COUPE: OLD SCHOOL; NEW SCHOOL!

Ronnie Staples’ flamed classic ’32 Ford has gone through a number of engine-transmission combos over the years, but it’s all sorted out now and ready for serious cruising thanks to a modern five-speed.

DUECE COUPE: OLD SCHOOL; NEW SCHOOL!DUECE COUPE: OLD SCHOOL; NEW SCHOOL!Ronnie Staples is a serious carguy with a very large garage filled with Pro Touring customs and hot rods that he drives as well as shows. His collecting mantra is simple: NO TRAILER QUEENS! Some are designed and engineered to “bring back the good old days”, while others feature state-of-the-art billet fabrication. All, except those still under construction, are plated, insured and road-ready.

One of his favorite hot rods is this flamed, chopped ’32 Ford five-window coupe powered by a stroked and supercharged Flathead. Its top was chopped three inches and the roof section filled. Originally built in the late-1990s by Ohio-based hot-rodder, Greg Steiner and it was powered by a 302-inch Ford with three two-barrel carbs backed up by a C4 automatic. One of Ronnie Staples’s friends purchased it at the Goodguys event in Charlotte, NC in 1998. He swapped the 302 Ford for a vintage Joe Smith Automotive Flathead with a ¾-race Potvin camshaft and a new B&M blower topped with three Holley 94 two-barrels on an adapter. Unfortunately, he retained the C4 automatic.

In 2002 Staples saw that the coupe was for sale and road tested it. “No power to say the least,” said Staples. “Two of the carbs were blocked off, so the blower was pushing air through two butterflies, less an one-inch-diameter each. He saw the potential and made the buy. And, he has never looked back!

DUECE COUPE: OLD SCHOOL; NEW SCHOOL!DUECE COUPE: OLD SCHOOL; NEW SCHOOL!One of the first decisions Staples made after purchasing it was to sort out the powertrain by modifying and machining the engine and mating it to a modern five-speed. Rod and custom craftsman Mike Griffin, at his shop in Sarasota, FL, executed the Chevy S10 five-speed transmission conversion, fabricated new engine mounts and worked on a number of detail body and paint modifications. While out of the car, Griffin epoxy and K36 primed, then painted the Flathead block and finned aluminum heads Torch Red.

NO TRAILER QUEENS!What appears to be STAPLES finned aluminum heads on the vintage late-1940s Flathead are actually from Offenhauser. The Offy logo was milled off and replaced with composite letters that Staples had found on eBay! Engine displacement is 255 cubic inches thanks to a four-inch-stroke Mercury crank. Bore diameter is stock 3 3/16-inch. A pair of leaned-out Stromberg Super 97 carbs from Speedway Motors tops off the billet Roots positive-displacement supercharger, custom built for Staples by an old high school buddy in Virginia, Donnie “Duck” Townsen. “Duck is an artist with his CNC machinery and can make almost anything, including cutting my name into the lower sides of the custom blower housing,” said Staples.

The unique twin-V-belt blower is over-driven 100-percent (3-inch blower pulley, 6-inch crank pulley) and makes 6 ½-pounds boost. Staples estimates a 50 horsepower increase over stock. With a 3.55 Posi rear, cruising at 75 mph in 5th gear, the stroked Flathead is running at just 2,300 rpm. Acceleration is outstanding thanks to a very low First gear.

DUECE COUPE: OLD SCHOOL; NEW SCHOOL!DUECE COUPE: OLD SCHOOL; NEW SCHOOL!Since there’s not a lot of room in a chopped ’32 Ford coupe, the rear package shelf was removed and the seats relocated rearward. Tracks were removed from the seats and seats were bolted directly to the floor. JR’s Upholstery, Venice, FL, is responsible for the custom “very” red interior. The ’31 Cadillac dash bezel was salvaged from junkyard back when Greg Steiner was building the hot rod.

Sammy Long, with some help from Ronnie Staples, redid the chassis and suspension for increased suspension travel, improved ride and handling. The frame was C-notched to bring the car down approximately one-inch and the old crossmember was cut out and replaced with a tubular mounting for adjustable coil-over shocks. Dropped I-beam front axle, finned brakes, chrome tube shocks, and filled grille shell look as good today as they did in the 1950s!

DUECE COUPE: OLD SCHOOL; NEW SCHOOL!Ronnie Staples is a member of the Sarasota Café Racers and these photos were taken at the group’s carguy events and lunches. For more information about the Sarasota Café Racers and its satellites here and abroad, please visit http://www.sarasotacaferacers.com/home.html

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