( Now at age 76, I have closed the restoration shop and am selling off most of my personal car collection ) There are lots of new replicas... and many restored old 50's Hot Rods for sale.... but Original Survivors are few and hard to find If you are under the age of 50, you might think this is a RatRod ..... but that is not correct. There were no Ratrods in the 50's... we built Street Rods of various makes and shapes, with the iconic one being the 32 Ford " Deuce " in coupe or roadster form. . Be ***ured, no-one at the local car hop had a car that was intended to look like pieces of junk patched together... todays ratrod would be the laughing stock back then.. and that's not meant to be negative on the great rat creations of today's generation... different times ... different styles. I built my first East Coast HotRod in 1956, it was my second car, a 47 Chevy Fastback with a mean GMC 300 straight six "Jimmy". It's pictured on the race-cardrivers.com website. I have been around these cars for many many years, and I know you have heard "this is REAL" said many times, only to find another clone, replica, or cobbled together attempt at creating a nostalgic looking ride. But this car IS as real as it gets, INCLUDING Original PAINT , and a look under the seats and at the wiring behind the dash will quickly convince you that this is a Time Capsule, not a ratrod put together a few years ago. A REAL EastCoast " Deuce HotRod " in INCREDIBLE " AS BUILT" Condition Built in the Midwest 2 generations ago, it is just now out of a Private Collection in Florida. This car should be in a 50's American Hot Rod Museum, Painstakingly cared for in it's many years of storage and then kept in a private collection, the 59AB Flathead Ford motor starts easily and runs with no smoke or unusual noises... a sweet sounding Flathead, believed to have been built with a Clay Cam , Edelbrock Super Intake with dual 2bbl carbs and log exhaust with pipes, this is a real sweet sounding motor that runs nicely, and will only run better as it continues to be driven . We have looked over this car VERY carefully... Since it's original build, we find nearly everything to be original, with 'newer' tires dated in the 70's and a few later mods : a Powermaster PowerGen Alternator , Halogen headlight bulbs, and Pertronix Ignition hidden in the Crab Distributor. Also we just added a new Hi Torq geared starter, as the original one was pretty tired, added 2 sets of lap belts to cover the Law, and have just gotten a new aluminum radiator. The original Big Buick radiator comes with the car, but has a small leak. Built on a very modified '41 Ford frame, it's registration certificate 99Z1637 showed it was last registered as a 1941 Ford by the same person for 30 years in Indianapolis, before being sold to a collector 11 years ago. Now once again in full daylight, and before even being washed, we took it for it's first street ride April 28, 2018 with a camera 'mounted' to record the event..... you can tell on you tube, how it drives on a divided 4 lane There was NO disappointment in the first ride. The engine pulled well, especially since it ran on 'old'gas, as could be told by the distinctive smell, and surely the engine has not had a tuneup in many years either. The column shift is smooth and it is easy to change gears, the clutch worked easily, as did the brakes, even though they have not been serviced either. Not bad, for the first highway ride in many years. The steering wheel was changed to the one on the car sometime in the last dozen or so years. The bigger black steering wheel is with the car, but I doubt you will use it. The headlights work. Water pumps don't leak. Rear tail lights are 1950/51 Buick. Bumper too, I think. Yes there is a top, shown in one of the pictures when it was in storage. Steering is very good, and the car does not pull or drift . Brakes work well. Oil pressure is good, engine does not smoke or make unusual noises. Transmission shifts properly into all gears, both up and down shifting, but occasionally comes out of 2nd if decellerating. Clutch is fine, but could use a new one if you will be drag racing it. The car street drives VERY well, but you should expect to flush systems , change fluids etc, and other post storage servicing and detailed cleaning. .. here is a current walk-around video with the motor running https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=0koMDbv3jdg Currently REGISTERED and insured in Alabama making transfers and export anywhere easy, AND also comes with the previous owner's INDIANA registration going back to the 1970's which verifys the current registration data.
The Jalopy Journal
