History My Grandfather's 32 Roadster, A True 50's Hot Rod

Some of you may have seen my post on the Roadsters Only page on Facebook about my grandfathers roadster. It was suggested that I go to the HAMB to share this cars story and our progress as we get it running.

My grandfather bought this car from a kid in the early 50's in Albuquerque. From the few stories what we have gathered, this kid was on a pit crew who raced against the Unser brothers. That part may or may not be true, but I thought I would share it anyways. This car is a true 50's hot rod build that has not been touched in 60 years. My dad remembers riding in it when he was really young, and then it was put away. We're not really sure why he stopped driving it We can see that my grandpa had enough sense to pull the radiator hose. It was last registered in 1962 in New Mexico. And there it sat in a car port, until last month.

Apparently somebody in Santa Fe knew about the car. Every couple of years this old timer would stop by the house and ask if he could buy it. He offered a reasonable amount of cash, and was never successful in acquiring it.

Flash forward to 2021. My father was living in Louisville Colorado when the Marshall Fire struck. It ripped across the landscape and within a couple of hours 1000's of homes had burned, including our family home. Inside of the garage was my dad's favorite car, his 72 Datsun 240z. The home and everything in it was a loss. At the time of the fire the Z was uninsured, and the homeowners insurance refused to reimburse it. A total loss!

I am now living in western Colorado with my wife. Her father has been building classics his whole life. When I showed him a picture of the roadster he damn near wet his pants. After a couple of years of talking about it, he insisted that we go to Santa Fe to pick it up. After my families losses in the fire, we decided that it would be a kind gesture if we could revive the roadster for my father. We schemed a plan, acquired a trailer and were set to depart. Of course I came down with covid the night before our departure and was unable to go. My dad, wife, and father in law kept with the plan and met in Santa Fe. After some good food, they strapped some new shoes on the car and got it loaded up on the trailer with no issues. The ride back to Colorado was fortunately uneventful.

The two of us have spent the last couple of weeks tearing it down and looking to see what would be needed to get it road worthy. The engine came apart quite easily with no real hiccups so far. After tearing it all down we realized that it was in good shape and it might have started as is. From what we can tell it's a 59a 221 1941 or 42. When we brought it to the machinist to dip it and magna flux it, he told us that a lot of the internals were off a 239. It was probably a good bet that we tore it down.

The plan is to get this roadster running and do nothing else to it. We're going to keep it as original as possible. This thing is a real gem! I'm thankful to share this experience with my father in law and I'm excited to gift it back to my dad so he can enjoy it for the rest of his life. Of course, his new house won't be finished for a couple of years. So I guess I'll just have to drive it until his new place is built.

 

This is incredible..

 

Holy shit!

Id wake up in the middle of the night and go stare at it at least two to four times a week. Thank
You for sharing! Keep us posted!

 

Very cool and has a chrome generator too!

 

Now that is cool.

 

No doubt about it Tim! I might wake up later tonight and look at the hamb!

 

Whenever I see it I get butterflies in my stomach. Haha!

 

Sorry to read about the loss of the family home and car in the fire.

On the flip side the rest of the story is outstanding in so many ways!

Thanks for joining here and sharing this!!!!!

 

@Ryan dig on that!

 

Sorry for your family's loss, and kudos to you and your FIL for taking this car under your wing for your Dad to enjoy. Nice tach drive.... I've never seen one like it!

 

What a time capsule! Looking forward to watching you guys revive it.

 

Well,... I'll be damned. If that ain't, just about, the most perfect car ever..

... I hate you....

Welcome to the hamb!

I'll be impatiently waiting for more updates.

 

Amazing looking Roadster
Is it 3 on Tree?

 

What a dream roadster, keep us posted

 

It's like a miracle. What a special car. People dream of cars like this.

 

What a dream ride.Where in western Colo?

 

Thanks for saving that beautiful roadster!

 

That is a true family treasure. Upon seeing the interior picture, I realized that I had the same instrument panel a few years ago, but I sold it.

 

This is so cool I had to pick my jaw up off the floor! I’ll be following along!

 

Now that thar is a HOT ROD boy. Wonderful story & ride; THANKS 4 SHARING!

 

What a gem…

 

Jaw dropping eye popper, absolutely incredible

 

I’m so glad it’s staying in the family, congrats!!

 

Wow......

 

Now that is just TITS!!

 

Thats one sweet roadster, and in good hands. what could be better.

 

A real bonifide time piece.

 

There are some of us that have been fortunate enough to save a car or truck that belonged to a parent or grandparent, bringing back a 32 roadster is what dreams are made of.

Thank you for sharing the story of you grandfathers roadster, I'm looking forward to seeing the car road worth and you and your dad enjoying the old roadster making new memories. HRP

 

So glad to see you are saving it in the family and for future Hot Rodder's to enjoy.