History RPU at Bonneville?

Anyone know who owned this? Pretty sure the picture was taken in 1954.

 

I believe the owner name was Bob McAdams and he lived in Santa Cruz.

Mick

 

gotta love the roll bar that won't protect your head. looks cool though..

 

That's ample protection for my 5'-2" wife... even if she sat on a phonebook.

 

Here's a couple more shots of it.

Mick

 

Shoulder roll bars were mandatory in 1954-55 by the SCTA. A head hoop came in 56 I believe and bracing after that.

 

Here's a Roadster in 1955 -- looks like no rollbar required. I doubt that RPU was a competitor -- they're a whole lot of hot rods there every year -- more than the number of competitors.

 

Found one more, parked by the Western Motel in Wendover, Utah.

Mick

 

That roadster had a legal shoulder bar. Many were under the body lip. Jack Underwood and his father were there during that time helping other Compton guys and running their roadster and were talked of that era often.

 

Here is how it looks now as found it was turned into a show car in in the late fifties and shown at the 1960 Oakland Roadster Show by Joe Schwede.

 

Not bad. As @anthony myrick likes to say, I’d drive it.

 

WOW

 

Hmmmm...

 

I live out in the middle of nowhere but there's a guy local to me who built a RPU in the 60's and he still drives it regularly. Pretty cool build. He told me how he reverced the eye wrap on his front spring by sticking the ends in his parents coal furnace. Straighten and re twist. He's never had an issue after thousands and thousands of miles. Crazy stuff!

More photos of that RPU on Instagram if you do that kind of thing.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci8yQSUP48f/?img_index=1