This is a cool picture that I just became aware of, taken of a Deuce 3W that was around Taylor, TX, for a long time. The picture was taken at the Rodeo Parade in Taylor, TX, in 1956, it has a 4 carb flattie in it. My Dad was in the Thunderbolts Hot Rod Club at this time and both of us know most of the guys that were involved with this car along the way. The guy driving the car is believed to be Roy, one of the original hot-rodders of the car along with his buddy James. The car was sold around Taylor back and forth a**** friends (mostly Thunderbolts club members) until Leroy bought it for the 2nd time. Leroy put a dual quad Corvette 283 in it and raced around here with his buddy Olin, in his '32 5W with a 265 in it, and all their Thunderbolt buddies. Olin won his cl*** at an NHRA national event (Caddo Mills, I believe) in about '63 or so, and still has his car. Leroy kept his 3W until sometime around the '80s and sold it to his friend Eddie, who removed it from the original ch***is (as was the trend at the time) with the Corvette 283 and dual quads, and put it on an aftermarket street rod ch***is with a 350/350. Taylor legendary hot rodder Billy borrowed the car from Eddie one time to drive it to a Goodguy's event at Southfork Ranch in Dallas, and I had the good fortune to ride along. Very memorable time for me. I got to be around the car some more when Eddie brought it to my Dad, who had a restoration shop at the time, and hired my Dad to install (ugh!) hidden door hinges. Eddie sold the car about 15 or so years ago for big money at the time, and none of us around here had that kind of cash, so sadly it left the area. Last I heard it's still here in Texas somewhere. The original ch***is with the dual quad Corvette engine survived and is under a cool Deuce 5W that is still around Austin. Most of the characters involved are still around, Leroy still has his machine shop in Taylor, Olin still has his 5W, Billy is still around and hot-rodding, and Eddie's trying to buy the 3W back from the guy he sold it to. Most of them know more about the car than me, maybe they'll chime in with some more history or stories of the car and it's life around here. One of those that got away, if only it could have sat in Leroy's shop another decade or two, maybe one of us traditional guys could have saved it...
Like many cars they seem to stay in and around one area for years and then one day the car lone never to be seen again,,,looks like it was a nice car. HRP
Great story Randy. It's really kind of sad the hot rodded coupe made it right upto the '80s, yet still got pulled apart into different cars.
Hey Randy, thanks for posting this. It brought back lots of memories. I remember growing up hearing about that car. When I was 12, I lucked out and had Leroy as my Little League baseball coach in the mid-70's. I would always pester him with questions about the car. He finally took me down to see it. I'll never forget that sight. Then in highschool, I remember seeing Eddie's boys driving thru town with it. This was prior to the street rod changes. I can remember running them down in my '67 mustang and pulling them over. Man was I envious! That was the last time that I saw the car. I left for college, heard that it had been redone, but never saw it ever again.
Awesome Randy!! What a cool car and I would have love to have seen in during it's hey day. Keep looking, if anybody can turn it up you can....or Reggie. Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
Too cool. Interesting that he ran the mismatched hubcaps for the parade. Hey! Run what you've got. Four 2s on that flattie must have meant it was quite a machine.
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