Hi all, A friend of a customer of mine came to the shop yesterday to inspect progress on a 33 truck Im building, and showed me the below photo of a rod built by his grandfather in 1960 or there-abouts, In Melbourne, Australia . He is super keen to find the car, but only has this one photo of it. Now obvoiusly a US forum isnt the ultimate place to luck on some history of this cool channeled roadster, but I thought you guys would like to see it, and can maybe help me identify what it actually is! The inscription on the back reads- "Johns Hot rod, he hasnt got the hood on, but she's a little beauty, it is a rich maroon, with a bronze mixture" He thinks his grandmother wrote it. Now the intersting thing about the car is that it looks to me like a 32, with a 33/34 rear section (from the doors back) but Im not really sure..what do you guys think? maybe the rear fender being raised is throwing me.."hood" means convertible top down here, but could also refer to the engine cover- which isnt well lined up or affixed in the photo, maybe due to the channeling? Just trying to get an idea what it is so i can make an informed post on a few aussie forums as to its current whereabouts..Im convinced I can find some info about this car if I try hard enough. If it can be found and bought, I will have a fun time restoring it to the look in this photo..dream job!
Come on Jimmy, thats too easy! do you know if Rip Kirby built it, or this guy Camerons grandfather...John Smith? (hard name to forget..or remember!)
it does look a bit like a 34 back section ,,with the shadows its hard to tell i once had a collection of parts that had been 32 cowl and doors ,34 roadster back with similarly molded rear fenders ,on a rough 32 chassis ,had a 40 dash ,filled cowl vent but was blue/grey ,no pic of the rear but i have a cowl and doors pic somewhere ,it had been a completed car at some time ,
The thing that caught my attention and got me thinking Rip Kirby is the Maroon paint also the smooth Pilot hubcaps. Rip may of been a nic name I don't know. Was John his Maternal or Paternal Granddad?
Shit I'm pretty sure that's the car! Look at the steering wheel position .. Guard position...wide fives.. Forgot to ask if was paternal or maternal. I'll email him now..he will freak out, he reckons he's been asking around for years.. Seems odd, Carroll is well known..
Hi Ben,Australian HotRod Pioneers (Gaffiti Publication) Page 184,Soon as I saw your photo I thought I recognised the car.Could this be it have fun researching. Cheers Mark
i dont think its the Rip Kirby car ,no door handles ,chrome front guards ,there is no body line reveal/mold line from behind the seat opening to the quarter panel mold line,rear guards shape not as big where it rolls to the tyre ,,,cowl lights,,,
now Im doubting it myself... it really does look like a 33-34 rear section with a 32 front. I had a 33 roadster rear in my place for a while and the shape above the reveal seems identical through the back. deeper/fatter than a 32. anyone else got an opinion? Oh i found out 'Rips' name was Bruce, and he had the car in 62 at riverside, so we'll see how the years add up with Cams' Dads memory of when they owned it. may not have an definitive answer that easy! Maybe it was the pile of parts you owned roddyB34, do you remember if it had been channeled?
Yes it was channeled ,it had 32 tourer centre pillars welded to the 34 to make the B pillar and then the 32 doors matched up ,so it probably was a tourer originally and they had a 34 back ,it had a 40 dash ,the chassis was painted black at some time but i cant say if it had been red at any time this is the cowl and doors and windscreen ,but i didnt take the pic of the back section ,the chassis ended up under Fergys Graffiti coupe ,the cowl ,doors and a pair of quarters i found are in Bendigo in the same condition as they where 35 years ago with mint 32 chassis at the time,i was 16 then ,,
thats cool RoddyB34, maybe that was it? What year roughly did you have it? Im going to speak to the guys this weekend, so will get all the info I can.
that was around 74 ,i had bought a 36 coupe complete for $60 ,it didnt look that good but it would have been alright ,i swapped the coupe to get the 32-34 bits ,
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