News Break; Historical Modified Roadster found !

That was why I made my last post. Finding the RIGHT guy to do the restoration is step one in bring a car back to its former glory. To me the car, any race car / Hot Rod should look as it did on any day of its "Glory Days". If the chassis was stick welded and the spatter and slag has survived 50-70 years, LEAVE IT! Bring cars up to todays level of finish is rewriting history.

 

Thank You, pigpen...


Mutt

 

wow!

 

After seeing the initial pics and the request for old info I wondered if this might be an awesome recreation sparked by the original nose. Read down a little further and that's what it seems to be. Love to see this stuff happen, but would like to know the real story because if it is actually a recreation the "Historical Roadster Found" headline is a little misleading. That's the first set of Wards Riverside tires I've ever seen surviving from the early days!

 

Jim,
Was wondering this too! Normally we hear about this stuff going down, but this is the 1st that I have heard about it. Would love to see this car on display & the RR#7. Do what you can to find out more about this ok? BTW, Patrol car you are so,don't forget to do the doors white Deputy Fife. Call me.
Kevin

 

Hummm, just noticed the hood sides haven't been louvered yet.

 

i need those wide 5 center caps....mine are 39 ford and have a step in the side.those have no step,they're rounder....who can tell me more? are they 39 merc? that one pic singlehandedly launched a horrible obsession!

 

Just got a pair of those tires on 4" 40 wheels last week at a estate sale for FIVE BUCKS!

FLIP

 

Nate,

the front hubcaps are 39 Merc, rears are 46 Merc I believe. I've been looking for 2x39's to go with the 2 I've got for years.

 

Well if you get pickey, the four latches (two per side), the rivets along the bottom, the fasteners for the rear of the tonnou cover, the exhaust coming out the side and some kind of cover under the driver's door are all missing (and it should hace Firestone Indianapolis racing tires). But hey - we're comparing what it is now to 55 year old pictures. If it continued to race, I'm sure many things were changed season to season. Hell, my truck's changed more than that in 30 years

So what happened to L B? He drops this on us and then leaves us hanging????

 

Unbelievable. What an amazing car.
If it were mine I wouldn't restore it, I'd leave it just like it is. It wears it's battle scars with great dignity.

 

Hey Guys ,
I'm back up.
If this does not apply to you please do not take it in a bad way.
Wow ! I thought that you guys would like to be shown what is going on in the historic hotrod/race car niche of the hobby. Instead , I gotta tell you guys that your ignorant scrutiny of the car vs. some old pictures, kinda pissed off the fellow that is restoring this famous car and are very disrespectful to Don Waite as well. The builder told me to not mention his name so as not to participate with those who have attempted to discredit this project.
On the other hand ,Not to say that I am the utmost in race car authority but , I had myself restored an old bonneville modified roadster in the past ( not bragging )and had learned that it like all race cars changed /morphed drivetrains, body shape and additions, wheels , tire sizes,body colors and graphics , etc. constantly from week to month to year. This would probably answer your obvious ability to look at pictures and compare discepencies between the two. I'm sure you can grasp what I'm saying.
I don't post very often since I don't have much to say but, In the futre I will defintiely not post info such as this so that experts can voice their negative opinions ignorantly. In fact please just disguard the entire post .

If you can't say something nice , ........
Thanks for your time, L B

 

LB, there are plenty of us that appreciate the effort into restoring an old steed like this one. Please stick around and keep us updated.

 

I'll calm down later but, I'm out for now ! Got to get back to work on " something special " in my garage. ( And......NO ! , I ain't tellin' )
Thanks for the support, L B

 

Just to show that Don Waite was no flash in the pan, he had another cover car for Hot Rod Magazine - September 1962. The pictures give credence to the accolades about the quality of the car. Built for Bonneville, it was also entered at the Winternationals, to see how it would perform on the strip.
Don's fabrication ability is obvious, and fit and finish are that of a show car, not the normal race car of the time.


Mutt

 

LB,
Tell the guy owning this and the guy restoring it that everyone "in your opinion" that has voiced a negative remark about the project is of the same mind.

One of the great strengths of this board is the many opinions, ideas and talents that join together to help fulfill our dreams of traditionality as a group.
Please don't take some of the remarks wrongly. We appreciate your effort in this and applaud your work. This is a messageboard where many people voice many opinions. Don't be so tempermental. PJ

 

LB, Historic Race Car restorations are nothing new, the bar has been raised REAL high in the last 10 years, restoration and REPLICATION are two different words. Someone stated that the nose to this car hung in Joe Mac's shop for years, where was the rest of the car? Full documention of a race cars ownership and racing history make for a much more interesting car. The Jim Lattin built Stu Hilborn clone is clearly stated to being a clone, and the world is better for seeing it. Some day the real deal may turn up. Seing a photo of the "AS FOUND" last raced vehicle goes a long way in proving a car is what is claimed to be. I'm not picking on anyone just stating the view of most in the race car restoration world. Bob Swanson

 

I had heard the nose was in Antique Auto parts and was there on a loan by Don Waite to Gene Scott, because Gene said he was going to make a glass replica of it and sell it to the masses. It never happened. It hung on the wall in the back of the shop for ever. It was reunited with Don before the death of Gene Scott the owner of the business. Don came in and picked it up for the sole purpose of the rebirth/reconstruction/reuniting whatever you call it,,, of his car. And they had a good ol time talking about the past and their accomplishments.

I do not post on this site and I like to peek in now and then. I have found this thread very interesting. I think we should remember the thrill we had when we saw our first roadster or 34 three window coupe...or whatever it was that pushed your buttons. Was the first thought you had.." Is this a fiberglass recreation?".... no you were so jazzed to see something so cool and fun that you just had to find out more and build yourself or buy yourself one. I am excited that someone would donate their time, energy ,money and life to saving a piece of our hot rod heritage. If it was made with the lug nut of the original car..........WHO CARES! look at the dang thing. It is so bitchen. It is moving when it is sitting still.
So I guess I would disagree with "Full documentation of a race cars ownership and racing history makes for a much more interesting car." The car is interesting in and of itself. I think the Hilborn car (I will call the Lattin car the Hilborn car, because it is) is very interesting. I know the racing history of it and all the razzle dazzle of the past. I bet if you ask Stu what he thought about it he would say the same. I guess the whole numbers matching, data sheet stuff does not impress me. It is a silly burden that we have created for ourselves for some reason. Maybe for monetary reasons to say why your 1969 Z28 is better than the next guys. I dont do this hobby or sport or passion, for the sake of another person. I do it for me. So if you told me you dont like my Z28 because it does not have the data sheet from under the gas tank........well great for you. If you dont like a race car or hot rod because It does not have the log books from when it came off the assembly line, and proof that Paul Newman sat on the leather seat cushion one time (no really, smell it, it does smell like salad dressing) then,oh well. That is what makes america so great. We can sort of think for ourselves and make our own opinions and judgements. I tend to run from the crowds that place the value of a car because it has so much documentation and history and all that jazz........who cares. If you like it own it. Build it. Make it yours. Dont live in someone elses dream. It is over. They did it. Now we are the keepers of the past. That is the problem. We dont make our own history for ourselves. There is no new history going on. Jessie james. Love him or hate him. He made some history. Troy trep..... same deal. RONNIE BENNUM he is KING. What have the majority of us reading these posts actually accomplished in our so called WORLD of hot rods, in the world of HAMB? Not just building a car.......but of lasting value. Of something that will outlive you. You are dead. What will you leave behind. Did you get some SCTA records? Did you build an Oakland roadster winner? Did you restore a vintage car? Did you get your retro rod to run on all 8 cylinders? did you finally paint it so it would last the years of your absence on the earth? Did you get to drive on the lakes for time and get your own real tag? How much time did you spend reading posts and posting posts, when you could have been building your car of your dreams. Actually making something happen before you are dead? I applaud anyone building anything. Numbers or not. Log books or not. Fiberglass or steel. New steel or old. To build a car that runs and drive and stops is a feat in and of itself. If I dont like it, WHO CARES! You built it and you did something, rather than 99% of the so called hot rodders who exist in the pigment of their imagination. GO build. Go buy. Be happy. Life is to short. What have you done today for your legacy?

 

OK...there's two guys that are pissed off cause a couple of guys questioned wether or not the car is the real car or if it is a replication of the real thing. But both have avoided wether it is the car or not.

Nobody put the car down if it is a replication. If it's the real thing it just makes it more interesting. If it is the original I would bet the original motor is long gone. Does it make it less interesting? No.

LB...Sorry, but your being a pouty little kid that doesn't get his way and is taking his ball home with him. You have some cool info. Share it!

A friend is restoring the Carrilo (sp?) car this post makes me want to go get some pics and post them here on the HAMB

RS....Ryan has made history with the HAMB and there's a lot of us trying to make our own history. Some of the guys that made comments are highly respected here.
Clark

BTW....I love the Hilborn clone. I wanted to do it but he beat me to it.

 

Oh my God!! This car has haunted me....now it's alive again!! Fuckin' amazing.

 

You and me both!! If I find it, you'll be first to know, Frank.

 

I stand corrected on the shop where the track nose was hanging all those years, thought it was the Joe Mac shop not Gene Scott. If restoring a Vintage Race car from "A lug nut" that was on the original is ok in your mind than keep an eye open for 19 dead on replicas.

 

I for one am not pissed off. I am enjoying this conversation. You dont want to see/hear me when I am pissed off. Secondly I do not know if this car is the real deal or not because it is not mine. So I am not avoiding the question, it really is not a question for me to decide. In my opinion it is the real deal. From what I can see of the car and what I have heard on the postings. Just like to me the Hilborn car is the real deal. Or what we may ever get to see. If 19 new cars are recreated from different lug nuts it would not be a new thing. It is done all the time in the "historic" racing world. And that would mean that more of us could meditate on the impact this car in our and other peoples lives. We can enjoy the creative energy that it took to create it. If a person wants to go that route building a car, then so be it. All I am saying is that we have to make our own history. Lets bask in the glory of OUR accomplishments and not that of another person. I am glad you are trying to make your own history. I am happy that many folks are well respected here and in fact have made history in one way or another. Keep doing it and do it some more. Just a question for fun. Is a Brookville roadster or a Wescott a 32 roadster? or just a clone? Is every fiberglass roadster a clone of a 32 ford roadster? Should the LA Roadster show be called the LA CLONE SHOW? Should the Grand National Roadster show be called the Grand National CLone show? You get the idea. Just having fun and trying to not make history here.

 

A little off the subject but still Don Waite related.
When I used to live in LA I drove my old 32 5-window to visit a friend who builds cars.I walk up the driveway just as an older guy walks down the drive to inform me that Pete is not home.He spots the coupe and we shoot the shit.He tells me that Pete is building him a 32 Roadster that he has owned for decades and it has a NOS 427 Ford in it.great guy,very humble and polite and he crawled all over the coupe.It was Don Waite,still building cars and from what I have been told,still living in the same house where he built the T.
Another strange fact.LB used to own my old coupe and when I moved to Colorado I got to do a little bit of work on Don Waites A roadster with the hemi.If you see the car in person the work is amazing.

 

Well that answered my question. Fake- but still bitchin. Tell pouty pants he's doing a great job, didn't mean to "piss him off" just by asking the obvious question if it was the actual car or not. Thanks for the support as well, Jim

 

Your definition of 'real' stretches things a lot. The Hilborn clone is just that: a clone. A beautiful labor of love to honor a long-missing car, but it's not the real car, and it's never been presented as such either.

That Waite car is awesome, clone, real, or not. But it's well within reason that people ask VERY simple questions about it. How much of the original car exists behind from the point where its nose ends, backwards?

 

Well, a Brookville '32 roadster is not a 1932 FORD Roadster, and is not advertized to be one, sure the parts interchange with the ones Henry built but it is NOT a 1932 Ford roadster, that is why people call them Brookville Roadsters. A restoration has an original car or a good amount of the documented remains to be claimed as THE CAR. A clone/replica, may be a dead on twin to the car it is a copy of but not THE CAR. It would be interesting to see a clone of any car pop up at the same event as the original and get the reaction.

 

Sorry.. RS. I just figured you were connected to the car seeing how you popped out of the woodwork just for this. You sound like an interesting person. I'd like to see an intro from you. I ususally don't look at the intros anymore but I think yours would be interesting.

As far as every reproduction car being a clone. Only if you try to make it look like someone elses car (I guess alll the billet 1-800 cars could be considered clones).

If a car is cool I don't care if it's glass, steel or original. There really isn't any difference between a Brookville steel body and a fiberglass body other than the material they are made from. Original bodies do add character to a car.

One of my favorite cars is Buttera's 32 coupe. I'm not sure if it's steel or glass. Doesn't matter it's a cool car. It doesn't even matter to me that it's covered in Billet. It's a cool car!!

As far as the Don Waites car is concerned ...I like it! I hope I didn't offend LB. I can't see why he got so offensive and I opoligize if I offended him.

The only thing I hope is that as someone else said, I hope Coddington didn't get ahold of it. Come on look at his show. It's a joke. He already drug the Hildebrant name through the mud. Don Waite deserves better!
Clark

 

I'd love to see it out a bonneville again...that would be tits...