In about 1960, I was about 16 years old. The father of a friend bought a full fender 32 Ford roadster for $150. It had been some sort of race car. I remember thinking why would he spend that much for an old car that wasn't even running. Gary
In 1973 I bought my '32 5w. It was an all steel car with rust free body, fenders, hood, grille and shell. Only damage was a dent in the gas tank that was put in by the previous owner when it rolled off the trailer and into a pickup rear bumper. There was a new 270 hp 283 and a new Borg-Warner 4 speed w/Hurst shifter in it, a '57 Chevy rearend and a Mordrop axle. The body had been fine tuned and painted '62 Corvette Honduras Maroon. There were eight curved glass Stewart Warner gauges in the dash and the interior had been done in black roll and pleat. There was less than 300 miles on it in this configuration when it was taken off the road for reasons too trivial to relate here. Now to the point. I paid $3000 for it and had to borrow the money because I didn't have enough cash and there was a waiting list with 7 names on it that would have stepped up to the plate in less that 24 hours. I didn't reveal what I paid for it for over 4-5 years because I didn't want to be thought a fool. I only knew I REALLY wanted a '32 5w and had looked at about 5 or 6 that were no where near the car that this one was. It was my first encounter with the reality, "you never pay too much for a '32 but you might buy too soon". Frank
This is the "After" picture. I paid $75 for this old Drag Altered coup in '65. To bad I don't have a picture of the full fendered '34 three window I bought for $50 in '58 or the '38 Chevy, running for $15 in '60. I guess kids will be saying the same things about Camaros and such in 30 years.
I found a hand lettered sign in my pop's garage that had his '32 5-w body, rails, crossmembers and 3 grill shells for $150. He said it was at a swap the 40's Limited club put on in the early 70's. There were no takers! It went in '78 or so for $1,500. Still a staggering lack of zeros! It's all relative though, 32's were out of reach when I was a kid too, at least for a guy raising two kids, in a gas crunch/recession!
Remember when not EVERY car at a damn show was a 32 or pretended to be one (no glass please)...and people realized that the hobby was just for fun? LOL
Rember when 32`s were cheap ? When I read that my first reaction was...NO. I remember when their price was cheap compared to today but even in 1964 (my first time looking) they were not cheap at that time. 5 dollars an hour was a hell of a good wage back then. When you see a price for a hot rod of a different time period, check to see what a new Impala or a Galaxy sold for at that time. I think you'll find the ratio to be close to the same today.
I sold a chopped 32 5 window body in the late 70s for $650. At the time, I had a hard time selling it. The top was leaded in from the 50s and it was a nice body. Wish I had never sold it obviously!
When I was 13 in 1958 the 20 year old kid that live upstairs from my buddy sold a chopped and channeled '32 three-window (no engine) for $35.00! The kid that bought it said to my friend and I, "someday you'll understand". I guess at the time we had a look of disbelief on our faces. Boy was he ever right!
For those here who are not in Fab32, Tommy and myself's age bracket ... $3,000 dollars was a ton of money in the early 70's. I bought a 1972 Pontiac Trans Am ... white with blue stripes, 455 HO, automatic, PS, PB, tilt and AM-FM stereo ( in 1972 ) for $4,500. The new car sticker was $5,400. A new Corvette was only about 6 grand. ___________________________________ Deuces have always been a little more money than the comparable others years models. When Deuces were 4 grand, I had two. By the time I had 4 grand, they were 7/8 grand. I finally borrowed some money, added to what I had saved up and bought a 32 Ford. Folks said I was crazy to pay what I paid. When I decided I HAD to own a 32 Ford original 25 vent hood ... I paid $300. It was perfect. The same folks said I was insane ... that the 25 vent hoods would NEVER be worth that kind of money. I do believe that eBay and other things has driven the price of some Deuce stuff way up and into STUPID money range. Just think how expensive 32 stuff would be if there was no fiberglass cars, repro frames and the Hot Rod aftermarket
I remember when I READ about Dueces being cheap in 20 year old HotRod magazine adds in the back page classifieds. But even that was 30 years ago!
Notice the headlight bar and cowl lights on this one! And one HAMBER Al owned and raced (probably at Reading ??)
In 1977 I looked at a 32 pickup, nailhead 6x2's channeled , complete 50's truck no rust needed paint $950.00 equal to $1,000,000 to a 16 year old working in a junkyard making $125.00 a week or less
Marietta Fairgrounds, Ohio. The frame didn't hold up real well on this Deuce...especially after running through a concrete block barn.
Larry Dickson from Marietta OH. This Deuce was a real winner in its day. Even though they were stock car fodder then, this car turned me on to the famous Ford coupes that still last today.
These coupes must have been cheap in our area as so many were used on the dirt tracks. That's why they're not to be found today.
It wasn't that '32-'34 coupes were cheap as Jackbolt thought...The cheap cars were Model A's & T's, but if you were goin' racin' you needed the stronger frame and easy bolt in flathead if you were going to have any chance of winning. Later in the 60's when the Hot Rodders drove the prices up, the stock car guys went to the fat fendered '35-'41 sedans. As has been said before, they were NEVER cheap. Only the lucky guys dumb lucked into the cheap ones and they were few and far between.
Jackbolt, You made my day! As a small boy in the mid to late 1950's, I looked forward to Saturday nights at the old dirt track on Route 2, south of Parkersburg, WV (Mid-Ohio Valley Speedway). I remember seeing Larry Dixon in his number "0" race there! I've got pictures of me in the pits standing next to all of my "hero's" cars.....including Larry's 32 Coupe. Thanks for the memories! Jim
Even though they were tearing up the cars that we love, it looked like a hell of a lot of fun! I'm sure I would have been doing it too if I would have been old enough back then. I see they were restricted to the stock single carb back then. I remember seeing a cheater manifold in Speedy Bill's museum this past March when we had our Midwest Deuce Club meeting there. It had another carb mounted under the manifold and it had belonged to a guy that won all the time around the Lincoln area. I wish I would have taken a picture of it. He never got caught and it was only found when it ended up at a garage sale years later. I think one of Speedy Bill's first successful race cars was a purple '32 Tudor that he won a lot of races with.
Casey,I bought my first 32 5window fullfendered for 25.00..(no engine) bought my 32 roadster(highboy) running car (flathead)for 300.00...turned down another 32 roadster(channeled,flathead) for 35.00 beacuse it had a blown head gasket...sold another 5window full fendered flathead,full roll and pleats,S-W gauges,chrome rev wheels and all for 650.00..........Makes me want to cry......Those were the good old days (50s-60s)
HEY! That's Devil's Bowl Speedway in Dallas. I've got a picture of a different crash in that exact same place. I had to look closely to see if yours was photoshopped of my picture. Nope. Different crowd and different cars. Same spot. Looks like that was the hot place to sit for the daring spectator!
great stuff guy`s my dad`s 32 1955 any one know where this one`s at ? they were flat towing it to the caddo mills drag strip, and the plug came out of the rear end and locked up . they left it in front of a farm house in decatur Texas and ask the farmer to keep a eye on the expensive race car. went to the races came back the next day with a trailer and the nitro burning flathead that went 103 ? was stolen out of the car . grill shell and radiator lying in the dirt , he was devastated and sold the car for 50 buck`s and joined the marine`s I would love to know if this car is still alive ? and will double the price ! it was sold in wichita falls texas, and his dad had a few Casey`s drive in resturants in witchita falls
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