Hot Rods The Dick Scritchfield Roadster

I have to agree that this is the best this car looked during its life as frequently driven hot rod. And this is the dick scritchfield roadster as I knew it. I can remember seeing this car on a Thursday night in hollywood in the early 60's. The roadster club would meet in the back of a chevy dealership on hollywood Blvd and a lot of us wannabes would hang around in the parking lot across the street to gawk at the cars. This car really was ahead of all the others back then. I remember it in various red paint jobs including metalflake with silver painted solid ford wheels and the Martinez pearl white interior. It had so many custom touches that the average person had no idea just how much the car stood out from the crowd.

 

Here's a good one...on the back is written "Nite drags, L.A. Roadsters, 1966" and a big ol' Petersen Publishing stamp. Scritchfield going up against what looks like Sam Conrad. The quality isn't great, but the shot is.


Here's a couple more. This one is pretty cool...in '71 Dick built a front engine '61 Corvair. He pulled the worn out 283 from the roadster and stuck it in the corvair with a powerglide and Camaro rear end. It was documented in the February '72 Hot Rod.




Finally here's a picture that has been seen before, but it's a print I have. The last version of the car I think. On the back is Dick's stamp with his Hawaii address, and is written "One of the last 3 original 'Bell' dropped axles sold by Bell Auto Parts", and the photo is dated 1985.

 

This car went 167 at Bonneville. That’s impressive….

 

"Well...I have an older scanner and the software doesn't want to work without a more up to date version of Adobe Flash Player, but Adobe stopped supporting Flash Player at the end of 2021, so I'm kinda SOL! Anyone know of a good, free or cheap scanning software that will work with an old HP printer/scanner? I did get these scanned, but am not able to bump up the quality or size unfortunately."


a sample, but do some research and there are ones in the $50.00 range.

Hello,

These days, scanners are almost a dime a dozen. If they can scan at 300dpi, then the scans should come out fine. If you want more detail and quality, try scanning at 600 dpi. Any of the inexpensive scanner/printers at Walmart, Office Depot, Staples or any number of online stores are so inexpensive, now. If something goes wrong with an old scanner, it is not worth it to fiddle around buying parts (if you can find them) to make an old scanner work.

The software has to be specifically for that particular scanner. You are barking up the wrong tree. As far as needing Adobe Flash... We all went through that phase and it is history. If it does not work, get an inexpensive scanner or scanner/printer. For what most people do with scanners, the cost of a simple one is easier than anything else.

I have two scanners, one is specifically a photo scanner from slides, negatives and can be used as a normal document scanner, although I have not used it as that particular way. It was specifically for photo scanning. My other scanner is a high quality all in one printer with the capability to go to 1200 dpi, if I am in no hurry to get results. It takes many passes to scan at that rate.

Jnaki

So, don’t waste your time, it does not cost that much to get a new one at low cost if that is your worry.





QUOTE="chevyfordman, post: 14393251, member: 64869"]A 32 roadster without fenders has got to be the epitome of an old hot rod. I lived in southern Calif. from 1965 to 1978 and I wonder why I didn't see any of these cars on the road. I can't imagine how excited I would have been to see that many roadsters at one time. I guess I was always at the wrong place at the wrong time.[/QUOTE]





@chevyfordman
Your statement is puzzling. How could you not see any hot rods, coupes, customs, and trucks, as well as roadsters from 1965 to 1978 ? … You make it sound as if those hot rods were missing from the streets of L.A. County. That was not the picture back then.

That time period you mentioned was so full of hot rods and roadsters in So Cal. Especially in the L.A. region. There are plenty of hot rod clubs that put on neighborhood shows/displays. Also, the big name groups like the L.A. Roadsters had showings at the big car shows (Pan Pacific/Great Western/LA Sports Arena/LB Municipal Auditorium, etc) and at their neighborhood parks/rec centers, prior to getting the big name LAR show currently in Pomona.

The Early Times had their Pancake Breakfast gatherings that involved plenty of other folks in the hot rod community. The local coverage was from the standard Rod & Custom, Hot Rod and other magazines from back then.

So, I am amazed that someone that liked hot rods and customs in So Cal did not notice those hot rods/roadsters going back and forth on a daily basis. At the time, in the early days, we were involved in our Long Beach teenage days. But later on, we were out of the L.A. County area, but saw our fill of coupes/sedans/trucks and roadsters every time we were in the neighboring county for various functions and weekend jaunts.

Jnaki

I just wanted to let folks in other areas of the USA know that during that 1965-78 time period, there were plenty of hot rods all over. As the older folks started moving out of old L.A. County into the newish OC area, next door, the new tract homes, car clubs and events started springing up in that county, as well.

We were kind of isolated along the beach communities, but there was still a strong contingent of hot rods cruising around at the time. L.A. County was the so call "hub of hot rod activity" and as the years rolled on, the activity spread with those newer home/business location moves.

 

Jnaki, I have the same experience as chevyfordman being born in The Land of Fruits and Nuts living in Costa Mesa / Riverside until 1968 or so. In that time only saw one (1) hot-rod, a '53-54 Chevy two-door, yellow with chrome wheels--but back then I was only allowed to go as far as the corner so you can't expect too much!

 

So killer.

ironandsteele.com​

 

Yeah, that's the kind of response that I like to use when I hear people say "why do you guys still mess with those old cars".

 

I have the motorcycle magazine with this article in it ( somewhere ) the v max had the roadster over the start but ran out of steam and the roadster creamed it in the higher speeds. Still love the Scritchfield 32 tub

 

Paul Harvey was a radio commentator on the ABC Radio system for decades, his catch phrase was "And now, for the rest of the story....".
Here's the rest of the story on Scritch's Deuce VS a Yamaha V-Max.

 

I grew up knowing a hot rod family named LaBonge in Los Angeles. Dick was an adopted uncle to the family and the other related uncles were Ray Brock and Don Francisco. When Dick decided to move to Hawaii and knew that, at the time, fenderless hot rods weren't allowed he sold the car to the LaBonge's. After enjoying the roadster for many years it was sold to Bob Everts who then sold it to Bruce Meyer. Meyer decided to step back in time and recreate the McGee version. Dick's version has always been my favorite, it was truly a Hot Rod. Back in the early '60s I was still riding a bicycle and my buddies and I would go to all the local hot rod and muffler shops in our area. Had to be at least a dozen and on any Saturday roadsters and coupes would be lined up for parts or exhaust. It was a great time for us all.

 

Swifty asked me to post these up for him. He took these at Dicks house sometime in 1966

Ive always liked this version. Probably why my roadsters red...

 

That is my favorite version!

 

Are there any photos of the inside of the decklid to see how that was done?

 

@Anderson, bit of history on those pics. Back in 1966 myself and 2 mates were doing a hot rodders tour of the States and stayed with Scritch and Marion when we were on the West Coast. My mate Eddie had shipped Scritch the 32 Phaeton back in 1964 and it was just finished when we arrived in July, 66 The Phaeton was perfect for carting Dick and Marion up front and us 3 Aussies in the back so the roadster never came out of the garage. This was the only time it came out and I was the only one of the three that got to ride in it down to the local dairy for milk. Loved that car, loved that ride, life was good.

 

Man, have I got a picture for you! I’ll post it when I get home this evening.

 

I know this is on the roadster, but here are the photos of the tourer taken at the same time.
Swifty can tell you about them.

 

This is Dick's '32 when the LaBonge family owned it.

 

As promised…can’t remember if I’ve posted this here before

 

That's a classic @Anderson. That is how you shipped a car from Australia to the U.S in 1964. Don't recognise the location but there is another pic taken on the same day of that outfit i.e. tourer and 63 Falcon wagon outside the local Castlemaine Ford dealer with the Ford spare parts man standing beside it, before Eddie headed for the docks. All the fenders, front sheetmetal etc were loaded inside the car and you must have had honest dockers because Scritch said he got it all! Interesting that the car has the rear spare because Eddie sent a luggage rack with the car and Scritch never used it as the Aussie ones were an aftermarket type which folded in half, different to the US style which Dick sourced and fitted as you can see in the above pics.
Eddie and I were never keen on the dash in the Phaeton and when we visited with Dick in 2013 we asked him about it and he said he made it similar to the one in the roadster, so that's the history of that. Also got to ride around Kona in that Phaeton nearly 50 years after our first ride Great fun for 3 old hot rodders LOL