That will be a hard one. Only a million highboy A roadsters built over the last 70 years. And a quarter of them had Auburn dashes. Does he or she remember when and where he sold it? Did it look just like the pics when he sold it?
What a fine display of design thought. All details 'Hit the Nail on the Head'. I do hope your efforts to contribute to the search pay off. I can Imagine how nothing would have been changed, since there's no room for improvement. True that things do wear out and need fixing, but good to hope.
Man a lot of thought out details in those little photos. Fantastic hot rod, there’s enough details to identify it as it hopefully exists now I would think.
Hi, I'm Sheri, Wally's daughter He sold it in Hollywood California sometime in the late 50s. It was actually registered in 1951 as 32 Ford Roadster. It looked exactly like the photos when he sold it except the car was actually a dark maroon. They colored it red in the cover photo, a fact that always annoyed him!
Thank you for helping me find my Dad's roadster! I've listened to stories about it for as long as I can remember! If anyone has any other ideas for places I could post or people I could talk to.. or maybe a Cars TV show or something that might be interested in helping me, that would be great! Thank you for helping me make my 88 year-old, gearhead, Dad happy!
The gas filler’s location…or the filled hole in the quarter panel (check the backside) would narrow down the search quite a bit! Cool roadster…a friend’s older brother gave me a bunch of “old magazines” when I was about 12 or so. That cover pic got etched in my brain when I was 12. Still have that/those magazines!
We've managed to get a partial plate for the car when Dad had it: California 1R68327 The last three numbers are harder to read. Maybe 371, 321, or 322. Does anyone know how I might look that up?
I remember that car and think I may have that issue in a batch of magazines I picked up at a swapmeet 40 something years ago. I have a feeling that the magazines did that color change on the covers more than once back in the day to give the cover more pop on the rack than they thought the original color would. I understand wanting to find one's old car but I have seen some that were changed so much over the years when a string of owners put their spin on them that you could be sitting right next to them telling the owner that you have been looking for your old car just like that that you sold back when not knowning that that was your old car.
Very nicely done roadster. Just a few identifying features that would separate this car from similar built roadsters. As previously mentioned the gas tank filler at the rear of the car, in addition to the rear mount radio antennae and the gas tank vent are all unique to this car. If changes were made by the next owner or owners and these were filled in, the patch work still should still be seen from inside the trunk area. The blister on the driver front hood side is also unique to this roadster. Looks to be an offset generator mount on the flathead engine that protruded into the hood. The front wishbone looks to be original so the stock center crossmember should also be there as well. It's really is anyone's guess where this roadster may be today, if it still exists or what it actually looks like today. It could be stored away in someone's barn as is or highly modified from the photos from 1954. It's always the small details that help identify cars like this roadster. I hope it turns up in the search for it.
Best of luck finding that car. I spent 40 years looking for a car I rode in back in the 1970's, it did turn up but it wasn't for sale to me. Glad it is in a great collection now. There is one more I'm still searching for, so my advice to you is tell everyone you are looking for your Dad's car, print up a flyer with lots of photos, it is out there. Someone will remember him or the car that will lead to a tip that turns up the car. Bob
The Jalopy Journal
