No Consequences

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, ‘Wow! What a Ride!'”

– Hunter S. Thompson

Despite the wide reputation of my literary style being a simple regurgitation of Dr. Thompson’s own prose, the above is the first time I’ve ever quoted Hunter. See, I’m actually not all that big of a fan of the man. Sure, I’ve read all of his books and can certainly appreciate his writing, but I stand behind very little of the same ideas and principles that he did. While the bar is certainly quite low, I consider myself to be a little more responsible and quite a bit more upfront. While Hunter was complex and witty, I’m just simple… and stupid.

There are, however, a few things that Hunter presented publicly that I do subscribe to. First and foremost, I believe in writing as if there are no consequences. I just call it “honesty.” The second is that I firmly believe in the opening quote of this article. And to my sick and infested mind, cars run parallel to life – they should be driven and driven hard as if there is no life for the thing after your own.

I think that’s why I have always had so much appreciation for casual hot rods – cars built for the road rather than for ego. Willy Snyder’s 1932 Ford 3W is a prime example. It’s just an old archaic hot rod that has seen some shit. Been there. Done that.

It was built sometime in 1931 in a factory in Detroit by workers that wore overalls, had lunch breaks with greasy hands, and understood a thing or two about humility and working for a living. From there, it was hot rodded – probably in the late 1940’s or early 1950’s by a kid with less money than intelligence. He got a car he could afford and then used ingenuity to make it better. That same ingenuity, however, kept him climbing up the ladder of life and it would be just a matter of time before he could afford something better suited for that climb – leaving this ’32 to sit in storage from sometime around 1959 until Willy Snyder got his hands on it in November of 2013.

Of course, that’s a story in and of itself. For years, Will pestered a flipping friend of his to find him a 3W coupe. That friend had promised he had a line on one, but the sell could only be completed if other, less desirable cars went with it… and at a price that didn’t make sense to anyone. Eventually, the seller backed down on the pricing and the flipper was able to consummate a deal. But once he had his hands on the 3w, he just couldn’t let go of it. Willy was just shit out of luck.

Another friend of his, however, wasn’t. He took a fist full of cash to the flipper and gave him an offer he couldn’t refuse. At first Willy was disappointed, but then he thought of an angle. See, Willy had a ’32 roadster. The new owner of the 3W did not… and after purchasing the 3w from the flipper, he found himself with two 3-windows. “A trade could work,” Willy thought. And it did.

So now, Willy had the 3w he had longed for. And once he had it, he began researching its past. The flipper had bought the car from an old man in Kansas. That old man, Ronnie, had originally bought the car out of Florida in 1962. He had the car delivered by rail and while in transport, it came loose from its tie downs and began bouncing all around the train car. When it finally showed at Ronnie’s door, the passenger side of the car was beat up pretty good and the grille insert was destroyed. Pissed beyond rational thought, Ronnie parked the car in his mother’s garage and left it there.

So, essentially Willy had himself a real garage find that hadn’t been touched since 1962. Put yourself in his shoes for just a bit. It’s everyone’s dream to find a preserved car such as this one, but it’s only a rare few that actually get to live that dream. And while living it, it’s pretty damned easy to get lost in the moment. Some guys might tear the car down with visions of a big damned car show trophy on their shelf one day. Of course, that emotion wears off before the hard work is completed and the car ends up sitting yet again – only this time in pieces. Other guys might not even get that far. An original ’32 brings big dough on eBay after all…

Easy money.

But Willy has a couple of really talented pals that just happened to know how to navigate such a circumstance. Scott McCann and his son Bryan run Deluxe Speed Shop out of Colorado. Together, they are responsible for some of the best traditionally built cars to run up a hill, down a beach, or across the country. They just seem to have a knack for being true to whatever it is they might be building. Willy’s ’32 3-window was the perfect candidate for their next project and they jumped right on it.

Let’s start with the drivetrain. The boys kept the original 59ab motor that was between the frame rails when they got the car. They added some Canadian heads, an early Weiand intake, and a pair of Strombergs. To back that, they placed a ’39 top loader with later 29-tooth gears in front of the ’32 banjo with 3.54 gears. The combo is good for 85mph highway blasts with relative ease. It’s good for hill climbing and beach racing too…

Up front, the McCanns went with 17″ wire wheels wrapped in 550/17 Lester rubber and out back, they chose to use 18″ wire wheels wrapped in 700/18 Firestones. The stance is further aided with the original suspension setup. At some point in the car’s life, 3-leafs were removed front and back. The result is a conservative rake that looks just right for this early car.

Actually, much of the car mechanically was left as it was found – just rebuilt and freshened up a bit. The car already had juice brakes, so they were just rebuilt. The glass is original Ford stuff, the interior was completely left alone, etc… The one major change the fellas did tackle was the steering box. As found the car featured an F1 box, but the geometry wasn’t quite right so the fellas swapped it out for a stock ’32 box, drag link, and tie rod.

Those chores complete, the only thing left to do was to fix the damage from the train car mishap of 1962. Talent made short work of it and Willy was on the road in no time at all. Which, of course, brings me back to that Hunter Thompson quote.

I don’t know Willy at all. I’ve never met the man. BUT, I’ve stalked this car since the day it drove away from Deluxe Speed Shop. I saw it at the LA Roadster Show last year, I saw pictures of it on the H.A.M.B. from the Hot Rod Hill Climb coverage the same year, and my son and I watched it race down the beach at the Race Of Gentlemen this year. In every instance, Willy was driving the ever living shit out of this little deuce 3-window – torturing it to martyrdom with no concern or inclination to arriving at any destination safely… or at all…

Fellas, this is a hot rod and this is how hot rodding is done.

Photography by Tim Sutton.

Editor’s Note: While talking with Willy, he made something really clear that I wanted to make double sure came across in this article. He couldn’t be thankful enough of both Scott and Bryan McCann as well as Mike and Amy Nicholas. Like I said, I don’t know Willy one bit… But after featuring his car and reading his feature form, I’m pretty confident in saying he’s someone I need to know. I already like the hell out of him.

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