Lloyd Bakan’s “First” Hot Rod

If you know your 50s Hot Rod cover cars, then you are probably very familiar with Lloyd Bakan’s 1932 Three Window Coupe. He was only 22 years old when his Deuce made the poolside cover shot of the October 1957 issue, cementing it’s status among iconic hot rod coupes. What most HAMB’rs don’t know is that Lloyd built a few A roadsters while still just a 20 year old kid in the Navy, that culminated with the channeled ’29 beauty you see below. One thing is certain looking at the roadster and coupe in context, Bakan had an impeccable eye for fit, finish and fine detail. He started out with a few primered hot rod projects that were horse-traded away to built this final car in late 1954. You can read the article to get all the styling cues used to make this roadster a stand out, but that hood alone is a thing of blistered beauty.