Granada Green

Mr. Clay Crabtree owned a Thunderbird. It was a mild custom with scallops, a wild grille and an asymmetric license plate mount. The car had a fresh look in the late ’50s and it even garnered a bit of ink in Custom Cars. But as the decade came to a close, Mr. Crabtree’s focus shifted from customs to hot rods.

Looking at his T-Bird, it was apparent that his next project was going to be detailed to the hilt. Potent mill? Tasteful modifications? Roadster body? Yes to all of the above. But rather than starting with a late model, Clay’s process began with the time-honored Deuce. In 1961 he dug in, dropping the front end to give the car a nose-in-the-weeds stance. Out back, he swapped in a Halibrand quickchange and a beefier Ford axle to withstand the power he was going to plunk between the rails.

The horses came from a 1960 smallblock Chevy that had been bored .080 over and fitted with a Racer Brown cam, Howard aluminum rods and Toledo pistons of the forged variety. Atop the motor, he installed a GMC 4-71 supercharger and dual quads. A Joe Hunt magneto provided the spark and exhaust gasses were routed through a set of tube headers.

It all made for a clean combination, especially with the stock hood closed. The neat Naugahyde upholstery, single standard taillight and matching top, tires and pinstriping made the car a real attention grabber on the streets of Sacramento, California—Crabtree’s hometown. The real draw, however, was the paintwork. Black and white doesn’t do it justice, I’ll tell you that much. The color? Granada green. Ever since I rattle-canned my first Big Deuce kit metallic green back around the turn of the century, I’ve been a big supporter of ’32s that have been sprayed some sort of verdant variation.

Clay’s car sits well and appears to have excellent fit and finish. I couldn’t help but think the combination of raked stance, blown motor and stock accouterments seemed very similar to one of my favorite Deuce roadsters: the Louis Wolfe ’32. One red, one green. Both have the early-’60s look that is starting to surface on the streets and in the show scene. I’m happy to see that, and in the case of Mr. Crabtree’s Deuce, it makes me even more thrilled when they have the power to back it all up. For the time being, let’s just see if we can track down a color picture of his Granada green roadster.

—Joey Ukrop

Photos by Thomas D. Forrest, PHR, May 1963