Two Car Features

Car Feature No. I

Al Stanton’s dad had a Model T roadster. It was modified with speed equipment. Al liked it. He wanted to build his own hot rod like his dad. So he did. The year was 1940. Time passed and he decided that he would rather build something else. He built a 1934 Ford. He talked to his brother LeRoy. The conversation must have gone like this:

“Hey Al.”

“Hey LeRoy.”

“How’s it going?

“Good. How about you?”

“Good.”

“Want to build a competition roadster?”

“Okay.”

They started with a frame from a 1932 Ford. The body came from a Model A Ford. It was a roadster. They installed a flathead with speed equipment. The equipment came from brands like Edelbrock, Jahns, Howard and H & C. These parts helped them drive 113.6 miles per hour on the one mile racecourse. There was no traffic in their way. They raced in the Cal-Neva Competition. It was a fast car. Maybe faster than their dad’s Model T.

Photos by George Burnley, Rod & Custom, July 1957

Car Feature No. II

Over on the show floor the crowds have finally dissipated and we have a clear look at a car that was built by Henry Ford before the outbreak of the Second World War: a period when stylists and draftsmen and dreamers across the globe dipped into the furthest depths of their inkwells and pulled out new, groundbreaking designs that were smoother, sleeker—more svelte on every edge (even in spots you can’t see!) Gone were the razor lines; the old way was thrown away. Goodbye! So long! Hear the music. Read the signs. This is a modern car and it’s a custom one at that.

Now look at it. This one flung from the factory doors sometime right about 1936 and landed in the Northern part of California—Sacramento—far from the fast-fueled urban centers with crooked skylines and phone books filled with every good, service, person, place thing, that you could ever think of imagining. But when Jack Odbert, the owner of this fine machine, looked in that very book, it seems that he called Harry Westergard. After some masterful slicing, chopping, leading and filing, the Ford was dipped in gold and left to dry out in the sun. Once it was finished, it drew attention wherever it went because it’s restyled with style. Yeah!

Photo by Robert Lee Behme, Best Hot Rods, Trend Book 189