Roadster Royal

[Ryan]

"Some dang fool gave me a Model T roadster when I was 14 years old and ruined my whole cotton-pickin' life." - Dick Kraft

Dick and Art Ingles built the above roadster as it appeared on the cover of the October, 1952 issue of Hot Rod Magazin...

To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.

[Royalshifter]

Absolutely gorgeous automobile.

[lockwoodkustoms]

That is cool, I wonder if they are still around? It will be interesting to see what pops up with this thread.

[oldandkrusty]

It's hard to get a handle on just how big or small this thing is. Ryan, it sounds as if it is on the small side. Are there any photos that you know of that show the roadster in comparison to some other vehicle so that its size can be estimated? In any event, a pure work of art and a thing of beauty! Would love to have it parked in my garage...

[tjm73]

That is very cool. I wish the pictures were of today's quality. I'd love to see clear pics of how the chassis was put together.

It looks like it'd be in the 80-90" wheelbase range judging from the 15" wheels it says it has in the first picture.

[xderelict]

If I were this hotrod, and someone tapped me on the shoulder and said your it,I would smile and say thanks,I knew that.

[Redneck Smooth]

Anyone know if Dick Kraft is related to Charles Kraft? There's a sweet channeled 3w duece on page 227 of the 'Rod and Custom Magazine in the 50s' book (I think May '58, but not 100%) that I've been trying to get more pics and/or info on forever and the article says it belongs to Charles Kraft. Anyone?

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by oldandkrusty

It's hard to get a handle on just how big or small this thing is. Ryan, it sounds as if it is on the small side. Are there any photos that you know of that show the roadster in comparison to some other vehicle so that its size can be estimated? In any event, a pure work of art and a thing of beauty! Would love to have it parked in my garage...

Not really... it does mention the car only weighed 1600 lbs...

[williebill]

In the early 90's,the original was in Ron Fourniers shop for some work..A friend of mine in East Tennessee contracted Ron about building an exact copy of it..Many thousands of dollars later,it was finished,with the only difference being a full sized flathead.Almost identical in every other way,with that beautiful aluminum body...There was a small shot of it in R&C,taken while it was still in Fourniers shop.The owner of the clone and I aren't on speaking terms anymore,and I won't reveal its whereabouts.In fact,he got very pissed when Fournier allowed R&C to publish the photo,with his name and Knoxville mentioned in the writeup.Anybody who went to the Nats South during the 90s saw the car,not IN the show,but we always did the hotel crawl at night.Most had no idea what it was.
We went to California in '95 and hung out with Dick Kraft,and his lovely wife,and his nephew...who happened to be Stan Betz..That was a very memorable trip,and Dick couldn't have been nicer..He and my ex-buddy had corresponded a lot about the original,and Dick thought it very cool that he would have the car cloned..
I don't know where the original is now,but Ron Fournier would know..Assuming that Fournier is still around,think he had some heart trouble a few years back..So if you see the clone running around Knoxville,your eyes aren't playing tricks on you

[fiat128]

Neat.

[rustyford40]

WOW that is art.

[Bluto]

Stuff is still around........ lotssa stuff you just have to work hard and get a little bit lucky.

It does help to obsessed

[Richard D]

Funny quote,"...form a race car that looks almost decent adoring street trim"
Almost decent, that's rich.

[JimA]

About a year ago we went a guys shop to look at a '32 Phaeton he had for sale. There was an old picture on the wall of him in one of those 2 cars around 1970- it had wide 5 slots and a Chevy engine. He said it was dangerously fast. It had Cal plates on it and a small plexi windshield. I've seen pictures of it around that same period in Rod & Custom (I think at an L.A. Roadster show). He didn't know where it was now. He was an old time bodyman who knew everyone and had worked with all the big names- neat guy.

[SEISXSEISXSEISX]

Originally Posted by Royalshifter

Absolutely gorgeous automobile.

Ditto...

[autobilly]

"Flawless aluninium body work hints at the master's touch", complete with scollops and full race v8-60, what a combo and state of the art in it's day. I'd love to stretch it's legs a little!
Interesting story from Williebill too.

Also, wouldn't want to be bent over Hans' knee, or have him touch my ass, glad I'm already a member!

[Jimmy B]

Great post Ryan. The HRM feature was Oct. '54.

There are some pics of the car in Hot Rod History book 2.

I searched the net a while back and these are the only 2 pics I found.

[Retrorod]

Some day someone will find that car sitting in the darkest corner of a small shop in a real out-of-the-way little burg. It will be covered in dust and probably with a crisp, old tarp pulled over it, possibly with a few neglected old parts piled on top.

I can only hope that someone will be me, and I'll go in hock up to my chin to make the deal and take it home!

[rodncustom]

VERY cool.

[touchdowntodd]

sexier than myself naked... thats sayin a lot..