Another 34 has found it way to the Michigander homestead, and I would like the HAMB network to help find any history on this car that may be out there. The term Survivor is over used lately, but MAYBE should apply here to this period custom. No fake patina only the real deal 60+ year old paint hanging in there. I would like to find any period pictures, magazine or book articles, or local history on this car. Maybe it was overlooked by the media, or maybe not. Rikster's site has some fairly recent pictures of it, but nothing period or with any history. So send me a message about what you may have, or where I can find it I was given some of the story of the 'Roeder Sport Custom'. Robert Rader lived in Emmaus, Pennsylvania and worked for the nearby Mack Truck for 40 years. In 1938 he enjoyed his good fortune and bought a 4 year old 1934 Ford cabriolet. He learned sheet metal fabrication skills while at Mack, and after WWII he used this developed talent to build a new style 'sports car' for himself. Starting in 1948 with his now old cabriolets original body shell and chassis, he began transforming its styling. All the body modifications were brazed and leaded, and are still pretty solid to this day. The body was channeled about 6" over these original frame rails. The front fenders are definitely 1940 Mercury pieces, and the rears look like 1940 Ford parts. The rears were shortened, trimmed, and the opening shape altered. All the fenders are completely molded to the body. The fronts required some innovative inner fender and nose panel fabrication to complete the style. An example is the grill opening panel which is based off a 1937 Studebaker trunk lid! A rear opening hood was fabricated from aluminum, and uses the original rumble seats hinges. The rear valance panel looks to be sourced from the same car as the rear fenders, being added over the stock valence. It is altered to serve as an accent to the spare tire and dual exhaust tips. The doors received the Euro treatment, with scooped down tops and no side glass. The cabriolet cowl was shaved smooth, and a 1937 Packard convertible windshield frame was narrowed and chopped to fit the cowl top. The fuel tank is a cut down aircraft part, and takes the place of the original rumble seats position with dual filler caps on the body. Several interior and exterior trim pieces were sourced from the Mack parts bins, like the one-piece fabricated grill surround being based on Mack fire truck trim stock. He equipped it with a lift-off steel hardtop, based on the rear roof section of a 1948 Plymouth. The look is similar (at least in front views) to the Coachcraft built 1940 Jimmy Summers roadster. Turning to the interior, the changes were less radical. The dash panel received a custom contour surrounding what may be a Studebaker speedo in an unknown chrome panel. The bucket seats are as yet unidentified (may be foreign), but the steering wheel is from a 1937 Lincoln Zepher. Red pleated seat vinyl and red/white/black door panels finish it off. The chassis was updated with a 1940 rear axle and hydraulic brakes all around. Tube shocks were also added, but the 34 front axle was retained. Its attitude is slightly tail-dragger in stance. The first powertrain fitted was said to be a "full house" Merc flathead, and the toploader 3 speed is stuffed with Zepher gears. This lasted until 1957 when the engine blew after some spirited driving. Roeder went to the local wrecking yard and plucked the engine from an nearly new 1955 Chevy, a 265 small block. Adapted to the Ford trans, this unmodified engine lives in the car until today having never been opened up. Hand made dual exhaust exit through the rear valance panel. The wheels are 16 steel with ripple caps. A second set of Lyons covers were included, featuring 57 Chevy tri-bar spinners mounted in the centers. Roeder kept the car until his death in 1974, unmodified from its 1948 form save for the 265 and 1953 Corvette inspired taillights he added in 1954. The veteran red paint and 3-tone interior still date from his 1948 work, showing their age and battle scars. Robert Roeders widow held on to the car until 1994, selling it to a local man who as a youth had lived near Rader and remembered seeing it (from his bicycle) in his garage during the 1948 build up. The only period photo I have of the car is a shot of it at the 'Saints Car Club' 1959 Autorama at Dorney Park in Allentown. Roeder was invited to display the car there, where it was parked in the entranceway to the event hall. Plans dictate that I probably wont be a long term owner drop me a line if you cant live without it! Any ways, let me know if you have any bits of history on the car. Steve PS.. the color is slightly more RED than these images make it appear...
He did an amazing amount of metal work on that racal. It resembles the english sports cars of the late 40s & early 50s like the Jaguar XK120 or Triumph 2000 but with a hell of a lot more ponies between the wings.
The influence might have been there. A popular theme on the east coast early on. Very little (background) was left for us by Roeder, other than the car itself. Steve
That's pretty darn cool. I'm going to a farm in the morning that supposedly has a 34 Ford sitting in the barn. There's a ton of early coupes and convertibles in barns around here. One guy owns about 50 of them all over the county and they just seem to sit around doing nothing. Some inside, some outside. Heard he's a really cool guy but I can't imagine leaving so many cool cars just sitting...
A '36 cabriolet, sweet. The '34 coupe I pulled out of a barn a couple of years ago lost 95% of its paint just sitting INSIDE for 48 years. Whatever happended to that goofy shoebox Ford custom you got in Northville a few years ago? Steve
That custom shoebox was an oddball but in a cool turn of events Kustom7777 happened to recognize the car from one of his 1957 little books and sent me the article. I used that to start tracking the last name and city where they were from. I ended up finding the son of the original builder and called him and told him what I had. I then sold the car back to him. He was seven and "helped" build that car with his dad. He was pretty damn surprised to see it and have him be located 52 years later.
Clubs around Allentown (PA) might have records or pictures of the car. The 'Saints Car Club' does not seem to exist any more in Allentown, but pictures or newletters might be in someone's collection. Looking over the car (I've only had it about 2 weeks), I suspect it may have been made from a 5W coupe. Does a 5W have the cast 'foot' at the bottom of the hinge pillar (B-pillar), where it meets the floor? I've seen this type part on open cars, but I don't know about closed cars (can't remember about my old 5W). I was given a photo taken of a cabriolet in the 1930's, said by the widow to be of the car pre-modification. The photo was actually of a 1933, not a 1934, putting the cabriolet story in doubt (memories fade together over time). Thanks. Steve
Cabriolets had the mid-door hinge like this car has. And a coupe would not have a cast brace at the base of the B pillar. Reach up under the dash in the center to the top roll. Does it feel like a hole and raised boss were filled in? If not, that is a cabriolet dash, as they did not have the windshield crank the coupe did.
Oh yeah, didn't notice the hinge difference. Checked, and no crank hole was ever in the dash center. Must be a cabriolet after all. I did find a 1952 penny soldered over a small OEM dash hole! Thanks. Steve
Is this cluster panel a Stewart Warner piece? Also, the speedo was thought to be a Studebaker, I'd like to confirm it. The 2" gauges were added or replaced in the last 20 years. Thanks. Steve
The gauge panel doesn't look like any SW part I've seen. I think it's a production part, maybe large truck. And I know SW supplied to large truck manufacturers, but that isn't one of them.
Since he worked at Mack, then maybe he helped himself to it at lunch. Many of the parts seemed to have come that way. Thanks! Steve
Since this car was started in 1948, it predates the Brit cars with the new envelope style. Cars like the XK120, TR2, Jowett Jupiter, MGA, etc all came 1949 or later. The Italian 1947 Cisitalia was more advanced in this area. The 1940's had many examples of domestic sports customs with styling like this. Take the famous Coachcraft car, started in about 1942 (finished in 1952). It had the same 1940 Merc front fenders. The style trend was out there in the US, without directly drawing on British styling. Steve PS.... Please let me know if anyone finds any background info on this car from the 1948 or later period. THANKS.
BTTT ... look through those old mags, or scrap books, to see if anything pops up on this car. Would appreciate it!! Steve
Thanks. It's growing on me too! I've asked around the net, but no one has come up with any published magazine coverage, or personal shots from 'back in the day', of the car. Must of kept a low profile in PA. The restorers on the 'Fordbarn V8' site weren't very happy with it!! Steve
Too bad for them, the car is a work of art in the sense of its totally American take on a sports car at that time (actually ahead of its time!) and a monument to the creative genius and talent of its builder! The world can live without one more restored '34 Cabriolet!
Contact "terrarodder" (if he already has not seen this thread). He'd from Emmaus & is older than dirt. He was heavily into the hot rod/custom scene in the Allentown area since the early 50's.
Did the car see any Sports Car racing? I'll look through my stuff, a car that nice should have some magazine coverage.
No racing that I know of. It is really a HOT ROD / CUSTOM, not a sports car. No handling upgrades. Other than the owner working for Mack Truck as a metal worker, and what he did on this car, I know really nothing of him. Steve
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