AMBR 1955

In 1955, the judges of the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award just couldn’t make up their minds. In one hand, they had Blackie Gejeian’s now famous 1926 Ford. And in the other, they had Ray Anderegg’s lesser-known roadster – built from a 1927 Ford Coupe. They must have hemmed and hawed for hours before they threw up their hands and waved the white flag. It would become the first tie for the prestigious award.

After sharing the big trophy, Ray’s roadster went through a couple of different iterations. In 1959 or so, the hood and hood-sides were tossed and the paint was updated to a sort of lime/gold metallic color. And then the car was dismantled and pretty much disappeared until the 1990’s when Ray relocated his old car and rebuilt it into a more modern reiteration of what it once was. I’m not sure where she resides now, but a clone of the late 50’s version of the car sits in my good buddies garage, Mr. Steve Wertheimer, just a few miles from where I sit now.

The Von Franco built & Wertheimer owned clone.

Most people remember Ray’s roadster from Steve’s clone and for good reason – frankly, it’s a bit better proportioned and more striking than the original. But I stumbled upon these shots this morning (June 1957 issue of Hot Rod Magazine) and thought they were fun to study… Maybe you will too:

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