Happy 85th Birthday, Deuce!

Well, we missed the party by just a bit… According to the records, Henry introduced the 1932 Ford on March 31st, 1932. It was the America’s first mass-produced V-8 car, offered at a working man’s price. Its hard to overstate just how important this little vehicle was, not only in the history of the automobile, but obviously to hot rodding, as an icon that remains remarkably strong 85 years later. Edsel’s styling gave the Model 18 (and B) an elegance that was only hinted at in the Model A, and Henry Ford’s V-8 (meant to one-up the Chevrolet 6) proved to set the blueprint for the American car motor configuration across all brands within 25 years. In fact, the Flathead 8 was so popular in ’32 that nearly 2/3 of all Fords were equipped with them. By the late 40s, the Deuce Roadster had already cemented it’s self as the quintessential hot rod, and they absolutely were for 3 main reasons:

1. The Flathead V-8 was the perfect motor to soup up for speed. It still is.
2. What other automobile looks half as sexy with the fenders pulled off? Answer: None of them.
3. Ford produced nearly 15,000 Roadsters in ’32, so it was a cheap and easy car to find after the War.

Happy 85th, you ol’ Deuce!