History The Doane Spencer Roadster from '52-'69...More details?

I think that the doane spencer roadster is the nicest rodater ever built and maybe one of the nicest hot rods ever built. certainly ranks right up therre as far as i am concerned.

we see clones of some of the dumbest cars and I always wonder why no one has cloned it. There are a lot of good styling cues to be taken from this car.

 

He also mentions that he heliarc welded these headers... in the late 50's. Neat-o. So the next time some know-it-all tells you no one was tig welding stuff on their hot rods back then you can tell them to go pound sand.

 

Here are some more photos of both cars. I have been in both cars and they are really well done.

 

Thunderbirdesc,
Some of us just don't bother with the fellas that know not and know not that they know not. There was a lot being done in the world a long time before any of us came along.

The Doane Spencer roadster was just cutting edge. There is no way around. Good eye for detail and get up and go.

 

Has anyone else noticed the picture, in the new Hot Rod Deluxe on page 32 of the LA Roadsters on March 1st, the car in the back row left side looks a lot like the Spencer roadster. The history i have read says it wasn't on the road til years later and Doane was building nerf bars in RC a few months earlier than this photo. Any ideas?
John

 

There is a lot of questions about the f1 spindles on this car. One of the reasons Doane used them was they had bolt in steering arms. He made longer arms to move the tie rod further back to give clearence for the spring behind set up that the car has. The arms are beautiful tapered machined pieces Doane made

Pete Eastwood

 

Cool skinny, thanks PeteE

 

That must be this one then. I shot this at the Columbus, Ohio fairgrounds in '79.

 

Yup! There were a few visual differences, but most notably was the lack of the exhaust coming through the frame rail. The dropped tube axle was another. This car got smoothed out a couple years later and even then was flat bitchin' in every sense of the word, but then was sold off to California and in my humble opinion really messed up... If you have been to LARS in the last decade you have seen it, even if you didn't know it, and it can't be unseen...

 

Excellent thread. One of the best that has been on the HAMB!

 

Back Again...Zip`s shop was behind his house in Canoga Park then. Just north of Roscoe Blvd. I forgot to look for those pictures. I`ll have to ask Darrell if he has any. He is retired now and living outside Tucson. Building a 32 3W for himself using the old TSR mould that he made bodies from in the early `70`s

 

Any more pictures of Doane Spencer roadster?

 

At LARS with the Y-block still in it.

 

Hey Lynn....
Spotted an old photo of Doanes roadster on The Deuce site, one that I have never seen.
Shows it flanked by two bike racers, the car still has frame horns, the axle appears to be some hybrid beam/tube setup.
What seems odd is the axle has quite a "smile", like old Dodge axles, but deeper.
Anyone have a clue, or am I seeing things.

 

That axle is now under the Don Orosco Riley OHV V8 roadster. It is a tube axle.

 

Thanks Jimmy...
As best as I can see; it appears to have beam axle ends.
Orosco article says Doane fabbed the axle in the 40s.
Doanes talents and body of work still amaze.

 

It does look like a hybrid of filled i-beam ends and tube centre. Doane was indeed a master fabricator, so cool it survives and is being utilised on another cool '32 roadster and not a wall decoration.

 

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Can someone confirm what steering box was used? Also looking for more info on the pedal setup.

 

IIRC, it was a Schroeder.

 

This is how I remember the car looking when it was brought by trailer to the 1960 Hollywood Bowl show. Also, notice in the background, just how many non-roadsters, like Norm Grabowski's F-100 pickup, were allowed to participate. I also seem to recall that several restored Model A Fords, including Red Grow's 1930 Sport Coupe, were parked at the far end of the lot. Also, if I remember correctly, the next time I saw the Doane again was the following year when it appeared in the 1961 show. At that time the Doane car was finished and had the hardtop installed, as is seen in other pictures on this thread. This car really left an impression on me because it was the first time that I had ever seen a Duvall windshield, and as a result my 1932 Highboy has this feature today. Admittedly, I may have confused some of the details between both of these first two shows, however you must remember that these events occurred over 56 years ago when I was only 15 years old.

 

Welcome.
Take a few minutes and introduce yourself (on a new thread) to tell us about yourself and your cars, especially your 32 roadster.

 

Great thread!!

 

Related.... here is the link to one of the previous Doane threads which also includes another link to a great article written by a sometimes lurking HAMBer, too, who goes by the username here of octard. For me, the reason I'm interested in Doane's work / cars isn't so much for "That" particular / iconic 32, but his overall approach to car building and his wide-reaching skills and interests. While I never met Doane, octard has become a racing pen pal of sorts (we met once at Amelia Island a few years back) and we share another common interest in the Kwech / Dykstra-built DeKon IMSA AAGT Chevy Monzas. Gary

See http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/doane-spencer-book.758288/#post-8414268
or http://www.impeccableinc.com/media....pdf

 

Not to derail the discussion, but does anyone have information about DS's two unfinished 1950 Olds Coupe projects? My understanding is that he was building one as a street rod and the other as a Carrera Panamericana rally car.

 

Here is a pic I got off of Hotrodhotline.com of the Dave Gale clone. Notice the 2 bar with quarter elliptic front springs. The second version had the quarter elliptics by Dave, but this pic is probably version 3 with the wild headers and hood, not by Dave.

 

Went through a couple of boxes of old pictures and found this pic of the Dave Gale second version of what once was his original Doan Spencer tribute 32. The wheels were polished aluminum American 5 spokes. The pick was taken at Columbus.....probably the NSRA Street Rod Nationals. Don't remember the year though.

 

This pic makes it look as if the left front wheel is floating...
Love the D.S. roadster but also loved THIS Dave Gale Version

 

Just a bump of an old thread ... 'cuz Pat (@pgan) Ganahl posted a great Blog (err I mean column) today ... check it out:

UNKNOWN DOANE
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Thank you.
That was outstanding, love the Doane Spencer 32.
And thanks to Pat Ganahl for the historical updates.