I am well aware of this car, my friend Lloyd bought it originally from the estate, he drove it around for a while, I even have some pictures of the two of us parked together at a car show in Madera, Ca. probably around 1987 or 88 shortly after he got it. He sold the car at a Pomona swap meet to a guy that owned a store called Antique Automotive, I think it was in San Diego. The original owner of this car was killed in a 1957 Corvette in an accident on the Belmont Circle in Fresno, Ca. The hubcaps from his Corvette were on the 1932 for years. I was fortunate to buy the very set of hubcaps that were on this car and they are still on my 58 Corvette. Two of the hubcaps were trimmed under the knock-offs to clear the long hubs on the 32 banjo rear end. I will look for the pictures and post them. Great score and your story is totally correct.
This is just awesome! What a great find and how it survived all these years without changes. Jot Horne is a friend of mine, he's up in his 80's now but still has a very good memory, I'm going to show him some of these photo of the 32 and his four pot manifold, he'll really enjoy seeing something he produced over 60 years ago and still being used. THANKS for posting.......you are a very lucky man!!
FYI: Owner of Antique Automotive in San Diego would have been long time early Ford V-8 enthusiast Carl Burnett, who passed away about a year ago.
Wow, fantastic, thanks! This is why I love this site so much. I knew somebody would be familiar with this car. The builder, Chuck Lee, must have come from a wealthy family, because when he died in his brand new '57 Corvette, he was only 24. That means he was only 21 when he built this car. I have the obit, and he actually died when his Vette went off the road and hit a tree on Pacheco Pass, near Gilroy, Ca. Any info, or photos from your friend would be greatly appreciated. From what I understand Horne made less than 100 of these manifolds before he sold the molds to Bell Auto, his employer, to be sold under the Cragar name. I'll report back as I piece together the history.
Alex, The V8 swap meet is at Fitchburg Airport on April 22nd from 8:00 to 1:00. This is one of my favorite events of the year, and one you should enjoy. Hope to see you there! Dennis
Yowza; period perfect, and still in great condition. Hard to believe that white interior survived the years. And wouldn't you know the Hamb Historians would be able to help piece together some of the background on the car. Amazing find......Congrats!
Love old hot rods, and this one is one of if not the best I've ever seen. Too often you see these old rods that just weren't built properly in the first place. This one was done right. Makes me drool. But that brake pedal would have to go! It's a greater violation than the shift knob. If I ever hit the big Jack Pot playing the lottery you WILL meet me in person.
Haha, yes, that pedal has to go! We're going to try to re-engineer it without having to relace it. The shift knob is on the way out to. After today's test drive, Randy's figured out hat it's only minor stuff that needs attention, synch the carbs, and rebush the shocks, and spring perches. Should have chassis shots by tomorrow.
Congrats on picking up a super neat Deuce survivor! That coupe is amazing. I saw it at the L.A. Roadster show in Pomona back in the late '80s or early '90s. At that time it looked like it had just been taken out of storage. It definitely didn't have the '55 Dodge Lancer caps on it, but it did still have the old 1950s white wall tires on it. Every once in a while I look at the photos I took of it that day. I've always wondered where it was. I only saw it that weekend and never again! I'm really glad to see it is still in "as found" condition. One slightly odd thing is how the original builder filled in/changed the bottom rear 1/4 moldings where the tail lights are. I love the color, interior and all the chrome. Just plain cool! -Aaron
Alfin I can tell you something about you and the car. The car first, this is one beautiful car. period. Now you, you are one lucky man to be able to be the care taker of a car that beautiful. As a matter of fact you are so lucky that you glow you should go out right now and buy a lottery ticket.
One day, back when I lived in Fresno, I spotted this car in a garage. When I stopped to ask about it, the elderly gentleman closed the garage door and refused to talk to me. I think this would have been between 1970 & 75 and I think it was Dick Baskin that told me the story about the car and its owner. If my memory serves me right it was somewhere between Olive and McKinley west of Millbrook at a corner lot.
Damn, I'll be out of the country that weekend. If anybody has any history or photos, I'd be very grateful. Are there any HAMBer's in the Easton area? I'd love to get a shot of the Lee House, where the car was built. Thanks for all of the help so far.
Alex, I found 3 pictures of your car from around 1987. My buddy Lloyd who bought the car from the estate did not own it for very long, but we did go to a few shows together. One was a cruise nite at Fat Jacks drive-in on Blackstone Ave. in Fresno, Ca. (not sure who the spectator is with the "Village People" shorts!) and the other was a show at the Madera fairgrounds (about 20 miles north of Fresno), we were parked under a tree. I don't have a scanner, so please excuse the digital pictures of old pictures. Kenny.
Casper, those pics from 87, which was "prime time" for street rods , makes it seem even more incredible that this car survived all thoughts about street rodding it. Amazing it survived, IMO
Holy shit, thanks Kenny, that's exactly what I was looking for. Lloyd is supposedly going to look for more photos tonight. It's amazing that it stayed so original to it's '55 build configuration. I can't wait to hear more about it. All the Best, Alex
Randy Bianchi's still got it, and will probably be another two weeks. New tires, rebuilt carbs, brakes, etc. The tie rod was bent, and he might have to add some more caster, but other than that, it's staying the same. I actually like the look of the small caps, and rings better than the Lancers, so I'll think about that. Also, the steering wheel doesn't seem to fit the rest of the interior, so I'm thinking of putting in a white one from a '57 Vette. I still haven't received any further pictures, or history of it's past. I was over at my friend, Tommy Caruso's place last Friday, and i showed him photos of the car, and he says, "Hey, i know that car, it used to belong to my friend John Wolfe in Ca." He then proceeds to go into a back room and pull out a Russetta Timing Assoc. tag for this car. He said it's not the actual tag, but a repro with all the correct info on it regarding the date, speed, and car number 25B on it. I've since found out that, as was common at the time, a guy named Mason owned the car, John owned the engine, and Bill Yates was the driver. John is the second from the right, and it's 1948. Pretty cool, huh?
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