The Frank Rose Roadster has always been one of my favorites! I think those rear fenders are pure works of art. I was in the Navy with Franks nephew and we have talked about the car. Here are a few more photos of the Roadster.... 1953 1955 In 1949 the car was owned by Don Rocci as a roadster pickup , and shown at the Oakland Show
Wow, I had no idea it was that car! Always thought the Rocci car was REALLY neat. Never would have made that connection in a hundred years. The stuff you learn on the HAMB!
Gotta say that I like the RPU version better that the later version. I have a 27 T-Ster P.U, Haven't had it out in a long while. This RPU is looking sweet!!!! Lynn, you are amazing! I'm always impressed with what you accomplish. Wasn't this car bought by the LARC and given away as a door prize or was that another car . Kinda curious about the T that you were building for Coco? Any pix?
That car came out right on the money. Looks like it could be in the middle pages of a mid 50's Hot Rod in a two page feature.
The Frank Rose car does still exist. A side note: When Pete Chapouris built the little green '27 for his dad back in the '70's, The Frank Rose car was part of the inspiration for that build.
Sorry for the cheap camera photo quality. The car sold at the June 27-29 1986 Harrah auction. I don't have any notes on the sale price. Bob
Wow, that top and high windshield did nothing for that car at all. Always loved it too, and even the scalloped version was cool. Don
X10 on that Don! For some reason I remember it being advertizedfor sale in the last 5 years, anyone have a lead on were it is? Hope it is under restoration to its '54 look. Bob
Funny story. This car was raffled of at Oakland in about '60 and was won by a high school kid in Oakland. Think he went to Catholic school. I went to public school. Anyway I heard through the grapevine he was taking out and selling the flathead and installing a SBC. I had just come into some money ($75) through an accident. I bought the chrome polished engine and installed it in my 47 Ford two door. Funny part some years later I ran into the guy that won it. His story was he bought one, one dollar ticket at Oakland and brought it home. When he told his parents they were furious it was so against their religion. They finally said he could keep the ticket to teach him a lesson about gambling. Well you know the rest of the story. The bottom photo is the engine. Sorry these pictures were taken from 8mm film. That is me on the left and my late older Bill on the right. Looking in the engine compartment of both of our High School ride. He gave me the 47 after he graduated and bought the '55 in the middle photo. Wow I miss him.
Does anyone have any info on the whereabouts of the frank rose model t roadster. My grandpa Don Rocci was the original builder of it when it was a pick up. I have a lot of the original build pics . Wondering if it's still around . I would love to find it .
Welcome to the HAMB Rocci, the car is out there, it was in the Bill Harrah collection at one time. Bob
Her is a little more info on the Raffle of the Frank Rose car. This is from "Dipstick" a Bay Area car club newsletter.
I know this is an old thread that hasn't been touched in two and a half years, but I thought I would add this. It was mentioned that this car was later owned by Joe Passalaqua, which is true. I don't know for sure how long he owned it, but it was featured in Rod & Custom during the time he did. (June, 1971) Does anyone here recognize/remember Joe Passalaqua? He was from San Francisco and was active in the car show scene at least as far back as 1960, and possibly earlier than that. The reason I'm asking is: Before Joe owned the Frank Rose AMBR car, he had a custom 1936 Ford Phaeton and showed it heavily in the early 1960's. I now own that car, which looks exactly as it did back then. I am trying to find more information on Joe Passalaqua and my Phaeton. I have several photos of it from shows at San Mateo, San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, etc. from '60 to '62. The longer version of that story and the car can be found here: History - Looking for information on 1936 Ford Phaeton / Joe Passalaqua - Bay Area, CA, 1960's | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com) Anyone remember Joe Passalaqua from San Francisco in the 1960's / 1970's ? ironandsteele.com
Always good to see old threads come back up to the top. Who owns the Roadster today, once in the Bill Harrah Collection in Reno.
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