Have you ever looked at an old Hot Rod (with undocumented history) destine for a new look with a new owner, And think to yourself,... I wonder where it came from?.. Who the original builder was?, How did it begin ?.... For me, I guess it's been a burning question for several cars in general,.. But two high profile cars specifically....(you can hear this one coming from a mile away) Pete's California Kid,.... And the Graffiti Deuce. All we know about either of them is that they both served times as Hot Rods before they earned fame in rebuilt re-envisioned form.... They both were already Chopped. And they both were found in California...... Now we had a few clues about the background of the Graffiti Coupe, It was full fendered, It was Red , The carpet was red as well as the upholstery being red and white (dyed during its re-build) The drivetrain And suspension were "as found" with the exception of the front suspension being treated to Chrome plating. The Kid, on the other hand, has far less clues,... Pete told us it came out of a backyard ( I believe in Temple City Ca. can't remember for sure) And it was found with kids playing "stagecoach" with it,... Sitting on the chopped top with they're feet on the cowl,... And passengers inside. He gathered up a grand total of $350.00 and drug the old girl home.... All we have is a picture of it taken by Pete, Next to his house the night he got it home,... In "As Purchased" condition,.... Before it's transformation began... Well Recently, A real serious fan of Pete and "Da-Kid" posted a picture on a social media sight of a Chopped 1934 Ford 3 window coupe at a Drag Strip that looks to have been taken in the 1950's-(ish)... And it really resembles the picture Pete took the night he brought the Kid home.... The front tires are obviously different. But the chop looks really close as well in both of the pictures ! Including the top door hinge being eliminated in the chop process.... Alright,... What does the collective "HAMB Brain Trust" think ?...... Either way, Somebody out there has to have a shred of uncovered information that could piece the "Before it was Famous" history back together.... I'm thinking there is a whole other story out there somewhere that could tie some very cool Hot Rod history together !...... Put the thinking caps on, dig out those old pictures, and rattle gray haired Galoots memory's..... UNLEASH THE AWESOME POWER OF THE HAMB !!!!!
Does the drag coupe have a 2nd wiper blade attachment? I cant tell. There is that dark spot on the lower edge of the door in both pics, with the drag coupe's spot being a little smaller...what youd expect from rust.
The car in the drag race pictures isn't the "Kid" I was with Pete the day he bought & picked up the coupe, new years day 1972, $250.00 . It was in Glendora, & Randy Troxel gave Pete the lead on the car. Randy was from Glendora & knew where a lot of good cars were. The coupe had Lincoln bumpers & 3 chrome " 97's " on the flathead ! We hauled the car home on Randy's trailer. The coupe had been sitting in the driveway for years ( the tires were flat, we used the wheels off my roadster to get it on the trailer ),. There was a bitchen' red 40 pick up in the garage with a small block & adapter. Last time I talked with Randy, he said the '40 was still there ! The coupe must have a good back story, but at that time we were all looking forward, not back !
I have tried to enlarge it to look myself... but it seems to grainy and far away to tell (lighting in that picture doesn't help either) ,... Either way, In the driveway picture yo can see the wiper stub,.... but Pete eliminated it during the build .
The Master has spoken !..... I couldn't remember a lot of the details Pete told me, And I got pretty excited when I seen the picture at the drag strip.... Pete, I think all of the HAMB and Hot Rod world would love to hear the detailed account of not only the lead up to the "Kid",... And any solid clues on tracking down its history.... Actually,.... You should wright a book !..... Because you were in the middle of it all.
I was always intrigued by the early photo when he got the car. Hopefully some early history will come out. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
It appears to me that the coupe in the b/w photo at the drags is chopped more than the one Pete brought home, windshield looks shorter.
Pete's coupe appears to have more of a pie cut to the side window, whereas the drag coups window looks straight cut front to back. At least that's what it looks like to me......
The dark spot on the door is only surface rust on Pete's car. The doors were very solid but, the rockers were gone on both sides front to back. The way the roof was beat up, I could tell that kids had been playing on it. That was quite a project.
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