Nice. I inherited my dad's project last year and I hope to start working on it in a few years. Here's a mock up of some of the parts I have
My homebuilt. On several levels they make very practical drag cars. This one has a winning history and still gets run occasionally.
@thorpe31 reminded me that I'd be remiss if I neglected to post pics of yet another famous Bay Area RPU ... Peter Taormino of San Jose, CA (Willow Glen district) was a "Model A Guy" ... Pete was credited with starting the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the Model A Ford Club Of America (circa 1959). In 1952, Mr. Taormino "gave" his 12 year-old son Mel a stock 1929 Model A Roadster Pickup. By 1960, Mel had “hot rodded" his '29 RPU: '59 Corvette engine (fuel injection, Engle cam, & Hedman headers) '39 Ford transmission (with Lincoln Zephyr gears) '48 Mercury rearend (with 4.11 gear ratio) bodywork & American LaFrance Fire Engine RED lacquer by Wilhelm Customs of San Jose chromed running boards US Royal Master tires mounted on Chrysler (Motor Wheel) wire wheels (later) striped by “Tommy the Greek” Hrones. Fast forward 67 years (i.e., 2019) ... and Mel Taormino (now living in Grants Pass, OR) still owns & drives his childhood '29 RPU! Now for the pics ... The May 1962 issue of ROD & Custom included an Andy @AndySS Southard Jr. article on Mel's '29 RPU: February 1962: an Andy Southard Jr. B&W photo shot on Mel's front lawn (for the R&C article) May 1962: Cover of the May '62 R&C The following year, Taormino showed his RPU at the Winternationals Car Show in LA: February 1963: an Andy Southard Jr. Color photo shot at the 3rd Annual Winternationals Car Show Here's a pic of Mel's RPU at the 2006 Roadster Roundup in South Lake Tahoe, CA: 2006: image by Sherm @fuely32 Porter Taormino's '29 Roadster Pickup (and '34 Phaeton) were featured in Issue #58 of The Rodder's Journal: images from @TRJ's website Mel (& wife Joyce) have been Associate members of the LA Roadsters since 2002 ... Here's the Taormino's (& some guy from Texas) at the 2013 LARS event: 2013: photographer unknown The Burnham family picked Mel's bitchin' RPU for the "Billy B Memorial Award" at the 2014 Goodguy's West Coast Nationals: 2014: photographer unknown Here's Mel's RPU in the "Model A Room" at the 2019 GNRS: 2019: photographer unknown
Great thread @J.Ukrop and thanks to the others for juicing it up with other cool Hotrod Pickups...I will say time has not been kind to the transitions of some of these former period Hotrods.
Outline and signature to follow... Question for everyone...are those skid plates on the Boards formed into large louver like shapes and was it on the 60s Hotrod era version?
My 29 Model A RPU has a bit of history in the Fresno and San Jose areas, although I've been unable to discover much more than that of its' past. It'd be interesting to know where it's been, how it was used, and when it first became a hot rod. You have to remember these were work vehicles when new and for the first couple decades of their existence. It's a wonder any of them survived.
The truck running boards, whether closed cab or roadster trucks, had raised diamonds embossed in the surface as a non-skid surface. They were painted steel where as the passenger car running boards had a rubber covering over the plain steel running boards.
I get the checker or diamond plate which is sheet with raised ribbing but it looks to be braked into a 3d tapered step or louver shape quite pronounced at that.
Here's a close up of the running boards. Mine are admittedly, steel reproductions from Rootlieb Hood Works, but they're said to be exact copies of the originals. Rest of the truck is all original Henry ford steel, but the running boards that were on it when I bought it were passenger car versions.
That thing was a 60s Showrod/Hotrod so he may have done some one off oddball...Sorry My Eyes must be playing tricks with me...time for another beer... What can I say it's an optical illusion I guess created by the diamond plate pattern.
Always wanted a 28-29 RPU but the stars never quite aligned. Dean Lowe's is my favorite and has been forever.
Ribbed rear axle! Anybody know about it? I’ve always been curious about the rear axle on this pickup and would love to know more about it.
Nothing to brag about...just a project I picked up about a year ago. Its literally a pile of parts but I couldnt pass it up. Plan to have it on an original A frame and drivetrain. Last two pics are for motivation.
Hello, One of the first hot rods my brother and I talked about during his recovery from the 3 degree burns was building another hot rod for the street and drags. We liked the street roadster class with Junior Thompson, Jim Cassidy and Jim Morris at Lions. Sorry, @DeanLowe, we did not get to see and film you racing at the drags. There are films of unknown red RPUs racing, but none of your fabulous red RPU. red street roadster class at lions 1959-60. ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEA WHO THOSE RED RPU DRIVERS WERE OR WHAT THEY WERE RUNNING? Junior Thompson VS. Jim Morris Street Roadsters at Lions 1958-60 My brother and I sat in one and it was a tight fit for a couple of big teenagers. So, we decided that if we did build one, it would have an extended cab/seating area without disturbing the lines. It would be full steel fenders and powered by an SBC like our 1940 Willys Coupe SBC 671 that ran in the C/Gas class. Jnaki At the time, my brother and I had the skills, (recessed firewall, chassis mods, brackets, etc.) but never did any modifications to that extent. But at least 6-8 inches more of cab room would have done the job. The truck bed would have to be shortened the amount of inches of the cut/extension. Now, we would have more room to enjoying driving the RPU in our cruising grounds and at Lions Dragstrip. But, with this modification, the RPU would probably go into the Modified Roadster Class to race against the Speed Sport Special or Tony Water’s roadsters. It would not be a good class to be in for competition, unless you wanted to see the exhaust pipes going down the dragstrip. At least with this extension of the open seating area in the RPU, we could drive it to the dragstrip every weekend and to high school every day.
jnaki, I planned from the start of my build that I would have to extend the cab of my '29. I also wanted to keep the proportions close to original and keep the bed full length. I decided to lengthen the doors 3" and the quarters 2" and the frame 5". The doors were at least 1/3 of the overall effort in the entire build. The body is all steel and original.
Photos by Charles Hamilton, Hot Rod Magazine, September 1963 “There’s a whole lot to like about this A, but I was immediately drawn to Joe Wilhelm-applied black lacquer and the Buick Skylark wires. Skylarks are making a comeback in the modern-day customizing scene, and I would love to see them find their way on to more ’60s style hot rods.” @J.Ukrop Not just a few of us…@Dean Lowe Hello, If the Hot Rod Magazine was printed in September, 1963, then it was photographed several months ahead. Right in the middle of our fanatical hot rod magazine reading, we probably saw this RPU. We were already enthralled with a street/race version back in 1962, of Dean Lowe’s fabulous red RPU. We were all envious of that teenager during our final high school year. But, starting in the 1963 era, things just looked different than while in high school, despite being out only a year. That summer was a great year, just because it was a month out of high school. All of the shenanigans were over, the H.S. teenager crapola was gone (although we were 19) So, when the 1963 era started for us, new things started happening. We met new friends from all over So Cal and saw some cool hot rods elsewhere, instead of just Bixby Knolls. Some of our hot rods started changing. It was hard to pinpoint just what took place as the whole big world was beginning to open up for us. Participating in drag racing at Lions was fading fast, we still liked hot rods and cruising, but there was something in the area that made us look at things differently. My brother and I were still interested in a different direction and an RPU would have been completely different than anyone in our group’s hot rod builds or purchases. He wanted something to be able to carry stuff in the back. The big pickups were too big and with an SBC in place. The smaller RPU would have plenty of power for the street. But, whatever we did to the RPU, the cab would have to be extended a few inches so a couple of tall teens could sit comfortably on our short/long road trips in So Cal and elsewhere. One of the things was that unbeknownst to us, we were or were fast approaching our twenties and legal age of 21. (no more City Jails or Juvenile Hall, but real life COUNTY JAIL…if so desired) But, in our cruising area, more cars were getting custom car add-ons instead of more power. The 348 modified motor and C&O Stick Hydro in the 58 Impala still ruled the streets, but it needed something else. It was a miracle that more 409s did not cruise around our area. We had one in the cruising scene, but he did not like to race. A pristine set (5) of Buick Skylark wire wheels was put on our Henry’s Machine Works, modified Impala hubs to make the next step in our hot rod/custom cruiser fast and look good doing it. Jnaki Since we did go to more car shows, custom touches seemed like the next best thing to do to our old hot rods. The word “Naugahyde” sounded cool, despite the lower quality compared to real leather. Besides the smell, one could hardly tell the difference. That was one new addition to some cars. I liked everything about the color combination of the black Impala with red interior. But, the red RPU still stayed in our minds. After all of the excitement of the last two years from high school, burn recovery, and drag racing, for both of us, it was "put that RPU dream on hold until another time." Now, we were on a different track to finish college for the future. All hot rods were gone during the hectic college years. It would have taken a miracle to keep those while in college. But, as the later years (after college) late night conversations continued on family visits, that RPU build and or the Model A was always brought up and hashed over. Ideas never stop coming around for a couple of old hot rod/drag race fanatics. A great looking extended cab rpu… So Cal @NEVER2OLD A shortened bed, same everything else… An idea that my brother and I discussed (His idea) many times over until 1992.
Well nuts...to keep this one going, I'll throw out a few more pictures of my 29 RPU. It was a nice photo op spot and I had my coupe and pickup there
Still looking for this RPU I sold it in 1983, Built from parts 1st time, rebuilt 2nd time with upgraded pieces. I would like to know who has it now.
The Jalopy Journal
