Hot Rods Bob Bauder 32 Ford Chopped Sedan

Looking for information on Bob Bauder's famous chopped deuce sedan. What issue of Rod and Custom was it a cover car? How much was it chopped? Wonder where it is now? Always liked that car and thinking of doing one like it.

 

One of my favorites.
Both Bob and the 32!!!

 

Another shot

 

Thanks, I guess I had the wrong magazine. That second picture is my favorite. I thought it was on a Rod And Custom cover?

 

Yes, that sedan is hot rod perfection. Stance, wheels, color, chop, simplicity, and stance again.

 

what a perfect look, but I would use steel wheels, stuck with tradition and can't help it. I think all mag type wheels are for race cars, old bastards stubborn idea.

 

old bastard here too, but my thinking was steel wheels were used by guys who couldn't afford mags. chrome wheels were the exception.

 

Bob Bauders' sedan (and others) had quite an influence on me.
Around this time I was on the verge of buying a deuce sedan from a local guy but he was on the fence about selling it, he said he would be out of town for the weekend but would have an answer for me Monday.
Suffice it to say his decision wouldn't put a smile on my face and to say I was a little dejected would be an understatement so sedans kind of lost favor for me, luckily I also had a thing for deuce roadsters and Bauder had that really cool dark blue deuce roadster.
The hook was set.

Good article here on Bob Bauder.
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/1932-ford-pickup-hot-rod/

 

He worked for Boyd Coddington for awhile. It was talented guys like Bob that helped make Boyd famous. He quit Boyd in the late 1980s and got into Muscle Cars and built an altered wheelbase '65 Plymouth for himself that looked like a factory built car. During that era he restored a '64 Dodge Hemi Lightweight and a '68 Dodge Hemi Dart for me, both factory cars. They were magnificent cars when he finished them. Then he was back into hot rods, his true calling. He was one of the most honest guys I have dealt with. And also one of the nicest.

 

I found this a pretty powerful statement about Bob Bauder from the link I posted previously.

.................can’t put your finger on it? How about Bob Bauder? Don’t know the name? Well don’t feel bad—Bob is the most famous guy you probably haven’t heard of. But all those other folks certainly know his name, and many of them would not have ever known about each other if it wasn’t for Bauder. And if you do happen to know Bauder’s name, it’s a safe bet it’s for maybe one car he owned or maybe two, but Bob’s legacy goes far deeper than that.

 

I over heard Bob telling a potential customer for a coupe he was flipping “This car has been in the family since April”!

 

I was one of those guys who had never heard of Bob too. Brian Burnett, owner of Ferrari Of Los Gatos, California at that time, had purchased the '64 Dodge Hemi Lightweight in Arizona unmolested but needing a complete restoration and had made a deal with Bauder to restore it. I purchased it from Burnette as is and paid Bob for the agreed to restoration price. I never saw the car in person until I picked it up but Bauder sent me photos during the restoration. I was so pleased with the restoration progress I transported the '68 Hemi Dart with me when I traveled the 2500 miles from the Carolinas to pick up the '64. He and his racing buddies traveled to the Carolinas in an 18 wheeler to compete in one of the Super Stock Reunions I organized about 6 months or so later.

 

Cool car for sure. I'm guessing a 4" chop comparable to my sedan.

 

One more memorable story. Bob lived in the San Bernardino mountain town of Crestline near Big Bear or way up in the mountains. Pete Chapouris lived across the street. I picked up the last car he painted for me when I attended the Scottsdale auctions one year which were in January and it was snowing when I started up the mountain to his home but wasn't a problem getting there. He needed to go to San Bernardino to pick up some parts so I rode with him in his Chevy crew cab dually. When we started back up the mountain the road had been closed except for 4-wheel drive vehicles and dual wheel trucks. We got almost to his home and were in a blizzard and his truck lost traction. We couldn't go any further and I was really concerned. So without an explanation he turned around and starts back down the mountain until he finds the first side road which was dirt. It was one of the roads used strictly for fighting forest fires and we start going up the mountain slipping and sliding and slinging mud and gravel wide open in third gear on this path just wide enough for one vehicle and if all those conditions were not bad enough it was getting dark too. I was scared shitless as he drove many miles convinced we were going off the mountain any moment or run head-on into a tree. But we got there safely and he admitted he was concerned we were going to wreck or lose traction and get stuck back in the woods in that blizzard not to be found for some time. He had used that path before but not under conditions that bad. Thank you Bob for getting us safely there.

 

One of my favorite Bauder stories, and there are many!!!

One day about twenty years ago me and my friends were bombing down the 10 freeway heading for the Pomona swap meet at around 4:00am. The group consisted of Bones Noteboom in front in his 34 Vicky next was my dad in his red and flamed 40 coupe and I was always the tail gunner bringing up the rear in my 46. Now back in the day Bones was quite known for hauling ass in his hot rods and we never missed a beat keeping up. We drove our cars hard. All dropped on the ground and in a tight pack in the fast lane, hammer down. So we’re about 20 minutes out from the swap meet, haulin ass and I see in my rear view a set of headlights coming up fast. I let off the throttle for a second thinking we picked up a CHP, when I look back up the lights are closing in fast and I realized they are to low and to narrow to be law enforcement. It must be another HOT ROD!!!!! In the blink of an eye and rolling about 85 this dark blue roadster passes us up doing at least 90. ITS BAUDER!!!!!
He lets off and keeps pace with us for moment, puts in the clutch, gives a double rev and disappears into the darkness.
Later at the swap meet he confesses that WE passed him when he was coming on the freeway, we never saw him, and he says nobody is going to go down the 10 in a hot rod faster than him!!!!
He was always one of my hot rod hero’s. Always will....

 

Yep dats the Bob I knew 4 sure.

 

Great stories, guys.

 

For sure!!!!!!
The man, the myth, the legend!!!

 

I have kept up with both of these cars over the last 30 years. I sold the '64 Dodge Hemi Lightweight to Funny Car legend Dale Armstrong about 25 years ago and it later became part of theTodd Werner Collection that was sold at the Mecum Harrisburg auction several months ago. I was there and the car looked like it had just been restored but Todd told me it was still Bauder's restoration. It sold for $154,000. I sold the '68 Hemi Dart at Scottsdale also about 25 years ago and the buyer kept it for 15 years before selling it at Barrett-Jackson to NHRA SS/A Hemi racer Stephen Hebert for $190,000. We keep in touch and it has not been restored since Bauder's restoration. He invited me to come drive it in the parade lap at the NHRA U.S. Nationals several years ago during a reunion for the factory '68 Super Stock Hemi Barracudas and Darts. Of course I took him up on it. He recently informed me that he has entered it in "The Great Race" next year which has a stop in Mooresville, N.C., just 1 hour from me. He is replacing the race Hemi with a crate Hemi for that long trip. You already knew about Bob Bauder's craftsmanship. Now you know how long his work lasts.

 

I have really enjoyed the Bauder stories but other than the first answer no one has addressed my original question about the amount of the chop. I'm almost sure it was on a R&C cover? And does anyone know where the car is now and who owns it. An inquiring mind wants to know.

 

Gary, could this be the cover you are thinking of? The car is similar but not matching. I have quite a few of the late ‘60’s- early ‘70’s R&C’s but didn’t see the Bauder sedan.

 

The June 1980 Street Rodder article says it was a four inch chop. I found it in this thread:
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/bob-bauder-32-sedan.530485/page-2

 

Fordors: I might be wrong but I remember that picture of the Bauder sedan without bumpers being on the cover of R&C at one time? Maybe I'm wrong.

 

I did find another 2 page color feature of the Bauder deuce 2 door in the April 1980 issue of Hot Rod

 

Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.

 

Hello,

I was privileged to be introduced to Bob Bauder at one of the many outdoor hot rod shows and hot rod picnic runs in So Cal. I was shooting photos of various hot rods and we stopped to talk about photography. He was starting a wiring system in one of his hot rods and asked me if I would come to his house in Mission Viejo to do a step by step photo array of the process. We lived nearby in Laguna Niguel, so it was a short drive to his house.

We had a nice day, I got introduced to his wife and went to his immaculate garage to follow his steps in the wiring process. He had most of the organization completed and the set up looked like a professional system ready to be hooked up and installed. It took many photos for a complete installation and I thought I could reorganize it into a photo array for a “tech” article. There were wiring kits available on the hot rod market, but doing his own thing and organization, Bob’s system was one that I would not mind if it were in my own hot rod.
late 60s early 70s
Jnaki

Having spent the better part of a day at his house in Mission Viejo, it was a day that I could repeat over and over. People who are nice, confident in their skills and are courteous, are people that one never forgets. I was sad to have lost contact with he and his wife over the years, but that is how life treats us.

It was a sad day reading about his passing. Thanks for the kindness and day(s) information given to me during our visits. You will be missed. Your hot rods over the years were always inspiring to this hot rod/drag race guy. All of his builds were pretty fantastic. That 1932 sedan just had it in droves... it was "THE" hot rod for the times.

 

Gary, I lived by Bob when was in Mission Viejo and had the sedan for sale. He eventually sold it to Jerry Moreland but I lost track of the car after a spell. It was chopped 4" as I recall, a bit much for my taste, but was a big hit in the '80s. Here are the photos of the car. Bob was known for his wiring skills in the early days but could do it all. He came out here from PA with Chuck Lombardo of California Street Rods. He was a well-liked car guy who left us too soon! The Mountain Man!

 

One of you California locals has to know where it went after Jerry Moreland. Did it look the same at that time?

 

I think I saw someone post a "where is it now" not long ago.

 

I just happened to come across this picture, not sure if the '32 is Bauder's but seems like it may be.