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Art & Inspiration Gene Hetland's '32 Ford Model Kits

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Jive-Bomber, Apr 29, 2021.

  1. Jive-Bomber
    Joined: Aug 21, 2001
    Posts: 3,754

    Jive-Bomber
    MODERATOR

    Jive-Bomber submitted a new blog post:

    Gene Hetland's '32 Ford Model Kits

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    Continue reading the Original Blog Post
     
  2. That is quite a collection!
     
  3. brjnelson
    Joined: Oct 13, 2002
    Posts: 605

    brjnelson
    Member

    Gene has quite a collection, his "basement" is not just a walk-out, it is a drive-out.

    I have sold him many old sheet metal tools and Lincoln brakes over the years.
     
    HEMI32 likes this.
  4. brjnelson
    Joined: Oct 13, 2002
    Posts: 605

    brjnelson
    Member


  5. I've built most of those kits, more than once.
     
    catdad49 and KevKo like this.
  6. Guy has a neat place!
     
  7. KevKo
    Joined: Jun 25, 2009
    Posts: 926

    KevKo
    Member
    from Motown

    Like Dan Hay, I had most of those, more than once. And I have some of the newer releases (same kit, different box art) in my stash.
     
    Dan Hay likes this.
  8. 42˚18'N 83˚09'W
    Joined: Jul 29, 2008
    Posts: 167

    42˚18'N 83˚09'W
    Member

    I had the good fortune several years ago to get a personal tour of "Deuce Heaven" from Gene and his wife Pat. I must say two of the most gracious down to earth folks if have ever met. To say Gene's collection is extraordinary would be a gross understatement. His collection of cars is only part of the story. He also has quite a stash of extremely rare speed equipment a couple of' '40 Fords and some other vintage pieces.
    When discussing the stainless roof on the "Triple Nickle Deuce" it should be noted the the roof was formed out of one single piece of material which is quite easy to work harden. Once this occurs you throw it away and start over.
    The other thing that deserves mention is the '32 roadster in the shop is Gene's first '32 and he did it at the ripe old age of 16.
    Best wishes to Gene and Pat.
     
  9. arkiehotrods
    Joined: Mar 9, 2006
    Posts: 6,803

    arkiehotrods
    Member

    Back in the 70s, I was a member of the Tulsa Early Ford V8 Club. I joined when I was 16 and was the youngest member at the time. We had our own version of Deuce Heaven, owned by Tulsan William Secrest, who would have the club over to see his collection. Here is a thread about it on Ford Barn from 2010. It was said that Secrest had at least one of every 1932 Ford as well as a fully restored chassis and tons of parts.
    https://fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3415&showall=1
     
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  10. Garpo
    Joined: Jul 16, 2016
    Posts: 292

    Garpo

    Answered one question for me.
    Seems no one made a kit for the 32 Fordor. A tragic omission.
    Guess I should stop looking?
     
  11. In August of 2019 on Gene gave us a personal tour of Gene's collection of 1932 Fords and Pat even invited us to tour their house and early American antiques. When we were leaving, Gene even took us on a tour around his estate in his golf cart. Without a doubt this was the most amazing and extensive collection of Deuces that I have ever seen or will ever see again. Gene was very gracious with his time and I didn't want to impose on him and offered to come with a larger group that was already scheduled but since he knew I was a Deuce guy from our mutual friends, he said we should come by ourselves so we could really talk about Henry's Deuce. I took over 170 pictures and I could have taken hundreds more but I wanted to hear every word than Gene said. I wish that his collection could have stayed intact and been memorialized at the Early Ford Museum in a special building. like Joe Floyd's 1936 Ford collection, but the Mecum Auction had already been set in motion when I was there. What's so amazing about Gene's collection was the totality of everything, not just the cars, but the massive amount of tools, parts, memorabilia, pictures. just everything that was ever related to a 1932 Ford, like these model kits. Gene, even had a full size replica of Henry Ford's office in the lower level of his home, along with a Parts Department of oak cabinets (that he refinished himself) filled with 1932 Ford parts. I could go on for hours but I'll just let some of my pictures speak for themselves. I will always be indebted to Gene and Pat for sharing that day with us. It was the high point of my 1932 Ford quest that I have been on for decades.

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  14. loudbang
    Joined: Jul 23, 2013
    Posts: 40,276

    loudbang
    Member

    Great photos vintagehotrods. But it's kinda highly ironic that early Fords used MAZDA bulbs :rolleyes:

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  16. Mazda was a trademarked name registered by General Electric (GE) in 1909 for incandescent light bulbs. The name was used from 1909 through 1945 in the United States by GE and Westinghouse. Mazda brand light bulbs were made for decades after 1945 outside the US. The company chose the name due to its association with Ahura Mazda, the transcendental and universal God of Zoroastrianism whose name means light of wisdom in the Avestan language.

    In 1909 the Mazda name was created for the tungsten filament light bulb. GE sold bulbs under this trademark starting in 1909. GE promoted the mark as identifying tungsten filament bulbs with predictable performance and life expectancy. GE also licensed the Mazda name, socket sizes, and tungsten filament technology to other manufacturers to establish a standard for lighting. Bulbs were soon sold by many manufacturers with the Mazda name licensed from GE, including British Thomson-Houston in the United Kingdom, Toshiba in Japan, and GE's chief competitor Westinghouse.

    Tungsten-filament bulbs of the Mazda type were initially more costly than carbon filament bulbs, but used less electricity. Often electrical utilities would trade new lamps for consumers' burned-out bulbs. In at least one case the authority regulating energy rates required the utility to use only tungsten bulbs so as not to inflate customer's energy use.[1]

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    Ad for the Mazda service mark, 1917.
    The company dropped the campaign in 1945. GE's patents on the tungsten filament lamp expired in the late 1930s and other forms of lighting were becoming more important than incandescent bulbs. GE stopped licensing the trademark to other manufacturers, although it continued to renew the trademark registration up to 1990. The registration on trademark no. 77,779 expired in 2000.[1] Modern association of the Mazda name is mostly with the Mazda automobile manufacturer of Japan (which coexisted with Toshiba's Mazda bulbs in its early years). The Mazda trademark is split between the Japanese manufacturer where it applies to automobiles (including automobile lights and batteries) and GE for non-automotive uses.

    GE's Mazda bulbs were manufactured at a factory in Northeast Minneapolis. From the 1930s until 2013, the building was headquarters for Minneapolis Public Schools.
     
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  17. One more fun thing about Gene, he was a little pissed when he looked at my '32 pickup and saw there was a Chevy engine in it!
     
    loudbang likes this.

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