Hot Rods My Families 1932 Ford Roadster Find

I bought a pretty special car at Hershey this year.
In 1958 my grandfather Emerson Barnes bought a 1932 Ford roadster in Red Lion Pa. He and Charlie Welty built the car into a late 1950s hot rod. The car was then given to my mother's brother, Ronnie Barnes. Uncle Ronnie then drove the car for several years until it was put into storage for many years. Both Dad and I offered to buy the car over the years but it just never worked out. The car was eventually sold around 12 years ago to someone in Canada. The car sat in storage from 1962 until it went to Canada. We all thought we would never see it again.
Fast forward to Hershey, Scotty Myers and I had just walked into the swap meet and came across a 1932 Ford roadster hot rod. I started looking at the car and told Scotty "that looks like Uncle Ronnie's old car". I then read the cars history printed out on the windshield and there was my grandfather's name!! It was the car!!! A classic car dealer from Lancaster now had the car. I knew I had to buy it!!! We agreed on a price and I picked it up a few days' latter.
I truly feel it was meant to be and that my grandfather had a hand in me finding the car!!! It will never leave my family now. My mother cried when she found out I bought the car. My Dad was ecstatic and may have cried too!!!.
Here it is... It is just like it was in 1958....
The body started life as a coupe and the roof was cut off prior to my grandfather buying it. It has a basically stock '53 Mercury flathead in it with a Zephyr 3 speed trans. It still runs the '32 rear end. The doors and trunk lid have been welded and leaded over. Obviously, it has also been channeled. The gentleman who bought it in Canada did a great job restoring the car. It is basically just like it was when my grandfather and Charlie built the car.
The car was supposedly raced at York US 30 by Chalie Wealth from Red Lion PA prior to my grand father buying it and putting it back on the road. My uncle also took it to US 30 frequently and took the trophy girl on parade laps down the track but never raced it. If anyone has any vintage photos of the car I would love to see it.
As I said it was a hell of a surprise finding the car!!! As many folks have told me, it was just meant to be!! In the photos below are my mother who road in the car when she was 14 and Charlie Welty who is now 95 and helped build the car.

 

Great story man,,,,,,,I know you are proud to find it !
Looks gorgeous !

Tommy

 

Amazing.

 

The stars aligned for you on that day. What a great story and what a beauty. Hope you all have many years of enjoyment with the car.

 

Congratulations, no disputing whose car it is.

 

Cool story! Congratulations on getting it back into the family.

 

Sure is a neat old hot rod; great that it is back in the family

 

With luck like that you should go buy a lottery ticket!!! What a cool story and an amazing ending.

 

Absolutely stunning car !!!

amazing you tripped over it and it’s back in the family !

 

It's great that you were in a fortunate enough position to be able to purchase it when you found it! Now, plan to roll miles on the odometer and enjoy it.

 

Just perfect. Looks like a time capsule.
Good for all of you!!

 

Congrats,great story! Old skool is kool skool!!

 

Wow what an excellent way to start my day, reading this! So happy for you and your family!

 

Post pics of interior when you get a chance please.

 

Here it is as it left for Canada.

 

What a great story and unique hot rod, good for you and yours!! Enjoy it!!

 

Thanks for the extra pics!

 

I greatly enjoyed reading about your good fortune.
GREAT CAR, GREAT LUCK, GREAT STORY.
Enjoy.
VR&C.

 

Wow! Very cool on all fronts

 

The gentleman in Canada that finished the car is an awesome man that understood the importance of doing the restoration right. I had the opportunity to see the car at his home and get the story. I was actually very surprised to see it in Hershey. I am happy to see it is back in your family.

 

Man that is a cool car and story!

 

Great Story.

 

Congratulations , thats a very nice restoration . Right down to the rearview mirror and teapot carb .

 

Incredible....and congrats. The guy in Canada did an amazing job of rebuilding it.

 

Am I the only one thinking what a knob Uncle Ronnie is/was? He was given the car, knew that you and your father were interested in buying it back, Uncle Ronnie does nothing with the car for YEARS and then he goes and sells it to someone in another country ?????

Shame on Uncle Ronnie ... shame on him





(I get it ... Uncle Ronnie may have offered it to both you and your father before it went to Canada and the money, space or whatever just wasn't available but, as the story was written above, I am NOT a fan of your Uncle )

 

Rad car and story.

 

That's great. Great car and a great story. The car has a look that's clearly from the time period and really doesn't look like anything getting built today. The family history along with it is priceless.