Back in the early 1960's, Walt and Larry Banker decided to build themselves a pair of 1932 Fords. Larry oddly chose a '32 4-door sedan while Walt started with a 3-window coupe. From there, the differences aren't quite as obvious or expected. Both car... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
In 1961 I entered my RPU in it's first show. The first Winternationals show, in Pomona. At this show was Larry Banker's sedan with a for sale sign on it. The price? A whopping $1295! Dad fell in love with the car and bought it on the spot. Larry was thrilled. he had his first child on the way and really needed the money. What the HRM article does not say about the air bag rear suspension is that the car was squirrely as hell. The back end felt mushy and the wheel hop was terrible. The car had a dropped axle with full length split bones in front, and a pretty bad case of bump steer. Within a month of buying the car, Dad took it out to Frank Kurtis' shop. Frank engineered a nice semi elliptic rear spring set up and built a beautiful set of hair pins for the front that were the same length as the drag link. The changes made the car a dream to drive. A year later my brother Jack got his license, and began driving the sedan. Jack had a pretty heavy foot, and the tired old '57 motor broke the flange off the crank. A 375 horse 327 long block replaced the old 302. I saw the sedan at the GNRS two years ago. 50 years later it looks remarkably the same. The Greg Schifano interior looks like it was just installed. Brought a smile to my face remembering cruising it down highway 39 to Balboa in the summer with 3 of my buddies having the time of our lives. Here's a shot of the sedan in our driveway about 6 months after Dad bought it. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=3063&pictureid=25145
A note on why Larry chose to build the Fordor. He wanted to build a '32, and while there were Tudors, and most other style '32 bodies pretty readily available in the late 50's, the Fordor was in a neighbor lady's garage in Glendora. Her husband had bought the car new, and was the only driver in the car's history. When he died, the lady just left his car in the garage, for 20 years! Larry told Dad "the damn thing was so perfect, I had to build it". I talked to Greg Schifano about the sedan when I had him upholster my RPU. He told me that body was so perfect, every piece of wood in it was like the day it left the factory. The 1" drain holes in the body, back by the rear fenders, still had the factory corks in them, and "Ford" was still legible on one end!
Was that the Schifano's Interiors in Arcadia? I had Schifanos upholster my 58 Plymouth hardtop around 1965. Black tuck and roll, I think it cost $300 (a lot for a kid making $1.27/hour at Temple City Auto Parts after school).
Cool cars, amazing story. There are guys who don't even know about the Jalopy Journal blog, and I can't believe what they're missing.
I know this has nothing to do with the cars but. When I see old photos from the old hot rod days I have to notice how thin everyone was. Back in the 50s when I was a kid there was not too many heavy kids. What happened? Ago
America got "soft".............too much food (the wrong kind) and too little exercise. When our fathers/grandfathers came home from WWII and seeing how the rest of the world basically had very little in the way of luxury they went about building the most prosperous nation the world has ever know and in the process spoiled their children and grandchildren with an easier lifestyle that didn't require the physical output that past generations had to utilize. RESULT, THE FATTEST LEAST PHYSICALLY FIT NATION ON EARTH. Frank
In the late 80s,I was showing the Cord at the local car shows in Omaha.There was a pair of brothers that showed their 32s ,one being a roadster,the other a fordoor.Both of those cars were beautifully executed with SBC's,Jaguar front ends...just a pair of jam up cars.Those 2 cars bring back a lot of memories.
Dean Lowe - Great story on the Fordor ... Thanks for sharing! Here's a small pic of the Banker Brothers Deuces at that '61 Winternationals show: click thumbnail to enlarge
Pete Eastwood - Bummer ... What is it now? ... a '70s Resto Rod? ... an '80s-'90s Easter Egg Street Rod? ... or ???? ... and on a somewhat related note, whatever became of your Deuce 3-window?: click thumbnail to enlarge
Sure was. The interior Greg did in my RPU was $250, including the top and tarp on the bed! Must have been quality material. The only part to be replaced in the restoration will be the carpet.
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