Saw a link on HOT ROD website this morning to a listing selling Bill Likes '32 roadster, Bill used this to tow his race car (AV8 Edelbrock Spl) to lakes meets and Bonneville.
Pete Nielsen up in Washington State owns this roadster, and did the amateur restoration on it. Pete also used to own the #299 Roadster that still races at Bonneville, and is currently owned by Ed Stuck. I crew on the car for Ed, and have talked to Pete a few times. I'm pretty sure this car was also raced as a highboy before the Hot Rod magazine feature. Pete has a bunch of old photos of the car.
I don't think I could swing it if I sold everything I have but it is one of those cars that would be high on the have to have list just because of it's history. I rather like the fenders after being soaked more than once by water coming off the front and rear tires of the last fenderless rod I had. Add a set of side curtains and it's off to Texas for Roundup.
Excellent example of what a set of bias ply tires can do for a car. The old pics are great, but the new pics would be overlooked easily. I don't see anything else that was changed since the 50's though. (edit: the bumpers are different)
So I guess a couple empty Budweiser's and a half a pack of Marlboro reds couldn't talk the man out of it! Damn shame that's all I got!
And the hood...I am a nut about old louvers. The spacing on the new louvers are way too far apart. I've noticed quite a few "restored" hot rods with this same problem (Chuck Price roadster comes to mind)
Speaking of that, on the original photo of the hood side. I count 22 louvers, on the for sale photo I count 17. Any one else notice? Rich.....
The louvers aren't the only things that stand out as not matching up to the old photos. The way the front fenders are cut is a litle different. The Pontiac taillights are lower in the original photos also. You have to get those things right when you restore one. The tonneau snaps are in the wrong place too. This body appears to have the early Dearborn quarters like my Dick Westling roarster. Likes had the more common flared quarters. I hope that this is actually a clone because the scary thing about the Bill Likes '32 roadster is that it was stolen in the 1970s from Bill Likes. If this really is the car there could be some trouble that follows it.
if it was stolen then i'm guessing this was a clone for him maybe? hence the close but no cigar difference's, them louvers like shockingly bad, way to bulbous and cartoony!
The louvers aren't even the same shape. They originally were locker styled louvers, these are much to thick in shape. Cool car though just the same.
According to the listing I saw on the car, it is the original "restored", NOT A CLONE, and the asking price was $75,000.00
While you are down in TEJAS, look up Jack Chisenhall at Vintage Air and get one of his heat/ac units. Together with your side curtains, your car can become somewhat 'coupe-like'. I did just that because of the horrible heat waves we encounter. Other than wanting a '32 roadster since I was 10, I would have been better off with a coupe, weather-wise. See you at the Roundup in April. I will be in one of many red roadsters, the one with a/c.
Enlighten me about the different quarters on '32 roadsters. I have never heard this, and would like to know what mine are. Thank you.
Roadsters produced within the first 2,000 cars (estimated to be about 200 roadsters at this point) were made in Dearborn. The tooling for the quarters was different and changed later. The noticable difference is that the pronounced flare above the wheel arch is not present. More like a 5 window quarter. Also the fenderwell does not contain the "finger shaped" clearence bead which was added later to clear the rivets in the rear crossmamber on the frame. The latter improvement made fitting the body easier on the assembly line. The other change is uncertain. Some theories are that it made installation of the caged nuts easier. Or the extra shape in the quarter made it stronger. Of course there are several different doors for the roadsters also. Beads around the hinges on some, not on others. Larger return on the inside door tops. Some have channels to make inner handle installation easier, some don't, etc. Running production changes seem most prevalant in the '32 model year. As for the Likes car on eBay being a clone, I hope so. I know a gentleman who spent 30 years tracking the original car. He found the '29. The family informed him of the theft but did not mention a clone of the Deuce being built by or for Bill Likes. Anything is possible. But the differences in this car would lead me to believe that whomever owns this car is safe from the likelihood of owning a stolen car. It's a very cool car. Has the feel of the original. Would be hard to duplicate using original Henry steel for the asking price. Regards- Mike
As for the Likes car on eBay being a clone, I hope so. I know a gentleman who spent 30 years tracking the original car. He found the '29. The family informed him of the theft but did not mention a clone of the Deuce being built by or for Bill Likes. Anything is possible. But the differences in this car would lead me to believe that whomever owns this car is safe from the likelihood of owning a stolen car. It's a very cool car. Has the feel of the original. Would be hard to duplicate using original Henry steel for the asking price. Regards- Mike[/QUOTE] This is a great example of Hot Rod speculation, rumor and B.S. I've seen this car, as well as photo documentation from Likes' day to today, ownership history and unused original parts. Without question, this is the original Bill Likes roadster. Stories of theft and it being wrecked are just that, stories. As far as the louvers on the replacement hood, tail light location, etc being incorrect on this resto, true, but I've also seen these same type of wrong doings on the Crawford-Stroner car as well, and that's from a so-called "professional", it's hardly indicative of if a car is real or not. Just saying.
Hi. I know this post is almost a year old, but I found this while researching two race trophies I picked up at auction. Both are engraved as Bill Likes' trophies for two races in 1950 (1st Place in July for 137.4 mph for the So. Cal Timing Association, and one in Sept (no place marked), for 134.93 mph), both for a B Roadster. Would the car above be the car that he raced for these trophies? This thread has helped ID his car, but I cannot find any information on the man himself. Does anyone have a brief history on who he was? Any info would be appreciated.
I believe those trophies belong to the car in these links, but it would take some research to determine if that is true. http://galpinclassics.com/vehicles/1929-edelbrock-special-highboy-roadster/ http://www.rmauctions.com/lots/lot.cfm?lot_id=1057295 PS - I'm talking about the "2B Edelbrock Spl" '29 Model A roadster, not the black '32 roadster that is towing it. The '29 was the race car. Both links above seem to be confusing the year of the race car as a '32. Nice find! Welcome to the HAMB.
The two Likes roadsters are pictured on adjacent pages in one of the earlier Trend HRM books, either the first annual in 1954 or in one of the 2 earlier books. As I recall both cars were timed, with the '32 tow roadster being about 10 MPH slower than the fenderless '29 race car. I'm not sure exactly what is off on the restoration, but it seems to lack whatever it was that made the original stick in my mind from the wretched early photo coverage...I really like that thing.
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