Hey Fordsters. I was helping my dad out with his 32 (for the millionth time) and we finally got it running and on the road. We drove it around the block and then dad said he's going to drain the gas and wait for June's Woodies on the Wharf in Santa Cruz. Then I think he's going to show it at Pebble Beach. He literally took 35 years to restore it!

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You and your dad should be proud. Its a rolling peice of art. Does he know the history of the car?

 

He's known about it for about 60 years or so. A guy in his neighborhood owned it. At some point it was sold to a third party who later sold it to my dad for the princely sum of $250 in 1962. It'd been stored in a garage that was a foot too short so the back end was rotted pretty bad. It was our family's second car until about 1973 or so when he took it apart to restore it. I used to climb around on the frame when it was sitting in the gravel on the side yard. Here's some more pics:

 

Good making, How much time you & your dad provided behind this car.

 

I tip my hat to your Dad for not hot rodding it. It is so nice to see a '32 restored to original. It looks to be a Model B and not a V8. What a beauty! Awesome, awesome, awesome! What more can a guy say? I am envious. There are only a handful of those still in existance. I really hope you guys will bring it to Duece Days in Victoria, BC this summer, but definitely for 2012 for the 80th Anniversary which will be incredible. The 75th in 2007 had over 400 '32 Fords there, the best car show I've ever been to hands down. There were examples of nearly every bodystyle of '32 Ford from hot rods to stockers, even a B400 convertible sedan, but I don't recall any stock Model B woodies. I'm pretty sure yours would be the only one. Thanks for posting.

 

He's just not a hot rod kind of guy. He yelled at me when I was a teenager telling my mom I wanted a SUBSCRIPTION to Hot Rod magazine! But he's coming around. He's building his first non stock vehicle right now. It is based on a 95-100 year old electric car chassis with a 1912 Wisconsin engine and 1913 Caddy trans. It'll be a speedster to run in the local speedster run each year his club puts on. Not sure if he'll make it to Duece days, but I'll ask him. Here's a pic or two or three of the speedster project... underslung axle and all...

 

That's really cool. I love the early stuff. So many innovative designs. A time when simple forgings had so much style and detail.

 

Since the Stutz Motor Car Company used Wisconsin 4 Cylinder engines, it's quite possible that's what that engine is from.

A long time pal of mine has an all original 1929 Model A station wagon he's owned for over 45 years. He's the third owner.

The original owner was actress Gloria Swanson, who used it at her ranch. The car has around 30,000 miles on it.

 

I always like the bit of history with your posts, ND. With less than 5,000 wagons built in '29 out of hundreds of thousands of model As, it is definitely one of the more rare bodystyles, and arguably the most difficult to preserve. To have an original one is a true treasure. I had read somewhere that the first handful of wagons built had a different type of joinery of the wood, and about six of them have been accounted for. I'm not really up on them, so I'm not sure if that's right.

 

Hey guys. The woodie is going to be at "Woodies on the Wharf" in Santa Cruz this Saturday, June 26, 2010. He's still looking for patterns for the side curtains if anyone 'happens to have some '32 woodie side curtains' just laying around!

Also interesting update on the speedster. Dad showed me a photocopied (yeah he's kinda old school) article from the 60's or 70's I think that shows a 1911 Mercer Raceabout Type 35-R with an identical "looking" engine, but Dad's has a longer stroke. Same manifolds, heads, etc.

Here's a link to what those cars looked like, dad's speedster will have no fenders or running boards: 1911 Mercer Raceabout - Milestones in Speed - Automobile Magazine

I'll try to post a pic or two after the event Saturday.

 

Here's some pics from Woodies on the Wharf.

 

Truly Beautiful!!