Aside from having timeless looks – it didn’t become a hot rod icon for nothing – the 1932 Ford was guaranteed a ticket to immortality because it also introduced Ford’s valve-in-block V-8, the fabled flathead and the first truly successful mass-market engine of its kind, to a beleaguered motoring public at the Depression’s lowest depths. So the fact that it became a landmark car is almost something of an accident. The production car, and the countless hot rods it inspired, are being recognized on the 1932 Ford’s 90th birthday, which is being celebrated next month in a very big way at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
“Ford Fever: The Deuce Turns 90” is the theme of a special celebration, with some genuine luminaries as special guests, that the Petersen has set for June 11th. The exhibition will include a brace of highly memorable 1932 Fords, including the one seen above, the Doane Spencer roadster, arguably the most influential and aesthetically flawless Deuce hot rods in history. Some other legendary Deuces in the house will be the Bob McGee and Ray Brown roadsters, both pioneering hot rods in their own right. Attending worthies at the Deuce gala are set to include Henry Ford III and the recipient of the Petersen’s Hot Rod Award, ZZ Top frontman and rodding elite Billy Gibbons, who is promising a 45-minute presentation as he wails on one of the custom guitars that form the other part of his lore.
Jim Donnelly On Wheels 