No one car celebrates hot-rodding more than the ’32 Ford. And this preserved, not restored, classic Deuce coupe powered by its original Buick V-8 deserves to be the ‘poster’ car for hot rod history. ‘Best Preserved’ is how Rod & Custom historian Pat Ganahl describes this ORIGINAL ’32 FORD V-8 COUPE!
There’s no better word for it. I looked in the Thesaurus. Of all the hot rods I’ve seen – and that’s a lot – I’ve never seen any better preserved in its original condition than this one. I’m not talking rebuilt, restored, dug out of a barn, or saved in a hermetically sealed collection. This Buick-powered, metallic blue, hot rodded Deuce coupe is exactly the same as it appeared in a feature in the November 1963 Rod & Custom, as well as when Dale Mack built it in Glendora, CA in 1956. And, perhaps more amazing, it’s been running and driving the whole time!
This is one of the cars I showed two columns ago, in beautiful black and white, when we were studying early 1960s (and late 1950s) hot rods. Shortly after that column ran, I got an email from Christopher Ostlund from Big River, CA (just across the Colorado from Lake Havasu, AZ), saying “That Dale Mack ’32 coupe you showed in your column is sitting in my garage.” Of course, I was intrigued, but not overly hopeful. Lots of people have told me they had a “famous old hot rod” hidden in their garage, barn, backyard, whatever, and hardly ever has it been any sort of gem or treasure. Well, look at the two photos above. This is a gem, a treasure, an incredibly preserved piece of hot rod history. And we haven’t even gotten to some of the best parts, yet.
Continue reading best preserved ORIGINAL ’32 FORD V-8 COUPE! @ https://patganahl.com/2021/12/13/best-preserved/