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1932 Ford B400 'Deucenberg':  Ridler's Choice

10/20/2015

 
PicturePhoto: D. Cooper
THE CAR AND ITS OWNER
1932 Ford B400 “Deucenberg” hot rod owned by Doug Cooper
 
WHAT MAKES IT INTERESTING
For over seven decades, American hot rodders have coveted the ’32 Ford as the basis for some exceptional custom rides, from scruffy “rat rods” all the way up to finely crafted, unique, award-winning street rods, such as Cooper’s “Deucenberg.”  The name combines “deuce” -- the hot-rodder’s term for the ‘32s -- with Duesenberg, considered the finest American car of the last century.  Cooper’s Ford blends the same power and elegance, uniting a 405-horsepower Chevrolet LS6 V-8 engine and hand-built mechanicals with an unusually high level of craftsmanship and fine design throughout.  “This car is unique from bumper to bumper,” says Cooper.  “It is like a ’32 Ford, but nothing is the same.  It’s a 100-percent, handmade, one-off designed car.”  

HOW LONG HE’S OWNED IT
“The build started in 2005 and was completed in February 2009,” Cooper says. 
 
WHERE HE FOUND IT
“This project started with a very nice ’32 Ford Tudor (two-door) sedan” found in Alabama, he says.  It was handed over to noted Alabama hot rod builder Alan Johnson, who retained very little of the original body.  Johnson redesigned the upper section to closely resemble the most valuable and rare original ’32, known as the B400 convertible sedan.

CONDITION
“There are literally thousands of handmade parts,” says Cooper.  “The body panels, tail lights, running boards, roof moldings, interior, suspension, engine parts, differential – almost every single part has been made, modified or improved in fit, finish or other detail.”  There’s a lift-off aluminum top covered in cloth and a rich leather interior done by another Alabama craftsman.  The custom front beam axle was machined on Long Island.  Cooper has retained the blueprints to show the complex major changes made to the body and highlight the “tremendous undertaking this project presented.”
 
VALUE
The “Deucenberg” is insured for seven figures, he says.
 
THE BOTTOM LINE
“I love ’32 Fords,” says Cooper.  “Currently, I own nine.  Our goal was to create the most elegant street rod ever constructed.”  Top hot rod experts apparently agreed.  In 2009, Cooper’s car received their highest and most prestigious honor, the Detroit Autorama Ridler Award.


1937 Ford Panel Delivery: One hot express package

9/15/2014

 
PicturePhoto: B. Nowakowski
THE CAR AND ITS OWNER
1937 Ford Panel Delivery street rod owned by Bob Nowakowski

WHAT MAKES IT INTERESTING
These rides were the workhorses of the Great Depression, serving as ambulances, police wagons and delivery vans.  Ford was so proud of this model that, for 1937, it built 42 Model 78 Deluxe Panel Delivery vans as an educational fleet to promote sales of Ford parts and accessories to dealers. Only one is known to have survived and it sold at auction in 2006 for $170,500.  The rest were stripped of their special equipment, given a black paint job and sold as used Ford fleet vehicles.  Nowakowski says his customized Panel Delivery "still has many of the original features, such as a crank-out windshield.”

HOW LONG HE’S OWNED IT
Since 2006

WHERE HE FOUND IT
“I purchased it on Long Island (New York) and was able to insure it and drive it home,” he says.

CONDITION
“The original 85-horsepower drive train has been replaced with a Chevy 350-cubic-inch engine and automatic transmission," Nowakowski says. "The truck has been repainted to a bronze color used on the Plymouth Prowler.  I’ve been able to refinish an old oak floor that I found under the carpet.”  

VALUE
He values the street rod between $30,000 and $35,000

TIPS FOR OWNERS
“Buy something pretty much completed and add your own touches to it," Nowakowski advises.

THE BOTTOM LINE
““The truck has been owned by a few different owners on Long Island," he says, "including a brewery company, a collector and a restorer. Everybody along the line has added a few features.  I have added a mural of an old repair shop on the side and pictures of the vehicles I have owned in past years.”


1931 Ford Model AA Dump Truck: Workhorse Street Rod

8/18/2014

 
Picture
THE TRUCK AND ITS OWNERS
1931 Ford Model AA modified dump truck owned by Carol and Al LeGrow

WHAT MAKES IT INTERESTING
The Model AA, built from 1927 to 1932, was a pedestrian workhorse of its day, barely noticeable on the streets.  It’s the exact opposite of the LeGrows’ wild and fantastic creation, a 32-year project limited only by Al LeGrow’s considerable imagination, budget and metal fabrication skills.  Two years after purchase, LeGrow decided to turn the Ford into a “street rod” pickup.  “I proceeded to take it apart and sell off the parts I would not need,” he says.  “I ended up with just the cab.  Down to the junkyard I went to pick up chassis parts in order to build a chassis that the cab would fit on.  After completing the chassis and setting the cab on it, I realized the rear end was too close to the cab for a pickup or anything else that I knew of.  A few days later, sitting at a traffic light next to me was a real dump truck.  Voila! I will make a dump out of my short bed pickup.  That was the start of ‘Al’s Dream.’”

HOW LONG THEY’VE OWNED IT
Since 1968

WHERE THEY FOUND IT
“The truck had spent its working days on a florist farm in Wantagh (New York),” LeGrow says.  The elderly woman owner offered it to him for free.  On a Saturday morning, he and some friends returned with tow gear.  “She said, ‘You won’t need any of that stuff.  Just jump in, start her up and drive away.  The papers are in the kitchen, but you will have to pay me one dollar just to keep it legal,’” according to LeGrow.  “I drove it home and continued to drive it for the next two years with nary a problem.”

CONDITION
With help from friends and many late nights in the garage, he extended the chassis and the drive shaft, fabricated the dump body from iron, designed a lightweight steel floor and created the hardware to raise and lower the bed, open the chute and lock the tailgate.  Then it was on to fabrication of running boards, fenders, hood and side panels.  The 1932 Ford grille was cut down and widened, and a lower air intake was created to feed the cooling system.  He dropped a 460-cubic-inch Ford V-8 into the engine bay, and installed disc brakes up front and four drums in the rear.  There’s metallic paint in a purple-maroon shade, fine pinstriping, a soft leather interior, a major-league sound system and chrome almost everywhere.  The fiberglass bed cover has an original painting of M&Ms, a brainstorm that came to LeGrow as he was eating a bag.

TIPS FOR OWNERS
“If you’ve got 30 years, nothing to do and a lot of money you can spare, go for it,” he advises.

VALUE
A California man once offered him $2 million.

THE BOTTOM LINE
LeGrow, 88, says he gets special pleasure from showing the truck, especially to children.  He was once asked to bring the Ford to a Syracuse, New York children’s hospital and the patients were wheeled outside to marvel at his creation.  “It raised the hair on my arms,” he says.


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    Author

    David Fluhrer has been the classic car columnist for Newsday since 2008, and a new car reviewer for Newsday's auto section since 2018. 

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