Hot Rods Misc

1932 Ford Deuce Coupe Hot Rod

Hello fellow gearheads, today I wanted to step way back in time to a real hot rod. We have not covered one in quite a while, so its time to cover one of the classics – a 1932 Ford Roadster, otherwise known as the 1932 Ford Deuce Coupe.

32 Ford Deuce Coupe

Little Deuce Coupe

The Beach Boys said it better than I can – “Just a little deuce coupe with a flat head mill, but she’ll walk a Thunderbird like it’s standin’ still, she’s ported and relieved, and she’s stroked and bored, she’ll do a hundred and forty in the top end floored, she’s my little deuce coupe – you don’t know what I got”.  This car was so famous, or infamous, at one time that the Beach Boys wrote a song about it, which tells you just how deeply it was ingrained in hot rod culture at the time. This was the hot rodder’s dream car from the 1940s to the 1960s. The 1932 Ford Deuce Coupe was the ultimate hot rod. It was a simple, small, convertible roadster that did not weigh much and was sturdy. These cars were plentiful, and cheap, so young guys loved turning them into hot rods like the one you see here today. They were easy to work on and modify, and parts were easy to come by. What else can someone ask for?

Ford flathead

A Piecemeal Cruiser

This cool little hot rod is, in typical Deuce Coupe hot rod style, a mix of various aftermarket and recycled parts. Back in those days, guys didn’t have a lot of money, so they would scrounge junk yards and find whatever fit and use it. This particular Deuce Coupe is no exception, as it sports a chopped windshield, no hood, and a rag top. It has a headlight bar from a 1934 Ford pickup. It sports a dropped front axle, 16 inch steel wheels with 1946 Mercury hubcaps, and real trunk rather than a rumble seat. This car also has 1950 Pontiac taillights, and a 1939 Ford banjo style steering wheel. A 1939 three speed transmission keeps it going down the road.

1932 Ford Deuce Coupe

Flathead V8 1932 Ford Deuce Coupe

Under the hood, it runs a 250 cubic inch twin plug flathead V8. It also has a cross-ram intake, twin carbs, and a dual-coil distributor. The nickel plated headers and unique air cleaner brighten up the engine and make for interesting conversation pieces. In true period fashion, the overflow tank is a Nehi soda bottle, as you can see by the red arrow in the photo below. It also has no fan, but is said to run cool anyway.

32 Ford flathead

Well gearheads, that is about it for this post. I hope you enjoyed this look back at history and the origins of hot rods. Do you like period cars like this? Let me know in the comments below.