Deuce Day 2002

You remember The Jupiter Effect, right? This book, published in 1974, claimed that massive earthquakes would be triggered on Earth (home planet to most of us) when the five "naked eye" planets (you know: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, and Venus) aligned on one side of the sun in May 1982.

In case you were out in the garage working on your highboy and were unaware of these predictions, the killer quakes didn't happen (as you probably know). However, 1982 was the same year that the Deuce celebrated its 50th anniversary. Coincidence?

Fast forward 20 years to a roundtable discussion about how the Checkered Flag 200 (the support club for the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, CA) could raise both money and awareness for the museum. It's now the 70th anniversary of the Deuce, and Checkered member Bruce Meyer observes that one way of expressing the second day of March in 2002 would be 03 02 02. You know...3-2, like '32 Ford? Like the car most of us have in our garage right now!

Scary, huh? It's right up there with planetary alignment and the real meaning of the Pyramids! And everyone knows Los Angeles is prone to massive earthquakes! Hmmmmm.

Putting aside the amazing prognostications, it was decided that a committee should be formed to make the fundraising event happen. Three members (Derek DeHeras, Buddy Pepp, and Ron Johnson) from the Checkered Flag 200 and two from the museum (Dick Messer and Susan Garcia) got together and, in just seven weeks, put on a great show with very little to work with.

The main idea was to get as many '32 Fords together as possible. By one count, there were 20 different styles of '32s made by Ford (roadster, cabriolet, three-window, five-window, Tudor sedan, Tudor sedan delivery, Tudor convertible sedan, Tudor Victoria, Phaeton Fordor sedan, station "woodie" wagon, closed cab 1/2-ton pickup, open cab pickup, panel delivery, stake bed truck, express big truck, moving van, dump truck, tow truck, fire truck, and school bus). Amazingly, the only two types that the group couldn't find and get to the show were the moving van and the fire truck!

As a result of the organizers' efforts, about 300 '32s and a couple-thousand people showed up and spent a day in the California sun on the upper level of the Petersen Museum parking garage. Folks who didn't have a car could pay to see the event, plus get admission to the three-story automotive museum. As it turned out, Deuce Day set an attendance record for a one-day show at the museum.

For many who attended, it was their first time in the museum. Organizers grouped certain types of cars together, many having never rubbed elbows with their automotive cousins before. Stockers were parked next to historical cars, and land speed cars were within eyeshot of NOS-unrestored originals.

Another section was devoted to former cover cars. These '32s (26 cars in all) had been featured in one way or another on the covers of major national car magazines (STREET RODDER, Rod & Custom, Hot Rod, etc.), some dating from 1988. Four former America's Most Beautiful Roadster award winners were on hand, as well as what was reported to be the first '32 phaeton to be delivered in California (to Louis B. Meyer--as in the Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer film studios).

Many of the rods came from a great distance for the one-day show, including the well-known Neal East roadster, now owned by Wisconsin's Richard Munz. Deuces from Houston, Texas, and Phoenix, Arizona, were there, as well as a group from the San Francisco Bay Area, which included Steve Moal, Andy Brizio, and some members of the Bay Area Roadsters. Dry lakes racer and Real Wheel maker Eric Vaughn set up a special display around Gray Baskerville's '32 roadster, which featured some very funny photographs and remembrances of the bigger-than-life automotive journalist who recently passed away. Some cars, like the rarely seen "Nickel Roadster," and its current owner, TV/film star Tim Allen, were both in attendance at the show, as was The Tonight Show's Jay Leno.

However, the true centerpiece of the event was the '32 Ford. You would be hard pressed to find another vehicle that shares the reverence that the Deuce does today. The car that helped turn Ford Motor Company around 70 years ago (and let's not forget launch the V-8 engine) was the main attraction in a town that has seen its share of stars.

And though the event was a huge success, there are no plans to repeat the event next year. However, there has been talk about producing a show on the car's 75th birthday in 2007. In 2007? Isn't that when California is supposed to slide into the ocean? We'll just have to wait and see!