The Ramblers Hot Rod Club of Northern California had quite a presence at the Oakland Roadster Show in the 1950s. In 1952, The Ramblers entered seven cars in the show and came away with just as many awards. Among them was Bob Crackbon, club president, winning the AMBR for his '25 roadster pickup. The club also walked away with Best Coupe, Best Competition Coupe, and Most Originality. The quest for excellence continued into the '50s, culminating with this '29 Ford competition roadster built by Howard Leever, Fred Esser, Don Ruter, and Jack Hagemann. Built "to present the best possible example of the sport to the public so as to create a good impression of hot rodding activities," according to Howard Leever, the roadster incorporated some truly forward-thinking technology. Powered by an injected 335ci Olds, the torsion bar-suspended, lift-off-bodied roadster turned an impressive 170 mph and set many records at Bonneville in the '50s. It also won the competition class at the Oakland Roadster Show in '56 and came back the following year to take home the Best Constructed Car title. A feature in Hot Rod magazine followed, complete with the cutaway drawing by Pete Miller.
The car was subsequently sold in the late '50s and some dramatic changes were made. Luckily for current owner and the main man behind the car's restoration, Richard Munz, the previous owner kept all the original parts, panels, and pieces from the original car. When it came time to restore the car to its '56-57 Oakland Roadster Show glory, all Richard had to do was entrust Jim Busby's shop to complete the restoration. The car was restored using every piece from the original car, minus the original driveshaft-the only part they couldn't find. Complete with the original Olds-injected engine, the roadster was on hand at the 2006 Grand National Roadster Show and was back in its 175-mph Bonneville glory!
Another survivor from the early '50s, this Class C-modified roadster ran one of the earliest examples of organized drag racing at the Santa Ana Raceway at the Orange County Airport. Built by Reid and Don Pate and driven by Bill Crissman, the modified '27 Ford rear-engine roadster ran in the 130-mph range in the quarter-mile in 1953 with a four-carbed Flathead, making it one of the most dominant cars at the time. Ran continuously during the '53-54 season, the car was the fastest in the Class C roadster category in seven events, had the fastest time of the day three times, and placed second in the fastest race against the higher Class D roadster belonging to the legendary Bean Bandits. The car also appeared in numerous magazines including Hot Rod, Motor Trend, Hop Up, Motor Life, and the cover of Speed Age.
After the Pate brothers retired the car in the mid-'50s, it languished in Southern California for years. The car was subsequently found a few years back and turned over to Dave Crouse and his crew at Custom Auto to be fully restored back to its glory days. Meticulously restored by the same crew who restored the Joe Nitti roadster, the Bell-modified roadster accurately represents the earliest days of hot rod drag racing.