The McMullen Roadster

The word "icon" is thrown about all too often when trying to establish the impact of someone or something upon our lives. Knowing this we choose our words carefully, but must acknowledge that the original Tom McMullen '32 Ford highboy roadster is an icon of rodding. There are precious few cars (justifiably, Project X of Popular Hot Rodding) that are as recognizable and carry such a storied publishing pedigree.

In fact, the hot rod was famous before Tom purchased the Deuce in 1958, as it had appeared on the Life of Riley television series. Later, it appeared in a publicity photo featuring Nick Adams, who was staring at the time in a TV series titled The Rebel. Publicity continued to follow the highboy, as it was covered in numerous magazine articles and on the cover of at least five record albums. McMullen and his roadster were well-known for their exploits on the street, at the strip (for both the quarter- and half-mile), on the dry lakes, and for the roadster's appearance, which changed frequently between 1958 and 1970.

Over the years, Tom built many street rods but he always found himself returning to his first love, eventually building two additional Deuce highboys. McMullen Deuce highboy roadster number two appeared on the SRM cover in September 1976 and number three appeared in August 1991. (The STREET RODDER May '01 Milestones story featured all three of the McMullen roadsters.) With that being the case, this month is all about number one, the first, and the icon. (There is too much history to include in one article. So let us offer that you go back to those earlier issues and read about what may very well be the most publicized and interesting hot rod our industry has ever known.)

To Tom it was a multipurpose hot rod. It provided him with daily transportation while at the same time satisfying his "need for speed." The Chevy-powered roadster with Tom behind the wheel established an A/SR (A/Street Roadster) record of 167 mph at El Mirage. The best quarter-mile speed was 118 mph while it reached 138 mph at the Riverside half-mile. The roadster served as his social as well as business calling card. Tom made numerous friends and contacts because of the car but also used the car to show off his electrical wiring prowess. It was this ability that lead to a small business named Auto Electric Engineering, which eventually became AEE Choppers, a highly successful motorcycle accessory company from the early '70s. (Tom would tell the story about the start of AEE Choppers being based on his business license that was in the name of Auto Electric Engineering--he knew he needed a different name to sell motorcycle parts so it was abbreviated to AEE.) It was the success of AEE Choppers that lead to the loss of interest in the Deuce but allowed him to do something much more significant--TRM Publications (which stood for Tom and Rose McMullen). What was once a modest publishing company with one motorcycle magazine and a company roster of a dozen people has grown into one of the largest specialty publishing houses employing hundreds.

The Restoration The McMullen roadster had many incarnations, but for purposes of the restoration owner Jorge Zaragoza of El Paso, Texas, agreed with Roy Brizio (Roy Brizio Street Rods, South San Francisco, CA) that the car should be restored to how it was on the Apr. '63 Hot Rod cover. This is the version best known by rodders everywhere. So here's a brief rundown of how the car got into the hands of Jorge and Roy...

Jorge knew he wanted Roy to restore the car, it was only a matter of obtaining it from Don Orosco of Monterey, a rodder who owns his share of hot rods. The roadster was purchased from Don the week after the L.A. Roadster Show in June 2002. It looked the same as it did in the May '82 issue of STREET RODDER when it was featured as part of a history story on the car.

Prior to Don owning it, the car belonged to Phyliss Lovesee, who at the time lived in Laguna Hills, California. She and her husband [Richard] originally obtained the car while living in Riverside, California. Before that, the car spent time at Gene Winfield's shop. It was the Lovesee's that had the car rebuilt at Chuck Lombardo's California Street Rods. At this point, the roadster was black minus flames with a tan interior and had a mundane small-block and TH350 tranny. The famous black California license plate (GHF 475) was removed in favor of a vanity plate but the original plate was kept, which is the way the car stayed until the Roy Brizio Street Rods restoration. (We believe it was Albert Baca who purchased the car from Phyliss Lovesee and who then sold it to Don Orosco.)

Roy started the restoration with the following original parts: body (hood, doors, decklid, radiator shell), Deuce gas tank, dashboard (minus gauges) with the original Ed Roth pinstriping, tonneau cover, windshield frame, Deist parachute, front suspension (drilled I-beam axle and split wishbones, radius rods, spring, shackles, and shocks), and the very recognizable license plate. Of the significant original parts missing were the frame, engine, transmission and rearend, interior, and, unfortunately, the Moon tank.

From start to finish the restoration took Brizio's craftsman one year to complete. Aside from his band of merry men, other Californian's who took pride in their efforts were: Sid Chavers of Santa Clara, who brought back the famous black and white interior; Micky Galloway of Brentwood, who straightened out the tin; Darryl Hollenbeck of Concord, who applied the "foot" deep black paint (which rests beneath the Art Himsl flames that were pinstriped by Rory); Bruno Gianoli of San Bruno, who built the period-correct '62 small-block 327 Chevy V-8; and Sherm's Plating of Sacramento, who handled the chrome plating.

In Roy's attempt to bring the car back to its original (meaning '63) edition there were some mechanical changes that had to be undone. The most notable was to place the Model A spring forward, yes, in front, of the rear axle. Tom positioned the Model A spring in front of the rear axle but the car suffered severe wheel hop while under hard acceleration so he converted the suspension to a pair of parallel springs.

Volumes have been written on this car and, I am sure, there will be more to come. But for now, enjoy one street rod shop's efforts to salvage a piece of our history.

To Learn More About All of the McMullen Roadsters:

Roadster #1
Hot Rod (cover), April 1963
Popular Hot Rodding, August 1964
Popular Hot Rodding, (cover), September 1964
STREET RODDER, May 1982
The Best of Hot Rod, 1986
STREET RODDER, May 2001, (roadsters #1, #2, #3)
STREET RODDER, (cover/restored), April 2004

Roadster #2
STREET RODDER, (cover), September 1976
STREET RODDER, (cover), December 1977 through June 1991, (appeared as part of the magazine logo)
STREET RODDER, May 2001, (roadsters #1, #2, #3)

Roadster #3
STREET RODDER, (cover), August 1991
STREET RODDER, (cover), May 1997
STREET RODDER, (cover), July 1991 through April 1998, (appeared as part of the magazine logo)
STREET RODDER, May 2001, (roadsters #1, #2, #3)