1932 Ford Highboy Roadster - Them Rolling Bones

Ever since the dawn of hot rodding, an immeasurable number of stoke rods have been built, each one possessing a common thread that links each and every one of them to a sacred brother- and sisterhood that is decades-old. The tie that binds comes in the form of a spirit that appears within each creation once its owner plucks an old heap off a used car lot, discovers it in a barn, rescues it from a scrap yard, or dials 1-800 to order up brand-new recreation parts.

From the moment a wrench is first turned, and long after many meals of cold pizza and stale coffee are inhaled, a direction is carved out on a particular way the car will evolve. Each one is built with a specific purpose-be it to spend time cruising to the local burger joint, make its way to a high-profile show circle, or to scream its guts out while running the quarter or flying mile. Back in the early days, a car was built to echo performance thanks to the addition of newly evolving speed parts, chassis dynamics, and loss of excess weight. Once built, most owners drove their creations to the dry lakes or Bonneville to participate in sanctioned events when they stripped the cars down to race trim once they arrived and prepared them to run a course at speed.

In recent years, Ken Schmidt of Ballston Spa, New York-along with his cohorts at the Rolling Bones Hot Rod Shop-has become a rather well-known fixture on the rodding scene thanks to the shop's numerous cross-country banzai runs from the East to the West Coast. Gathering enough stories along the way to write one hell of a book, Ken and crew have managed to put tens of thousand of miles on their ultra-traditional Deuces, all running old-school engine and transmission combinations that howl through quick-change rears. The boyhood influences of tagging along with his older brother, Jim, changed Ken's life forever thanks to their camaraderie and passion for early Ford hot rods. Whether they were out terrorizing on local roads in the '50s or making their way to Peoria for the first Street Rod Nationals, a path had been carved that would lead Ken to follow the long black line at Bonneville.

Wanting to relive the experiences early hot rodders once had, plans were put into motion to create a killer gow job that would be able to make the trek from Upstate New York to Bonneville, get changed up into race trim, run on the Salt, and get changed back and driven home. Starting with a vintage spine that first saw light in '32, Ken and the crew started readying it to meet full SCTA race standards by installing extensive bracing, while adding a pinch up front and a real hard Z and kick out back. In keeping with a period-perfect theme, the front suspension includes a stock '32 Ford axle linked to split 'bones, '39 Ford spindles, inboard-mounted '34 Ford shocks, POSIES spring, and '40 Ford binders, while a Schroeder steering unit keeps navigation on the right track. Out back, simplicity rules with split 'bones making time with '40 Ford shocks, a Model T spring, '40 Ford brakes, and '40 Ford axles mated to a Halibrand V-8 centersection. Rollers for the street come in the form of '40 Ford steelies up front along with '48 Ford steelies out back, all covered with Firestone rubber complemented by glistening '40 Ford DeLuxe caps and rings.

With dependability being a strong point for a car that has to be able to perform both on the street and in full race trim, a call was made to Al Clark of East Schodack, New York, for one of his well-balanced fire-spewing Flatheads. Starting with a '46 Ford 59A block, it was punched open to 276 ci, filled with a 4-inch Merc crank, 8.5:1 slugs, and an Isky stick. Edelbrock heads, coupled with a Fenton two-pot intake and a pair of 97-series Strombergs, add to the proven formula, which dumps its spent gasses through custom-crafted headers and exhaust. Linked to a Chevy S-10 five-speed trans, the Flathead gets plenty of power down when called into action. Once the completed driveline was loaded into the chassis, a call was made to Brookville Roadsters for a fresh steel '32 roadster body that was then treated to a devilish chop, along with the tops of the doors being rolled into the cowl before being doused with loads of PPG black lacquer and patina'd to perfection. A '32 Chrysler Imperial insert and gauges keep all the vitals ready at a glance, while plenty of oxblood leather and a tan ragtop by Dore Dipasquale of Gloversville, New York, adds the final icing on the cake. All we can say is: mission accomplished! The roadster made the run to Bonneville and back without a hitch, while spending the entire time there in full race trim and running 110.474 mph on the Salt the first time out. Wicked!