Jim Palmer's 1932 Ford highboy roadster - Milestones

Among the priceless images in Palmer's collection is this photo of eldon lang about to make a pass at a drag meet at salinas Airport in 1951.

Palmer drove the car in that livery until 1998 when he said he decided to return the roadster to its Bonneville-era glory. this time, however, he had a plan to prevent another protracted dormancy. he'd need the plan; he intended to debut the restored car at the 50th Grand national roadster show-and that was less than a year away. luckily Dave Wilkerson orchestrated the rebirth.

Brian hill found ways to salvage the chassis and much of the car's body. Among other things, he unearthed a long-forgotten collision repair that not even Palmer knew of and replaced brittle metal that novice hands work hardened as they repaired and modified the roadster over the decades.

Gary hubback's knowledge of and dedication to periodcorrect components preserved the car's authentic spirit. Among other things, he rebuilt the wheels and denied any hardware from any other application other than '32 or '40 Fords, the two years of cars that culminated to form the original car five decades earlier.

Here's the shot of all shots: Gun sight at Bonneville. Juri, who worked as a machinist at the namesake gun/optics shop, had the talent, equipment, and, most importantly, the foresight to capture the moment on film beyond most people's means at the time: Kodachrome.

Palmer's Jr. Fuel partner, neil o'Kane, built a Flathead to match the engine Juri used to run B-ville in '52. tom "tip" tyler found many of the rare parts for the car and machined what couldn't be found. Kent Walton fixtured the headers Duke Duclos built in 1946 and found '36 Ford driveshaft tubes for which to fabricate a new set. tri Valley interiors' Mike Pauselius took great pains to reproduce the interior that Warren thatcher trimmed for Juri in 1953.

Wilkerson's planning and parts-sourcing abilities paid off; Gun sight not only debuted on schedule, it won both Vintage racecar and outstanding overall restored Antique Vehicle classes at Gnrs. it then earned the distinction with eight other cars to represent historic hot rods at the '99 Pebble Beach Concours d'elegance.

As distinguished as those events were, however, nothing compares to the '03 Palo Alto Concours d'elegance, where Gun sight reunited with three of its former owners-leo Juri, Al raynal Jr., and Jim harvey. Art Gray, who built one of the roadster's engines for Mack and Castleberry, showed up to dispense historical information based on his relationships with the car's owners and to relinquish a piece of the car's interior that hung on his wall for half a century.

By all means, Gun sight is fortunate; most old cars don't survive, and of those, race cars perished early from lives hard lived. the most fortunate part of the story for us is Palmer's relationship with the car. he still treats the car as just that: a car. Besides a stint in the Petersen Automotive Museum withstanding, the Gun sight still makes the rounds at northern and southern California meets, and its fortunate owner regales future generations of the car's colorful history.

That said, there's a good chance you too will encounter a hot-cammed roadster flying Gun sight colors. if you do, stop its grinning driver and thank him for preserving that old work truck/hot rod/calling card/show car/restoration project.

Roy "Mack" McKinney and tom Castleberry appointed the roadster with what eventually became classic elements: '40-48 Ford brakes, Ford F-1 shock mounts (backward), and a stretched axle by none other than ed "Axle" stewart.

The Duke Duclos-fabricated lakes pipes showed their wear after half a century of hard work, so Kent Walton fixtured the original pipes and fashioned a fresh system with a pair of virgin '36 Ford driveshafts.