Wayne Davis' '35 Ford Roadster - Wayne's World

Nearly everyone can dream about owning a fine collection of hot rods, but only a few have spent a couple of decades actually building that collection. Wayne Davis is such an individual, and he has always liked street rods, musclecars, Cadillacs, and, by his definition, "anything nice." Growing up in west Texas, near Odessa, Wayne started buying cars early on. He moved to South Lake (near Dallas/Fort Worth) 13 years ago and decided to build a private museum just to showcase his collection.

Among the cars he owns is this '35 Ford roadster. Not the type to hoard parts and pieces for years before assembling what he wants, Wayne has the means to come up with a concept and then find what he needs to make it happen. He found this ride at an auction in 2001 (he's been to every Barrett-Jackson auction since 1976), and it had been restored to original specs. Wayne bought the car and decided to go with an old-school look, so the build was rather simple but done to exceptional standards.

The chassis is a stock '35 unit, with split wishbones, dropped axle, and tube shocks added up front. A standard rear with leaf springs went in out back, along with a pair of drum brakes; disc brakes were installed in front. A classic wheel look was achieved with a set of 15x5 and 15x7 Wheel Vintiques rollers, and they're shod in Goodyear whitewalls and topped with three-spoke '50 Olds Fiesta hubcaps. Other unique exterior items include a pair of '41 Ford woodie bumpers, with the rear complemented by a '49 Chevy license plate bracket. To get the correct hot rod look, a 2.5-inch chop was performed, and its proportions are perfect for this vehicle.

Inside the cockpit, a '40 Ford dash went in, with its inset painted a tan/cream color. One of the items setting this ride apart from any other in the parking lot is the car's exterior color. Looking more like something from a new Mitsubishi, the shade is actually from a '61 Chrysler 300 color chart: Turbine Bronze. Brothers Donny and Ron Bright did the bodywork on the roadster before Donny sprayed it, as he does all of Wayne's paintwork for his collection.

Wayne has four full-time employees who work and maintain the vehicles he owns, including 88-year-old Joe Remero, who still works 40 hours a week stitching up exceptional interiors and has worked for Wayne for the past 18 years. Joe used tan leather throughout Wayne's roadster, including creating a simple pleated pattern for the split bench seat, and used Wilton wool for the carpet. A '40 Ford steering wheel and column were also installed, with a small tach mounted in a chrome cup off the column on the right side. Simple but effective, the interior is as understated as the exterior.

It seems more and more Ford 312 V-8s are being used nowadays for street rod powerplants, and Wayne got his from an E-code '57 T-bird-factory equipped with a special high-performance 270-horse engine-which came with a pair of four-barrel carbs. The engine is backed to a three-speed overdrive transmission, controlled by a column shifter.

Though some may be shocked to hear Wayne currently owns 89 cars-including rarities such as a '57 Dual-Ghia convertible and a '57 Eldorado Brougham with 34,000 miles-they might be even more shocked to hear he is selling all of them in mid-April at a special auction produced by RM Auctions that will feature only his collection of cars (if you're interested to see what those cars are, visit www.rmauctions.com for information on the sale).

Expecting to reap between $8 million and $10 million for the cars and other memorabilia, Wayne has decided to also retire from his business and enjoy life, and begin traveling around the country. But, being the car guy he is, the 57-year-old does plan to keep five or six cars. If you had to chose, which ones would you keep? Everyone will just have to wait until April to see how it turns out, but we can safely bet this roadster would look good in anybody's garage.