You've probably seen it before: wives riding shotgun to their other half while they cruise the fairgrounds in his hot rod. What you won't find in that situation is Bob and Gina Adams. The couple has their own '32 roadsters, and the two vehicles are about as different from each other as you can get.
Bob has been involved with hot rodding in one way or another for as long as he can remember. When he was a 14-year-old kid, he lived with his family in Royal Oak, Michigan, and would ride his bicycle over to the famed Woodward Avenue to watch the muscle cars cruise by. Though he graduated high school in 1967, Bob was already driving before he was legally allowed to do so. Watching the Big Three come by Woodward with factory race cars and prototypes are some of Bob's favorite memories of his youth. Gina grew up a little later than that, when Mustangs and Vettes were the hot cars to have, and she really identifies with that era.
Bob had already began collecting hot rods (he now owns a '27 track roadster, a custom '48 Chevy truck, a '64 Chevy Impala 409, a '34 Ford cabrio, a '39 Ford coupe, and more) before they met, but soon Gina really got into the whole hot rodding experience, including the social aspects.
They agreed it would be great if she had her own car to drive to the runs with their rodding friends, so they began to look around at what they could have built. Having been friends and customers of Ohio's Barry Lobeck for many years, the Adams contracted him to build a '32 Ford cabriolet using one of the Dearborn Deuce convertibles as a base.
Bob, on the other hand, was continuing on with his collection, which already contained a couple of roadsters, including a Flathead-powered ride that was outfitted with Du Vall windshield. One thought was to build another roadster that would be a distressed version of his expertly detailed Deuce. But fate intervened when, a few years ago at the Louisville Nats, he came across a primered, traditional-type 'glass roadster for sale that had been built in Kansas.
With a build style that already said "vintage," Bob decided to take the car even further in concept to the level of "long lost, barn-find hot rod." Over the next couple of years, Bob scoured the swap meets and garage sales looking for items that he could add to his roadster to make it look even older.
With both cars now complete, the Adams take their roadsters to events all over the Midwest, each behind the wheel of their own car, which enables them to have their cake and eat it, too!
The engine in Bob's cruiser...
The engine in Bob's cruiser is a 360-inch Cadillac backed to a Hydramatic trans. An Edelbrock 4-2 manifold set up for Strombergs tops the mill, and the proper amount of grease and grime was added to make it look more vintage than it really is. Hey! At least he doesn't spend a lot at the car wash! And, by the way, it doesn't leak a drop of oil.
His...
The lineage of this roadster started in Leavenworth, but then went to Florida where rodder Gary Moore started the process to make the roadster look more traditional, and then finally to just outside Detroit, Michigan, where Bob Adams perfected the look. Some of the work was easy (a simple handmade pitman arm connects to a Schroeder steering box mounted under the dash), and some of it required a bit more attention (finding a dented, rusty panel and bringing it home to beat on it some more before sectioning it into the perfect 'glass door (that's right-the whole car is actually fiberglass).
There really isn't a smooth section of body within eyeshot, mostly because Bob added rust shavings to the paint he sprayed. Then, with a little bit of sand and mud caked on, you get a 60-year-old patina! The look fools most onlookers, with only some thinking it was a recent build. But hardly anyone will come up and say "Why did you do that to a fiberglass body?" Quite the opposite. There was one event where an older gentleman swore up and down he'd seen the car way back when, so Bob quizzed him to find out what he supposedly knew.
During the build, Adams would find parts and pieces at various swap meets to add to his ride, and he feels that time was some of the best spent "working" on his roadster. Bob became adept at distressing the parts and, as some might observe, may have gone overboard when going to the lengths he did. Using old cloth tape from his dad's garage and strategically leaving it on the car is one thing, but to drill out the 'glass body and dimple the hole with Bondo to make it look like bullet holes is just genius.
Many of the parts on the car...
Many of the parts on the car are decades old, but in the case of the grille shell, Bob had it (as well as the decklid) pinstriped and then sanded it down to make it appear that it was done way back when. He's not sure where the old Moto Meter radiator cap came from, but he likes it. The Du Vall windshield is new, but Bob ground off all the chrome and added junkyard glass (complete with BB holes and layer separation) to give it the right flavor.
For a guy who has a nice collection of glossy, litter-free vehicles in his oversize garage, having so many people gather around such a ratty roadster sometimes baffles Bob. But they all see the same thing: either a diamond in the rough (and in need of saving) or, for those who actually know Bob, believe it to be the "before" version of one of his restorations (Oh, he'll fix that later!).
... and Hers
After deciding on the type of car Gina wanted, a trio of drawings was produced to help identify the look. The major styling cue of her roadster would be the same that carried the look of the Mustangs through multiple decades: the side scoop and spears. Barry Lobeck's shop in Ohio located some '66 replacement quarter-panels and then went about grafting them into the steel Dearborn Deuce sides. The scooped sides not only fit the quarters, but fade forward into the door, which made modifying some of the doors mechanicals imperative.
The rest of the build is what you'd come to expect from one of hot rodding's pioneers: a clean and precise assembly with a handful of subtle adjustments to make the car truly unique to its owner. In this particular case, a steel Brookville three-window Deuce dash was installed instead of the standard roadster's dash (which does not have the working glovebox door that the coupe's dash does) and recessing the taillights are just two of the items customized at Lobeck's.
When it came time to paint the car, green was the only shade Gina was interested in. Being her favorite color (things in the house carry the hue, as well as some of her clothing), Bob and Gina checked out what PPG had to offer and found a lime that had a fair amount of gold running through it. Contrasting dark green leather was found for the interior, which features a Wise Guys bench seat with fold-down armrest and purse-like door flaps that conceal more storage.
Not too interested in having some junkyard motor power the roadster, Ford Racing was contacted for one of their 302 crate engine that was tested at 360 horsepower, which was backed to a Tremec five-speed (that's right-three pedals for the lady). The valve covers were modified at Lobeck's to carry three mini-spears, a look carried over from the car's side scoops. A minor styling cue that helps keep the Mustang theme alive are the Cobra wheels from Wheel Vintiques, which were shod in BFGoodrich rubber in 15- and 17-inch diameters.
Having already driven the 200-plus miles to the Columbus nationals in 2007 (where it made its debut), Gina has had no problem rolling up a few thousand miles on the odometer, and Bob finds he has to ask her if he could borrow the car for local runs as she's highly protective of it. You can find both of the Adams on any given hot rod weekend enjoying the hobby, and it's easy to spot Gina: she's usually the one out in front.
Bullet holes in a 'glass car?...
Bullet holes in a 'glass car? It's amazing what you can do with a drill and a little bit of Bondo. Bob even wacked the '48 Chevy taillight lenses and filled them with dirt to get the distressed look just right.
A bench seat out of an old...
A bench seat out of an old school bus fits right in with the decor of Bob's interior, and there is a lot to take in. Old oil cans litter the floorboards, but they were placed there intentionally. The dash is '32 Ford (though the ashtray is '36 Ford), but a '32 Stude gauge insert was used, and various parts and pieces from numerous junkyard and swap meet trips fill in the rest. Though you can't see it when standing outside the car, Bob does have a set of contemporary gauges hidden in panel under the dash that can be pulled out when he's driving so he can check the engine's vitals.
Vintage steel signs were used...
Vintage steel signs were used as patch panels wherever possible (Bob says locating them at swap meets was one of the best parts of building his roadster) and, remember, this is a fiberglass car. The '32 frame is an original unit, though now boxed.
A few hammer marks leave dents...
A few hammer marks leave dents that make the new gas tank seem old, plus the vintage license plate and club plaque all aid the ruse.
A Maverick 8-inch, transverse...
A Maverick 8-inch, transverse springs, and tube shocks can be found under the rear, while the front uses a Magnum I-beam axle, a pair of radius rods, and tube shocks. The car rolls on '35 Ford wires wrapped in 525 and 650 bias ply rubber.
You can find dependability...
You can find dependability in crate motors, and Gina found hers at Ford Racing. The engine is a 302, but pumps out 360 horsepower with the addition of some performance goodies. Lobeck's Springfield, OH, shop fab'd the air cleaner and valve covers (copying the look of the quarterpanels) and the rest of the motor was outfitted with a Walker radiator, a SPAL fan, a polished Edelbrock intake manifold, a Mallory ignition system, and a stainless exhaust system (done at Lobeck's) that empties into a pair of Flowmaster mufflers. The whole shebang bolts to a Tremec five-speed trans.
Little accents unique to this...
Little accents unique to this car are found both fore and aft-from the recessed '48 Chevy taillights to the abbreviated bull nose grille trim (which is actually a trim section of a '36 Ford hood side).
Lobeck's paid special attention...
Lobeck's paid special attention to the interior of Gina's ride, and goes as far as saying "it's a lady's car" because of its ease of function. A Brookville '32 three-window dash was used expressly due to its glovebox, so Mrs. Adams can keep her things from flying around the open cockpit. One of the knobs on the dash pulls out, which starts the car, eliminating the chance of keys scratching the dash. Being a Dearborn Deuce, when the top is folded out and power windows are up, a Vintage Air climate control system allows Gina to stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Creature comforts include a Wise Guys bench seat (covered in the same green leather as the door panels by Portage Trim) complete with fold-down drink tray and armrest, and a Juliano's '40-type steering wheel bolted to a Flaming River tilting column.
Growing up when Mustangs and...
Growing up when Mustangs and Vettes were in their heyday, Gina wanted a little Mustang influence in her '32, too, and got it when Lobeck's sectioned real Mustang quarters to the Dearborn Deuce steel body. The rollers only reinforce that concept: they're Wheel Vintiques' Shelby wheels, 15x6 and 17x8, wrapped in BFGoodrich hides (165R-15 and P255/60R-17).
The stance is unmistakably...
The stance is unmistakably Lobeck, but the color came from Gina. She likes green and, after checking out what PPG had to offer, picked one of their shades for her ride. The chassis was stretched two inches (through the hood area) to give the roadster its perfect proportions.