1932 Ford Roadster - Smooth

It seems as though every hot rodder dreams of building/owning at least one Deuce roadster during the course of their lifetime, and Mooresville, North Carolina's Darryl Rogers is a perfect example. Darryl's been hot rodding since '53, building and owning his share of beautiful examples along the way, but in all those years not one of `em was the venerable Deuce roadster. Well, by the summer of '07 he thought the time had come to rectify that fact once and for all.

Wandering the grounds at that year's NSRA gathering in York, Pennsylvania, Darryl spied a brand-new Dearborn Deuce body on display in the vendor area of the show. After taking a close look at the body, and liking what he saw, he made the decision to plunk down a wad-o-cash right then and there. After thinking about "his" Deuce for a long time, he had a pretty good idea of how he wanted it done, and also who was going to do a lot of it for him. The deal done, Darryl had the body shipped directly to his pal, who just so happens to be Posies of POSIES' Rods and Customs. Darryl and Posies' friendship goes way back, and Darryl knew that Posies' design ideas and craftsmanship would ensure that his dream roadster would live up to his expectations. The pair tossed around some ideas as Darryl expressed his vision, one that exuded both a hot rod persona and class while still embodying the classic Deuce design.

While Posies fine-tuned his ideas, Darryl began the task of gathering the balance of components that'd transform the body into a complete automobile. Beginning with the foundation, he chose a Pete & Jake's '32 frame and traditional suspension components. Since this baby was gonna see a lot of road time, motorvation would come in the way of a 383-cube SBC backed by a 700-R4 overdrive tranny, and a hot rod staple--a 9-inch Ford rear end. Since Darryl's vision was one with an air of class rather than muscle, a full complement of fenders and running boards were in the mix, along with a quartet of wire wheels.

The cockpit was to be as stylish as the roadster's exterior, so Darryl made the decision to fill it with yards of glove-soft leather in a color that would accent the car's anticipated exterior color. Speaking of the car's color, Darryl took a lot of heat from his friends over his color choice, but he held his ground and both the interior and exterior colors are, along with the car's masterful workmanship, perhaps one of the more refined aspects of the finished product. And refined it is--this full-fendered Ford is, as you can plainly see, is a class act and a hot rod that's sure to be well worth the wait.