n creating an iconic design powerful enough to retain its crown through the decades, Ford earned a devoted following as soon as its 1932 models rolled off the production line. Rich with a new flowing style deftly matched to the introduction of the Flathead V-8, Ford kept its engineers busy in creating a total of 14 different body styles for the model year. Many of the new looks, offered in either base or DeLuxe trim with a choice of a V-8 or a four-cylinder powerplant, gave the public plenty of potential combinations to choose from.
There was also the commercial side of the house, which received an infusion of fresh elements as well, including the rarely seen, cab-open (roadster) pickup. The updated version, thanks to Brookville Roadster, appearing across our pages is owned by Bruce Ceramicole of Willington, Connecticut. It fuses a crisp new look to the original style. Just how rare are cab-open pickups? As reported by RM Auctions on a recent sale of one from the Ralph Whitworth Collection, they advised it was 1 of only 593 produced, thus confirming its pedigree. With the roadster cab produced by Murray and known at Ford as body type 76-B, you can imagine how very few of them have actually survived.
For Bruce, growing up in the small town of Southborough, Massachusetts, certainly had its perks, especially since his dad’s long affair with new Buicks and Pontiacs cast a spell on him from an early age. It wasn’t long till an infatuation with magazines and model building passed, leading him to the real thing. Cruising the strip in a 1950 Ford custom convertible followed by a 1956 Ford convertible, he eventually moved to the high-performance side of the house with a number of modified Corvettes and never looked back. As time passed, he met with Dave Simard, owner of East Coast Custom in Leominster, Massachusetts, commissioning full builds of a 1934 Ford five-window coupe as well as 1929 and 1935 Ford pickup trucks.
To craft the chassis, a fresh set of Deuce framerails from Shadow Rods were deftly matched to a tubular center crossmember along with front and rear members to tie it together, all from Pete and Jakes. Out back, a Winters V-8 quick-change rear packs 3.78:1 gears, suspended in place by a combination of Roadster Supply triangulated ladder bars and Panhard bar along with RideTech coilover shocks. To nail the stance, a Pete and Jakes 4-inch drilled ’n’ dropped axle wears matching spindles and hairpins, matched to RideTech shocks with all suspension components being either plated or polished. When it’s time to drop anchor, a Wilwood dual master pushes fluid through stainless lines to matching drilled-and-vented discs at each corner. Linking it to the street are a nostalgic set of chrome 15×5 front and 17×8 rear wire wheels from Wheelsmith wearing big ’n’ littles from Diamond Back, sized P165/R15 and P225/60R17, respectively.
When it came time to adding plenty of punch, Bruce contacted BluePrint Engines of Kearney, Nebraska, for one of their stout 383ci stroked small-block V-8s. A fresh BluePrint cast-iron four-bolt main block was packed with plenty of go-fast goods featuring a matching cast-iron crank linked to OEM-style rods wearing hypereutectic pistons getting bumped by a roller cam. Up top, a set of BluePrint aluminum heads with 64cc chambers add plenty of seamless power, especially when matched to an Offenhauser three-deuce intake sucking down the goods through a Mooneyes retro EFI wearing scoops from OTB, managed by Holley Sniper electronics. An MSD ignition brings it all to life while spent gases move through Sanderson headers to a custom 1-5/8-inch exhaust to Flowmaster HP-2 mufflers by Brookville. Other cool bits include a Vintage Air Front Runner drive system, finned aluminum valve covers, and Powermaster starter. To move the goods, a TREMEC T56 Magnum trans from American Powertrain links to a matching custom driveshaft.
For the final magic, the Brookville team added a custom roadster dash with an art deco–inspired insert filled with dials from Classic Instruments to monitor the vitals while a Juliano’s 1940 Ford-style wheel links to a Flaming River column to navigate the course. Shifts move through a Lokar stick with cool breezes, compliments of Vintage Air, all coming to life through wiring by Brookville. For comfort, Seamless Custom of Leicester, Massachusetts, stitched up a winning combination of soft tan leather covering a Glide Engineering bench seat with classic pleats while also crafting all related panels, accented by complementing square-weave carpeting, and the final icing, a tan convertible top.
This is one hop-up that’ll see plenty of miles cruising across New England, and to us that’s the real deal.