Photography by Tommy Koppingerf you listen to Dave Hooker from Arizona, you read the benefit of two stories in one: first, a compelling human-interest story, and second, the fulfillment of a long-held dream—his 1929 Ford highboy roadster. Dave starts by telling us how it all began.
“It all started in the early 2000s when my wife and I had been longtime attendees at the Goodguys car shows in Washington, making our yearly trips to the Goodguys West Coast Nationals and Pleasanton, California. After returning home one year, we decided we wanted to be part of the sport.
Dave tells us that he ordered the body and chassis package from Brookville Roadster and picked up the parts for the upcoming project on his annual trip to the show in Pleasanton. As is often the case, there is generally a flood of rounded-up parts and pieces that begin to come in during the early days of “the” build start. Dave went on to tell us life wasn’t finished throwing curveballs at him. Job layoffs and his wife’s long battle with cancer forced them to take a long break from working on the car—it could wait. Unfortunately, Dave’s wife, Renee, lost her battle with cancer, but it was believed that he would finish the roadster in time and enjoy their project for her.
It was back in 2020 that Dave began in earnest, and this time the roadster reached completion. What proved to be a catalyst was striking up a friendship with Dean Livermore of Hot Rods by Dean, as he would take what Dave had rounded up and, with a little massaging here and there, build the roadster he and Renee had wanted for so long. Luckily, I was able to watch the highboy come together from those early days, and I would snap some construction photos now and then during my visits to Dean’s shop as I spend a lot of time there following various hot rod builds.
The body is a 1929 Model A roadster recreation by Brookville Roadster. The custom color is based on PPG Toyota blue, which features an additional tint added by Hot Rods by Dean; they also handled the bodywork and applied the paint. The headlights, mounted to Hot Rods by Dean fabricated stands, are Deitz, and the taillights are replicas of the hot rod favorite 1950 Pontiacs. The interior features a 1932-style dashboard with a finned insert from Speedway Motors, one of the last from Gary’s Rods and Restorations, designed to hold a set of Classic Instruments and a column-mounted tachometer—a “knee-knocker” special. The steering column is from Flaming River, topped with an Eddie Motorsports wheel. The bench seat was custom-built and then upholstered by Daniel Hurtado and his crew at Bell Auto Upholstery in a light cream-colored leather. Other interior appointments include a Vintage Air Streamline Heater and Lokar pedals. Something we haven’t mentioned, Dave is a “big boy” at 6 feet 2 inches. (Why is it, the big guys like the “little” roadsters?!) Given that Dave is a tall individual, it was decided that the windshield would be kept at its stock height (approximately 14-5/8 inches). Normally, we would see the windshield cut down roughly 3 inches, but not in this case.
The car made its debut at this year’s Grand National Roadster Show and appeared in the Hot Rods by Dean booth. It was well received, and Dave has had the opportunity to drive the hot rod to several events, enjoying his lifelong dream and honoring the memory of his wife. A great hot rod story for sure.