Photography by Wes Allisonhis ’32 Ford highboy five-window coupe represents the pulling together of many dreams. It was John Docktor’s, of Bedford, Texas, “dream” to build a hot rod that maybe a returning GI from World War II would have built for himself as his daily driver and weekend racer. John assembled the SO-CAL Speed Shop (SCSS) rolling chassis at home in Texas and then from there he leaned on the Veazie Brothers’ shop in Pomona, California, to bring it to its current finished state.
The SCSS chassis’ 107-1/2-inch wheelbase is based on one of its Step-Boxed frames. The custom Deuce ’rails benefit from a flat front crossmember (such as a Model A, adding an additional inch of lower suspension drop), motor mounts, a custom center crossmember that provides for the manual transmission mount, and the rear crossmember that works with a Ford 9-inch and SCSS tube shocks.
Mounted between the framerails is a small-block Chevy, something that wouldn’t have been around in the years immediately after World War II but it did come within the emerging decade. Now, we will also admit that having air conditioning wasn’t until several decades later, but one must make concessions for modern rodding and the long-lasting benefits specific mechanical changes do add to the driveability. Other SBC appointments include the use of a Don Zig magneto, a company known for its ability to rehabilitate original Mallory and Vertex magnetos. Don Zig Magnetos also manufactures its own line of Vertex magneto base assemblies. Upon closer examination you will see that his small-block does use a Vertex mag with Taylor plug wires. From here an Edelbrock intake and a Quick Fuel Technologies four-barrel supplies the fuel to the Vertex “lights.” The cast-iron manifolds are the hi-po Chevy ram’s-horn exhaust that then connects to mandrel-bent and TIG-welded tubing by the Veazie Brothers. From here these are connected to a pair of Turbo mufflers that are heat coated by Young Guns Performance. To aid in the cooling, the SBC uses a riser on its Zips water pump. This riser positions the fan so that it is ideally placed within the Veazie Brothers–fabricated radiator shroud and barrel allowing the mechanical fan to work at its optimum. The 350 Chevy V-8 is matched to a TREMEC TKO 600 (2.87 First gear and 0.82 Fifth gear) with a Veazie Brothers–fabricated shifter.
The ’32 Ford five-window highboy coupe has the right look and “feel.” Maybe a returning GI from World War II would have wanted something like this but I’m pretty sure there are any number of hot rodders who today would want the same.
