FEBRUARY 22, 2014 (MARCH 2014): ’32 FORD ROADSTER- A SIXTIES DREAM COMES TRUE DECADES LATER

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Neal Toews has been a fanatic about the 1932 Ford roadster since he was a kid.

 

Unlike most childhood dreams in most people’s lives he never let go of this one.

 

He just postponed it for a few decades.

 

 

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Neal is a very pragmatic guy so he put the ’32 Ford dream on the back burners so he could get a job, get married and assume all the responsibilities that come with grownup life. Despite this mature approach to life he never forgot about the ’32 roadster.

 

Circumstances started the ball rolling years ago when Neal found a platform. He explained, “It was a guy going out of business and he had a Dearborn body”.It was quite a bit more than I wanted to pay but it was exactly what I wanted, so I got it but I also had to wait until I had more money to put into it”.

 

Neal added,I started building it over ten years ago because my wife told me I wasn’t getting any younger and she was right”.

 

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Despite the passage of time, there is no question Wayne had a specific vision for his ’32 Ford and it was clearly an old-school game plan.

 

You’ll see a fair number of these ‘32 Fords with crate engines like the 350 Chevy because they’re relatively easy to install, they get phenomenal power, they’re affordable and they’re reliable.

 

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None of those factors mattered to Neal,This is a flattie and it came out of a ’53 Mercury. It’s got an Isky cam and three deuces for a crab setup”. You can’t get more retro than that setup and it spoke volumes about Neal’s commitment to authenticity.

 

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Despite that clear dedication to everything old-school, Neal had to make one concession to new tech, “That’s a C-4 transmission because you have to remember, my wife is going to drive this car too and part of this is her money”.

 

This car has other period correct features as Neal explained, “Those are functional dumps and the ET wheels are off a ’65 Fairlane I had so I knew I had to have those on this car. Those are also classic gauges too so everything really fits”.

 

There is always a learning curve with projects and most of these bugs get worked out on the road. This ’32 Ford is no exception, “We were on the highway and it wouldn’t go into 3rd so that made it a long trip. That was on one of the first runs”.

 

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That’s probably why the Toews have different nicknames for the car, “I nicknamed it Maggie but my wife gave it a different name that I couldn’t repeat”.

 

This car has a specific role in Neal’s life now but it does have a feature common to every hot rod project as Neal admitted, “There are a lot of little things left to be done to make it complete”.

 

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Neal did the right thing in many ways with his beloved ‘32 Ford roadster. He found the right building block, he developed a consistent vision for the project, he took his time and most importantly of all…

 

He waited so long his wife prodded him into starting the project.

 

Jerry Sutherland

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