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“Hot rods” have been around for a long time. And there have been as many interpretations of the theme as there have been builders of each individual machine. Isn’t that the definition of “hot rod”? A recent trend embraces a nostalgic look back to the low-cost, grass roots versions that guys with shallow pockets started in the early years of hot rodding. This is such a machine. Franklin Mint has issued 1932 Fords in more than one configuration. There have been three-window coupes, five-window coupes, a high-boy roadster and convertible sedans. Their hot rod variants came in both three and five window coupe offerings. This three-window deuce is based on the low budget home garage project, pieced together with easily accessible parts, that nearly anyone could afford to build. These bargain bin cars came to be known as, “rat rods”. The terminology bears witness to the lack of refinement and its overall ‘ratty’ appearance.
In the tradition of their 1940 Ford, “Old Reliable”, Franklin Mint has created a bit of whimsy with this older ’32 tooling. Some nice thought went into this little cutie. Although it does not represent the same state of disrepair and neglect as the Old Reliable, it intentionally has some rust around the edges. Life as a rat rod started out with a sound frame, aluminum pan flooring and internal door paneling, rebuilt rear, axles and tranny and a period-perfect flathead V-8. FM added new tires, with plenty of tread detail and wide whites and popped on some cool and shiny baby moon caps to accent the red-painted wheels. Twin pots provide the gas/air mixture and they plumbed in twin fuel lines to boot. Some nice little shorty-stack headers do the exhaust work for the rat and the steering box gets routed within the suspension work.
The interior gets a nostalgic bounce from the odd blanket that no one wanted or apparently missed, and it got tossed over, what is sure to have been torn upholstery with the errant spring or two stinking out. Then to be thorough, FM added a second matching piece to the rumble seat bottom cushion. How cool is that? What carries the ‘look’ to fruition here is the nice way FM painted the little buggie. We see splatter paint, in gray, on the headlight surrounds, a coat of rust on the firewall, over a base coat of red primer and the rusty primer exterior on the balance of the bodywork. It looks like some surface rust may be poking its little noggin out here and there too. But to signal the build’s finish, our local garage mechanic added old-time pinstriping to the car. We find it on the radiator shell, trunk lid and gas tank and a small stripe that runs the length of the beltline. “Ben’s Rods & Customs” adds a touch of nostalgia to the doors and even displays an old-fashioned phone number, when letters were used as prefixes.
There are cool little touches that are unexpected but lend great credence to the nostalgic theme. Remember the small skull on a tall gearshift lever? The rat’s got it. Tiny arm rests were crafted by slitting open a section of aluminum door paneling; cheap way to go, and the chassis is braced and braced again for a cool ‘rod’ look. The radiator grill is darkened and the chopped appearance of the engine bay, sans the hood and its sides, gives the car the right look.
FM has made a nice little presentation here and limited it to 5000 units. At issue price of $105, I am happily impressed.
(01/27/2007)
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