Everybody loves a roadster.
At least they do until they own one, but that's another story.


Yep, no denying it, there are roadster people and non-roadster people. I am the roadster type. I get rained on, big bugs hit me in the head at 70MPH, the top of my head was continually in a state of peeling from sunburn, I had to wear sunglasses even at night to keep the wind out of my eyes, and I have frozen when the temp dropped to 40 degrees while I was at a show and nightime came. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

I read in a magazine one time the advice "never build a top for your roadster because you will rarely take it off and then it is no longer a roadster." I have seen this so often........look at Brian, his RP looks so cool with the top on I bet it never comes off again. Not saying that is bad, just a fact.

When I moved to Cape Coral in 1985 I was building my roadster, and I was inspired by a local real estate agent, Phil Deems. Phil has a neat '27 roadster pickup that he built in 1958 or thereabouts, and he still owns it. It is turquise with white undercarriage, wide whites, chevy 283 with two 4 barrels, etc. Really oldtimey, but real, not a recreation. Anyway, I would see Phil driving his rod to work in the mornings with his necktie flying in the breeze, surrounded by all of these econoboxes and other mundane daily commuters, and he just looked like a real hot rodder to me. I swore that when mine was done I would do exactly that, and I did , for 7 years. (except I don't EVER wear a necktie, except funerals and weddings )

What I love about a roadster is that it is just like riding a Harley, but with 4 wheels. You get all the sights,sounds, smells that surround you and have an unobstructed view of everything. My favorite time is to go out for late night drives when it is cool, and just loaf along listening to the pipes and watching the chrome on the engine glisten under the street lights. D***, I've got to get the T done, I want to do all that again. I can't wait either for my Son to get his '29 done. He has no idea what a world this car is going to open up for him when he starts driving it around.


Don