Thread: 1550 some Henry Ford 32 roadsters (and counting....)

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OK, let's give the "twice as many deuce roadsters now than Henry built" the smell test:

We know that ASC built 300 Dearborn Deuce roadsters, that is publicized.
Brookville probably has built and sold at least that amount, let's give them
350
Rod Bods is the price leader so let's give them 350 also.
That is 1000 steel bodies that are "new"

Wescott has been building bodies since the 1970's according to their web pages.....but they don't say when they started the 32 roadster body. Let's guess that they started 25 years ago and have shipped 3 bodies per week for 25 years...... 3 x 50 x 25 = 3750......this sounds way too high but let's use it.
For the other manufacturers, we will guess that they all total up to Wescott's total....so another 3750....this puts the total fiberglass guess at 7500.

Deuce guesses that 1/2 of the original roadster bodies are left...I think that is too high.....use 1/3 of 12,597 which equals 4,199...say 4000.

Thus, 4,000 + 7500 + 1000 = 12500.....kinda close to the original number of roadsters built. To sanity check, we know that there are NOT double the number of steel replacement bodies out there...... we know that there are NOT 2/3 of the original bodies left and the fiberglass body production would have to be very high to total double the number of deuce roadsters.....

Therefore, the myth that there are "twice as many deuce roadsters today than Henry made" is probably busted. By the way, the above guess is how many bodies were built....probably a good percentage are sitting in the garage unfinished.....I know mine is.

mike in tucson

Well, I have books with manufacturing facts on everything built in the USA from 1903 to 1970. But taking in consideration of all of the 32' roadsters that I normally see during the year, I would have to guess it would about 2 million and counting. Damn things are thicker than mosquitos.

It's a wonder that Bill Ford hasn't asked for a royalty fee for each one made after 1932. Would certainly go far in helping out the financially ailing corporation.

Originally Posted by robot

Deuce guesses that 1/2 of the original roadster bodies are left...I think that is too high.....use 1/3 of 12,597 which equals 4,199...say 4000.

By the way, the above guess is how many bodies were built....probably a good percentage are sitting in the garage unfinished.....I know mine is.

mike in tucson

Deuce guessed 1/3 ...
I would guess that a good number of the reproduction bodies ... are just that ... still just bodys ... not finished, and registered Roadsters.



It took me 10 years to put mine Roadster back together ... last time it was apart ... and my 3W is going on 2 years ...





I realize some folks work a LOT faster than I, but a lot don't either ...
Family, work and $$$ all play a big part in getting a 32 on the road. My situation was made more complicated by the fact that I was not using any repro bodies, panels ... or frames ...

I have a real title and a real frame with numbers that match the title....I bought it from a friend in Texas..... when I took it down to the DMV for the out of state title transfer, they have to inspect the VIN...easy enough. I put the frame on the flat bed truck and hauled it to the DMV. The inspector came out and looked at my paperwork and asked "where is the 32 Ford?"
"right there on the truck, sir!"
"you cant drive that!"
"I'm not here to take a driving test, sir"
"it's just a frame"
"that's where the serial number is"
"let me talk to my supervisor"
"OK"

They agreed to give me a title but not a license plate until it is inspected to be roadworthy.

mike in tucson

Ah yes I realized yesterday whenlooking up the production list again that I had looked at one line (roadster) and did not notice the next line read roadster deluxe. So you are right roadsters = 1552 and deluxe = 11045 a total of 12,597.00

And you'd think with this higher number, it would be possible to find an original body somewhere?

I visited Hollywood hotrod's shop and he showed me a roadster that was having his original tub repaired. he said they spent TONS of work/hours to try to restore it. In the end, almost nothing of the original body was left. the owner then decided to scrap this idea and get a brookville body instead and start from scratch (do people actually have that kind of money?????)

Of course I imediately asked for the guy's phone number and asked if he was married LOLOL (oh just kidding you guys!)

About Wescott: They started building roadster 32 bodies in 1974/75. I asked my contact at Wescott and that's what he said.

I believe Brookville is the most exact replica of the original HF body? How much do their bodies run now a days? I will need to make serious decisions about my body down the road... (I meant my roadster's body LOL). Since the current wescott older body is not painted yet and since I will probably end up redoing the interior, then this may not be such a bad time to think about whether I want to restore and keep the old wescott body (who's doors are out of alignment) or spend some more $$ and get a steel body, but if so i want the exact duplicate of the original.

I can afford the body, with some hard work at selling my fancy tropical fish , but what are the pros and cons of a steel body?

I can think that:

1- steel is more durable and will not go out of alignment
2- steel will protect you more in case of a car crash
3- steel adds value to the car

but then I can also think that:

1- steel eventually may rust (I'll probably be dead by then anyways LOL)
2- steel is heavier, so the car will not be as fast. And I like my roadster FAST hehehehe.
3- Gas mileage, which is bad to beghin with, will probably get even worse (what do you mean WORSE? Is that even humanly possible??? )

Please let us not here get into a debate of which is "better", I like both glass and steel. let's just stick to the facts.

Also, how much of a nightmare would it be to swap bodies? Yes I know wiring will have to be disconnected and reconnected etc, but my wiring needs to be organized, tagged and partially redonne anyways, so there again, not such a big stretch... And the timing may be right.

PS: I should be more specific and say that my doors currently are warped, meaning the top aligns but the bottom sticks out.

One last question (yeah right! ) : I need to install my 1932 plates and I bought oversized license plate frames last week-end, took the current standard size frame off, only to find that of course the holes will not match (fine), but also that someone already drilled a extra hole (a mistake) in the body's rear and it will now probably show above the new plates. it is small, what do I use to patch it?

I thought about bubble gum, but then worried my car would make bubbles when it's windy Just kidding of course...

About bubble gum though: Don't ditch it until you try it !

I do carry chewing gum in my first aid tool box and was able to fix something thanks to the chewing gum on sunday (while at a car show), while the knowledgeable dude hotrodder parked next to my car, and who was trying to help me had ran out of suggestions on how we were going to get the washer back inside the tiny hole of a metal bar to screw the plate back on LOL... Nothing would fit inside that hole and the rumble seat set-up got further in our way in terms of access. So I said : "wait" and pulled out the chewing gum, chewed it and then pasted it to the tip of my little finger and then pasted the nut to it and then I was able to get them in the tiny opening and line them up with the end of the bolt and rebolt everything back together. He was impressed by my creativity and what can I say: It got the job done!

now I can officially say that my car is held together with duct tape and chewing gum LOLOLOL.

There have been debates regarding steel vs. fiberglass FOREVER and will continue so. The Cobra guys have the same argument with the same results....(theirs is aluminum vs. fiberglass)...and one side is not going to change the other side's mind. The general feeling is that you should choose the one that suits your specific need.

Quality is probably a more important consideration than material....some fiberglass bodies scream at you from 100 feet...they look really bad at the reveals. BUT, some of the new repro bodies look equally funky. Both take work when you get them from the manufacturer....and Henry's bodies were probably worse.

Brookville builds the most faithful body for the steelies...and they are about $10K or so. Glass ones are all over the map in price and quality.

Old, original bodies have 75 year old metal in them and can be difficult to work or at least expensive to work.

I suggest going to as many shows as possible and eyeball bodies....ask the owner what kind it is, etc. You'll get so that you can recognize the different materials and makers pretty quickly.

I would rather have your old Wescott ... than a new Brookville ... and I am a old time original steel Henry Ford 32 Roadster steel body owner for a long time ... ( 30 years and counting )

The Wescott is more correct looking ... IMHO ...
The Brookville doe not have the wooden tack strip around the rear of the passenger compartment and all of the true Wescott bodies I have seen in person have it ... NOW ... some folks say their Roadster body is a Wecott ... because the Wescott is considered by many ( or most ) to be the best fiberglass 32 Roadster body made ... and they say theirs is a Wescott to attempt to make it more valueable ...



Yours has the wooden tack strip ( photo from your blog )



It has the correct looking firewall ( like a Wescott )

If it is going to a reproduction bodied Roadster ... I would rather have the old Wescott and the character it has ...

Hiboygal wrote: "I visited Hollywood hotrod's shop and he showed me a roadster that was having his original tub repaired. he said they spent TONS of work/hours to try to restore it. In the end, almost nothing of the original body was left. the owner then decided to scrap this idea and get a brookville body instead and start from scratch (do people actually have that kind of money?????)"


Actually they do. Not me of course, but a lot of other people . After all the winner of the 2005 Ridler Award (Ken Reister's 36 Ford Roadster built by Chip Foose) was rumored to have cost a cool $1.5 million to complete. Obviously nice cars and trophies are very important to some people. Again not necessarily me, I just like to own and drive them - not much fun driving inside a trailer.

hey Deuce,

talked to Eric, the guy who rebuilt the rod back in 2000, I was just told my grill insert is the original one (as well as grill shell, radiator, and possibly front axle). However, I do not see a crank hole in the insert. Do you have a close up photo of an original grill insert that I can use as a reference? Didn't they have a crank hole in them?

Gas tank is also the original 32, no wonder it is so beat up and rusted LOL