Art Tremaine's 1929 Ford

An early iteration of Art's roadster featuring a painted hood. Body modifications included rear wheel wells that were paneled in flush to the body, and a full bellypan. Photo courtesy of Bill Cole, from The Richard "Nobey" Noble Photo Collection.

A rare photo of the dash in Art's roadster. The dash was padded and featured seven gauges. Photo courtesy of Bill Cole, from The Richard "Nobey" Noble Photo Collection.

A photo of Art's wife in the roadster. Photo courtesy of Bill Cole, from The Richard "Nobey" Noble Photo Collection.

Art's roadster was used in G. & O. Specialities ad for their Hallock-inspired V-windshields in brass and aluminum. In 2015 art told a member of The HAMB that his roadster ran the first windshield that Lee Gray of G. & O. Specialities ever made. Photo from The HAMB.

A photo of Art's roadster next to an unknown roadster and a 1941 Ford convertible. The other cars were probably members of the Strokers of Whittier with Art. Photo courtesy of Bill Cole, from The Richard "Nobey" Noble Photo Collection.

Photo courtesy of Bill Cole, from The Richard "Nobey" Noble Photo Collection.

Photo courtesy of Bill Cole, from The Richard "Nobey" Noble Photo Collection.

Art's roadster ran as car number 61 during the 1949 lakes season. At the time, the car was powered by a 249 inch 1946 Mercury engine that Art had hopped up with Edmunds heads, a Navarro intake, Smith cam and Potvin ignition. Photo courtesy of Bill Cole, from The Richard "Nobey" Noble Photo Collection.

Photo courtesy of Bill Cole, from The Richard "Nobey" Noble Photo Collection.

A color photo of Art's roadster taken September 19, 1948 at the Lincoln-Mercury plant in Maywood, California. That day over 300 members from 36 clubs were gathered to join the National Safety Council, an initiative by SCTA in order to improve their reputation. Photo by Don Cox, from The HAMB.

A photo from the National Safety Council gathering that appeared in the SCTA Racing News Program September 25-26, 1948. Photo from The HAMB.

This photo of Art's roadster appeared in the book The Birth of Hot Rodding. In 2015 art told a member of The HAMB that Bell Auto Parts built the hood for him. Photo by Don Cox, courtesy of The Birth of Hot Rodding.

In 1949 Art attended the first Bonneville Nationals with the car, and a photo of the car from the event appeared in the October 1949 issue of Hot Rod Magazine.

Photo courtesy of Paul Hrdez and Rodney Bohls, from The HAMB.

By 1957 Art had sold the roadster to T.W. Buck and Roger Bohls of Austin, Texas. Crewed by Buck, Bohls, and Frank Miller, the old lakes racer had now been built into a drag racer. Photo courtesy of Paul Hrdez and Rodney Bohls, from The HAMB.

A photo of the Buck and Bohls roadster taken at the 1957 NHRA Nationals in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Photo from The Marty McDonough Photo Collection.

Another photo of the Buck and Bohls roadster at the 1957 NHRA Nationals. Photo from The Marty McDonough Photo Collection.

Photo courtesy of Paul Hrdez and Rodney Bohls, from The HAMB.

Buck and Bohls ran a 1949 Oldsmobile V-8 engine in the roadster. The engine had been bored to 324 inches. The engine ran a Howard F5 cam kit and 1956 Oldsmobile heads with .100 off, ported and polished. An Edelbrock intake manifold held four Stromberg 48 carburetors. Photo courtesy of Paul Hrdez and Rodney Bohls, from The HAMB.

A photo of the roadster taken in 1958. Photo by Howard L. Deshazo courtesy of Paul Hrdez, from The HAMB.

Buck and Bohls version of the roadster appeared as the "Texas Rocket" in a featured story in Hot Rod Magazine March 1958. The story featured photos by Eric Rickman.

According to rumours, Buck and Bohls sold the roadster to Lindford McLemore. He raced it for a while before he sold it to someone that supposedly flipped it during a pass at Little River. It looks like Buck and Bohls sold another Model A roadster to McLemore, and that this was the dragster that Buck and Bohls flipped at Little River. Photo courtesy of Paul Hrdez and Rodney Bohls, from The HAMB.

1929 Ford Model A roadster owned and raced by Strokers of Whittier member Art Tremaine of Whittier, California. The sleek roadster was Art's daily driver, and it was used both on the streets and on the lakes. Body modifications included rear wheel wells that were paneled in flush to the body, and a full bellypan. It ran without fenders, and photos taken in 1948 shows it dressed up with a highly polished custom aluminium hood, a G. & O. Specialities V-windshield, chromed hairpin radius rods, chromed headlight brackets, and ripple disk hubcaps without the flippers. You could buy the hubcaps either way back then. Dick Noble told his son Richard "Nobey" Noble that that's what the guys would say, "I have ripple disks with flippers." Art's roadster was also upgraded with hydraulic brakes. In 2015 art told a member of The HAMB that his roadster had the first windshield that Lee Gray of G. & O. Specialities ever made. Art could also tell that Bell Auto Parts built the hood for him.

61

Art's roadster ran as car number 61 during the 1949 lakes season. At the time, the car was powered by a 249 inch 1946 Mercury engine that Art had hopped up with Edmunds heads, a Navarro intake, Smith cam and Potvin ignition. In June of 1949 the car ran 125.17 mph to finish 13th in class. A month later, in July, Art ran 130.81 mph for an 11th place finish. Art did also attend the first Bonneville Nationals with the car, and a photo of the car from the event appeared in the October 1949 issue of Hot Rod Magazine.

Shown at the 1949 Hot Rod Exposition

Art's roadster was shown at the second annual Hot Rod Exposition at the Los Angeles Armory in 1949.

The Texas Rocket

By 1957 Art had sold the roadster to T.W. Buck and Roger Bohls of Austin, Texas. Crewed by Buck, Bohls, and Frank Miller, the old lakes racer had now been built into a drag racer, and it was raced at the 1957 NHRA Nationals in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma as the "Buck and Bohls" roadster. This version appeared as the "Texas Rocket" in Hot Rod Magazine March 1958, and it was powered by a 1949 Oldsmobile V-8 engine that had been bored to 324 inches. The engine ran a Howard F5 cam kit and 1956 Oldsmobile heads with .100 off, ported and polished. An Edelbrock intake manifold held four Stromberg 48 carburetors. The running gear was chromed, and it ran a 1939 Ford gearbox and rear end. The gearbox had second and high only. The car weighed 2170 pounds, and when it was featured in the March 1958 issue of Hot Rod Magazine it had been clocked at 108.17 mph with an elapsed time of 13.40 seconds. Roger Bohls was listed as the driver, running 8.20 x 15 Firestone castings at the rear and 5.50 x 16 Firestones up front. According to the magazine story, the frame had been Z'd 3 inches at the rear to lower the back side. Race features included a pressurized fuel tank, a fire extinguisher and seat belts. The dash was still padded, holding oil temperature, oil pressure, water temp, rpm, and fuel recorder gauges. It was dressed up with polished Moon discs.

Where is it Now?

According to rumours on The HAMB, Buck and Bohls sold the roadster to Lindford McLemore. He raced it for a while before he sold it to someone that supposedly flipped it during a pass at Little River. It looks like Buck and Bohls sold another Model A roadster to McLemore, and that the racer that flipped was a dragster that Buck and Bohls also raced because in 2018 recent photos of the Tremaine Roadster surfaced on The HAMB. The roadster had supposedly sitten almost untouched since the 1960s, and the story was that the owner purchased the car in the late 1950s. There were supposedly some attempts to update it in the 1970s, as the sons of the deceased owner said they were going to street rod it. Hopefully, that will never happen. Unfortunately, the photos were taken down not long after they had been posted. Please get in touch with Kustomrama at mail@kustomrama.com if you have any information to share about the whereabouts of the historic Tremaine roadster.

Magazine Features

SCTA Racing News Program September 25-26, 1948
Hot Rod Magazine October 1949
Hot Rod Magazine March 1958