Chuck Price's 1932 Ford

The roadster as it looked after Jim Helmuth had bought it from Chuck. Jim had Von Dutch pinstripe the car for him. Photo courtesy of The Rodders Journal.

1941-1948 Chevrolet taillights have been popular to use on hot rods since the 1940s. Today, a pair of glass taillights can easily be sourced from your local speed shop or Amazon.com. Click here to check price and availability.

1932 Ford Roadster owned and built by Chuck Price of Alahambra, California. Chuck had seen a lot of hot rods cruising down the roads in Southern California, he had always wanted one for himself. He decided that a roadster was the car for him. A beaten up 1932 Ford was acquired and Chuck began building immediately. His intension was to build a jalopy identical to hundreds of roadster all over the country, but make it better than all of them put together. The car was first disassembled, wheels, axles, body, engine and about everything on the car. He then renovated and reworked the parts before assembling it again. Louvers were punched to the top of the hood, and the louvers on the side panels were relocated. The water inlet hole in top of the grille shell was filled to achieve a cleaner appearance. The body was restored to better than its original condition and the deck lid was counter balanced. A set of 1941 Chevrolet taillights were installed in the rear. While the body was renovated, the chrome parts were sent to be re-chromed. When Chuck went to pick up his parts, he carried away a box filled with chromed goodies such as rear frame horns covers, the gas tank, running gear, a dropped front axle and the majority of the front suspension. Chuck originally built the car with no fenders, however the California law made fenders a necessity and he decided to put them back on.

A 309 cubic inch 1/4" bored out Mercury block was mounted between the frame rails. It was ported and relieved and featured a 1/4" stroked crankshaft, Weber cam, and Evans heads and manifold. The early transmission was fit with Zephyr gears and the rear end featured 3.27:1 ratio. The stock mechanical mechanical brakes were exchanged in favor of Ford juice brakes. Next thing on Chuck's list was the instrument panel and interior. The dashboard was fit with Stewart-Warner gauges and George Fahry of Pasadena stitched up a new brown interior. George built a padded top as well to the car. Once the bodywork was done, it was painted bright fire engine red lacquer. The car was fit with steelies with 7.00x16 tires in the rear and 5.00x16 up front, giving it a forward rake.

Chuck was very concerned about the law, so therefore he checked up California's highway traffic laws. Things as the placement of the taillights, headlights, windshield hight, horns, windshield wipers and license plate was things Chuck had in mind while building the car.

Chuck Price sold the roadster to Jim Helmuth. Jim ran the roadster had the Pomona Dragstrip, and he had Von Dutch pinstripe it for him.

Magazine Features

Rods and Customs May 1953
Hop Up July 1953