Ray Fox's 1927 Ford

The old roadster as it sat when Jay and his dad bought it from Ray's estate. Photo courtesy of Jay Deisman.

"Yes, there is a car under all that stuff," Jay told us. The roadster was buried in stuff when Ray passed away. Photo courtesy of Jay Deisman.

Located a block from the ocean, Ray had owned the car for at least 40 years. Jay and his dad drove down from Visalia, California and were able to purchase the car from his daughter, "who had little to no information about where he got it, or how long he had had it. She told us that it was buried and covered up for as long as she can remember (40 years) and it was never out." Photo courtesy of Jay Deisman.

The old hot rolled pushed out in open air for the first time in at least 40 years. The car is a true late 1940s - early 1950s survivor hot rod, and it had all of the period modifications to support it. "It came with a rig to flat tow and had a tonneau cover still snapped into place. It has a custom headlight bar/shock mount combo, a dropped axle, z-ed rear radius rods, Stewart-Warner gauges, in-dash hand fuel pump, custom 3 piece hood, filled, chopped, and peaked 32 shell, 33-34 steering box, WWII surplus seat belt, '39 taillights, and more." Photo courtesy of Jay Deisman.

The dash features Stewart-Warner gauges and an in-hand fuel pump. Photo courtesy of Jay Deisman.

Photo courtesy of Jay Deisman.

The seatbelt is a WWII surplus seatbelt. Photo courtesy of Jay Deisman.

The old door panels that came with the car. "The doors and deck lid are stuffed with newspapers and one I found was dated 1947. We're currently speculating that the original color under the white may have been a metallic darker blue/green," Jay told Kustomrama. Photo courtesy of Jay Deisman.

In the floorboard, Jay found a registration document. Photo courtesy of Jay Deisman.

The registration document was for "Dealers, Manufactures, or Transporters" from 1952 written to San Gabriel Valley Wreckers out of El Monte, California. Photo courtesy of Jay Deisman.

The tonneau cover was snapped into place when Jay and his dad came to check out the car. Photo courtesy of Jay Deisman.

Photo courtesy of Jay Deisman.

The rear of the car has been dressed up with 1939 Ford taillights and an illuminated accessory licenseplate frame. Photo courtesy of Jay Deisman.

Photo courtesy of Jay Deisman.

A photo showing the radius rod modification, a unique detail that might come useful when it comes to identifying the car. Photo courtesy of Jay Deisman.

Photo courtesy of Jay Deisman.

When Jay and his dad got the car home they went through the paint layers a little bit to find what colors it has been. Photo courtesy of Jay Deisman.

Lost and Found

1927 Ford Model T Roadster owned by Raymond "Ray" Fox of Huntington Beach, California.

Found in Huntington Beach

In 2021 Jay Deisman and his dad came across the old hot rod in an ad distributed through their Model A Club. "We spoke with the daughter of the previous owner who had recently passed and they were clearing his estate just a block from the ocean." The previous owner's name was Raymond "Ray" Fox. Ray was born in 1938 and he had owned the car for at least 40 years. According to his daughter, Ray was a bit of a troublemaker when he was growing up and would get in trouble for drag racing. He was from Pasadena, and his dad worked for the city and that was the only thing that kept him out of jail until he met his wife. She could also tell Jat that his last name was originally spelled Fuchs, but he eventually changed it due to mispronunciation. In November of 2021 Jay and his dad drove down from Visalia, California and were able to purchase the car from Ray's daughter, "who had little to no information about where he got it, or how long he had had it. She told us that it was buried and covered up for as long as she can remember (40 years) and it was never out."

Survivor Hot Rod

The car is a true late 1940s - early 1950s survivor hot rod, and it had all of the period modifications to support it. "It came with a rig to flat tow and had a tonneau cover still snapped into place. It has a custom headlight bar/shock mount combo, a dropped axle, z-ed rear radius rods, Stewart-Warner gauges, in-dash hand fuel pump, custom 3 piece hood, filled, chopped, and peaked 32 shell, 33-34 steering box, WWII surplus seat belt, '39 taillights, and more." In the floorboard, Jay found a registration for "Dealers, Manufactures, or Transporters" from 1952 written to San Gabriel Valley Wreckers out of El Monte, California. "The doors and deck lid are stuffed with newspapers and one I found was dated 1947. We're currently speculating that the original color under the white may have been a metallic darker blue/green," Jay told Kustomrama. The car had Flathead engine mounts and radiator, but no engine. The hood sides were made from WWII aircraft aluminum (ALCLAD 24SO).

Looking for Info

Jay and his dad are working on getting the car mechanically functional. ""The center cross members were cut out so we’ll have to re-engineer those, but that’s the most invasive thing we’re going to do. In order to treat it right, they are currently researching the history of the car. Do you recognize it? Or do you have any info about Ray Fox to share? Please get in touch with Kustomrama at mail@kustomrama.com if you have any info about the car to share. Any help or leads is appreciated!