Woody Lee's 1924 Ford

A photo of the roadster that Donald Ciapusci claims that he took in 1949. The photo was taken at 1530 Cedar St. in Berkley, California, and according to Donald, the guys in the photo are his old neigbors, David and Chuck Thorne. David is later mentioned as a co-owner of the car in 1952. Photo by Donald Ciapusci, provided by Randy Chenowth and Jason Baird.

Photo by Donald Ciapusci, provided by Randy Chenowth and Jason Baird.

Photo by Donald Ciapusci, provided by Randy Chenowth and Jason Baird.

Photo by Donald Ciapusci, provided by Randy Chenowth and Jason Baird.

A photo of Woody Lee with the roadster.

The roadster at a Cal-Neva dry lakes event. Photo courtesy of Jimmy Barter, from The HAMB.

Photo courtesy of Jimmy Barter, from The HAMB.

Woody's roadster at a dry lakes event in the 1950s. Photo from The HAMB.

Photo from The HAMB.

By November 25, 1951, the roadster was owned by Chuck Chenowth of San Diego, California. Chuck drag raced the car at the Paradise Mesa Air Strip. This newspaper article from the San Diego Union November 25, 1951 shows "Miss Acceleration" Betty Lou Lance adjusting Chuck's headgear.

A photo of Chuck with the roadster from 1951. Photo courtesy of Randy Chenowth.

A photo of Chuck's roadster loaded on to a trailer going to Paradise Mesa Drag Strip. Photo courtesy of Randy Chenowth.

Photo courtesy of Randy Chenowth.

Photo courtesy of Randy Chenowth.

Photo courtesy of Randy Chenowth.

Photo courtesy of Randy Chenowth.

Photo courtesy of Randy Chenowth.

Chuck and "Chollo". Chollo, wearing the white helmet, was a local kid that hung around Chuck's garage. Photo courtesy of Randy Chenowth.

Photo courtesy of Randy Chenowth.

Chuck's brother Terry Chenowth in the roadster. Photo courtesy of Randy Chenowth.

A photo of the roadster at the 1952 Portland Roadster Show. Richard Lee is listed as the current owner. Photo courtesy of Hot Rod Magazine.

The old Woody Lee roadster at the 65th annual Grand National Roadster Show in January of 2014. Photo courtesy of Howard Gribble.

One of the display signs from the 2014 Grand National Roadster Show. According to sign, the car was built by Jack Hagemann for Larry Neves in 1949. It was also wrongfully credited as the runner-up for the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award at the show. Photo by Craig Wise.

Ray Evernham attended the 2016 Race of Gentlemen in Wildwood with the roadster. Photo by Sondre Kvipt - Kustomrama.

Photo by Sondre Kvipt - Kustomrama.

Photo by Sondre Kvipt - Kustomrama.

1924 Ford Model T Roadster owned and raced by Richard "Woody" Lee of Oakland, California.

Belly Pan and Tubular Frame

Woody's roadster was built for the lakes, and it featured a Franklin steering and a Novi front end with split wishbones used in conjunction with a tubular Ford axle. A tubular chassis was made of 2-inch Shelby seamless tubing. The chassis was covered by a full belly pan. Because Woody used a T roadster body, the power-weight ratio was better than if he had used a roadster body of later years. The hood and grille shell were made of aluminum, contributing further to the lightness. The grille is a mystery, and it looks identical to the grille found on the second iteration of the Novi Race Car. The roadster was given a simple and tasteful scallop paint job over the handcrafted nose and the hood. The scallop was outlined with a bold light line, and it is believed to be done by Tommy the Greek. Custom made nerf bars protected the front and rear of the car.

1951 Bonneville Speed Trial 

Woody ran the roadster at the 1951 Bonneville Speed Trials. By then he had installed a roll bar on the car. It was featured in several magazines while Woody owned it. According to those stories, the roadster was powered by a 1946 Mercury V-8 that had been bored 3 3/8 inches, stroked 4 1/8 inches, ported and relieved. The compression ratio was 9:1, and the final displacement was 268 cubic inches according to one story. Another story claimed that the total displacement was as much as 296 cubic inches. The engine was mounted well back in the frame, assuring better weight distribution. Special speed equipment included Navarro heads and a triple Navarro intake manifold, a Winfield cam, and a Harmon & Collins magneto. Woody had hit the 124 mph mark with the car when it was first featured in a magazine. Later on, it clocked 133.136 mph at the Bonneville Speed Trials, and 116 mph at the quarter mile drag races at Tracy, California. According to one of the magazine features, Woody had invested at least $3500 in the roadster.

Sold to Chuck Chenowth

By November 25, 1951, the roadster was owned by Chuck Chenowth of San Diego, California. Chuck owned it for a short period of time before he sold it off to an unknown buyer. Chuck drag raced the car at the Paradise Mesa Air Strip while he owned it.

Back to Woody

By 1952 the roadster had been sold back to Woody. March 15-23, 1952 the roadster was shown at the 1952 Portland show with Richard Lee listed as the current owner.

David Thorne

David Thorne was also listed as a co-owner of the car in the Souvenir Program from the 1953 National Roadster Show.

1954 to the Mid 1960s

Ownership of the car if unknown from around 1954 to the mid 1960s. During this time the car wound up in the hands of Jim and Yvonne Ranger who were most notable for owning and racing the unlimited hydroplane “My Gypsy”. Yvonne was the grand-daughter of Horace Dodge and an heiress to the Dodge family estate.

Into the Darkness 

In 1969 the car was purchased by a family friend Danny Gilmore of Covina, California as a retirement project. Danny passed away prior to working on the car, and it was handed down to his daughter where it was partially disassembled for storage, pushed in a corner of the garage, covered over with plywood, slot car track, and vanished into darkness for the next 45 years.

The Larry Neves Confusion

In August of 2013 Danny's daughter sold the car to Rob Johnson of Santa Ana, California. Rob waited 3 1/2 years to unearth the car from the garage. In 2014 the roadster was shown at the Grand National Roadster Show. The car was just cleaned up before the show, and shown in the same condition as it was parked. According to the display sign, the car was built by Jack Hagemann for Larry Neves in 1949. It was also wrongfully credited as the runner-up for the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award at the show.

Advertised for Sale by Sakowski Motors

In March of 2015 the car was advertised for sale by Sakowski Motors in Los Angeles. According to the listing, the scallop paint job was laid by Tommy the Greek.

Sold to Ray Evernham

In June of 2016 the car was owned by Ray Evernham of Mooresville, North Carolina. Ray ran the car in the 2016 Race of Gentlemen in Wildwood, New Jersey.

Magazine Features

Hot Rod Magazine June 1952
Sports Cars and Hot Rods October 1953
Hot Rod Deluxe May 2015