Dave Gotts' Eye-Popping Cobalt Blue 1932 Ford Pickup Roadster Driver
- Jan 6, 2017
When you race an 8.0 second Camaro, going fast on the street isn’t all that much of a necessity, according to Dave Gotts, owner of both the aforementioned K&N-supported Camaro as well as the head-turning 1932 Ford Pickup roadster custom that draws crowds wherever it’s parked. The Ford was built around a very specific concept. It wasn’t to be a full-on restoration or a rat rod or even a modern roadster. Instead the decision was made to recreate an era when hot rodding was high in America’s consciousness. In the early- to mid-1960s hot rods appeared on album covers, on television shows, and in movies. Car customizers like George Barris and Dean Jefferies became household names when creations like the Monkeemobile and Batmobile hit the small screen. Likewise, NHRA drag racing became popular with television networks in that it took only a few cameras to broadcast a race (versus Indianapolis or a road course), making it very cost-effective. And viewers loved it.
So this 1932 Ford pickup was built very much in the spirit of what a young enthusiast might construct at the time. There are a few concessions to modern technology that we’ll get to later, but for the time being we’ll focus on the similarities to an early 1960s build. First and most obvious is the removal of the roof, creating what Ford never offered in the 1930s – a roadster pickup. While sunshine in your face and wind in your hair is a side benefit, builders chopped off the roofs of hot rods to get rid of weight and improve performance. The truck was built by master fabricator Jimmy Riordan at Wellbilt Kustoms in Buena Park, California. Every effort was made to give the truck an early '60s hot rod feel: fabricated headers that terminate in a megaphone (no bundle of snake here), a three carburetor set-up featuring three K&N filters, steel wheels with the original bolt pattern, and reproduction whitewalls with the scalloped sidewalls that were so common in that era.
While the engine may appear to be a vintage small block Chevrolet, it’s actually a modern crate motor. Besides the carb set-up and the exhaust, replacing the stamped rectangular valve covers of the 350 with finned cast aluminum versions that make it appear like an earlier small block. And while the use of the 350 small block may appear to many to be ubiquitous, there’s good reason for it. Of all the small block configurations, it has the fewest number of compromises (or most advantages, depending how you look at it). That’s why the 350 has been available since 1967. The transmission is another nod to modern practicality. Rather than dealing with upgrading a vintage box, the build team chose a General Motors TH350 three-speed automatic. Introduced in 1969, and like the engine, it’s newer than the target time period. However, given its key advantages of strength, size, weight (just 120 lbs.), and cost, it was an easy decision, though. At the back is a major component that is consistent with the era the builder sought to replicate – a Ford nine-inch rear end. The nine-inch Ford rear end, with its front access to the ring and pinion, was introduced in the 1957 Ford F-100 and F-150 and the Ford Fairlane. The following year it would be fitted to the Ford Thunderbird. And like the Chevrolet 350, which is also no longer installed in new vehicles, reproduction units remain available in the aftermarket.
Controlling the nine-inch Ford rearend is a three-link suspension system, which keeps the power on the ground. Front suspension is by the original transverse leaf springs. Another concession, this time to safety, is the addition of a four wheel disk brake system. And then there’s the paint. The truck is painted in a shade of cobalt blue that would make the ocean envious. And it never fails to stop viewers in their tracks whether it's parked at the drag strip or the local drive-in restaurant Despite the glorious paint, it’s no trailer queen. Dave drives it on a regular basis to shows and races and just for fun. Look carefully and you’ll see stone chips in the paint that serve as witness to his frequent use of the rod. For example, he and his wife drove the ’32 Ford to the Rockabilly Extravaganza Car Show and Music Festival in Riverside, California, recently. While they intended simply to park and walk around, they were directed instead into the car show display area. In a testament to how unique and magnetic the cobalt-blue ’32 Ford pickup is, Dave Gotts was presented with the car club’s choice award at the event. |
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