THE BIG TOP

In the January issue, we featured Gray Baskerville's '32 Roadster. In that article, we heaped praise on Gray for his witty and engaging writing style, so this month, we present two examples written from his early tenure at HRM. Both these features appeared in the February 1979 issue, and both are replete with Gray's signature humor and clever turns-of-phrase. Though there's no writer credited for the single pager on the fiberglass '32, it's pretty obviously Gray.

- Gray Baskerville

It is a rare "resto rod" that feels like an old shoe. These state-of-the-art masterpieces tend to be stiffer than a straight shot of gin, as delicate as a crystal glass and about as practical as a furnace in Hades. To put it bluntly, most of your high-dollar resto rods aren't what you would call beaters, or drivers, or reachers. They're too "nice" to be abused, and because of that fact, they spend their lives as carport queens.

ROD TEST Now this isn't to say that John Siroonian's fabulous '34 Ford Phaeton is your typical high-mileage mover that has made every rod run since it was finished. It hasn't, and there's only 151 miles showing on its odometer. The fact of the matter is that Siroonian's tub exhibits all the attributes of an easy-going pavement pounder. The Phaeton makes you feel as if thousands of miles of open highway have slid under its Michelins, making it a rolling tribute to the talents of Don Raiskup, Bernie Wadekamper, Don Thelen, Ron Jones and the others who had a hand in its construction.

For what it's worth-and we understand that's around 40 "biggies"-Large John's high-quality Phaeton appears to be a sedate sedan with a rag top. And for the most part, you would be right in that appraisal. Its sheetmetal is nicer than the day the car left Dearborn 45 years ago, and it's much nicer than the day Siroonian plucked it out of a garage in central California. Its exterior is virtually OEM-complete, and that includes luggage rack, new/old stock fenders and running boards, augmented by more gennie goodies than seen this side of the Henry Ford Museum. But that's surface stuff, you know, glitter. The real rod is inside the big top.