Travellin Deuce

A stock height windshield, in conjunction with a body that’s been channeled the full width of the frame, gives the ex–De Fillipi/La Masa ’32 roadster a chunky, almost perky appearance. Discrete lakes pipes peek out beneath the framerails, just behind the firewall. In the mid-’50s, the lakes plugs exited (curiously) in front of the rear wheels.

- Ken Gross

LOWBOY.

Growing up in New England in the 1950s, I saw lots of chopped and channeled coupes and roadsters. That term, “chopped and channeled,” had a nice ring to it. It seemed to me to define a real hot rod, so it’s what I aspired to own. Fred Steele’s purple ’32 Ford from the Boston area ticked those boxes, as did another memorable lowboy from Los Angeles that had a cameo role on a very popular TV sitcom.

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet began as a radio show in the ’40s and segued into television in the ’50s. Ozzie was your typical salaryman; Harriet was a homemaker; and their two sons, David, the older, and Ricky, four years younger, were cast as all- American boys. The series got a big lift when Ricky (his real name was Eric) became a teen heartthrob. He played guitar and sang, and his natural good looks and decent, if a bit nasal, voice boosted ratings. Ricky’s many rock ’n’ roll hits, like “Travelin’ Man,” “Poor Little Fool,” and “Be-Bop Baby,” gave the show legs beyond its ​simplistic family theme.

David and Ricky Nelson were hardly car enthusiasts, but hot rod B movies were booming in this era, so it wasn’t long before one of the writers developed a hot rod plot line. There wasn’t time (or interest) to have the brothers build a car, but somehow, a little green roadster made its way into at least one episode of the show. (We didn’t know it was green. TV was black and white in those days.)

Legend has it young Ricky desperately wanted to buy the roadster with some of his TV show and concert earnings. Reportedly, he was making $100,000 annually, but his allowance was restricted, and his frugal dad allegedly refused to give him the money, saying, “No 1932 Ford is worth $3,500.”

Ray’s Roadster