Summary

The McGowan brothers built this A-V8 in 1955 with a purchase price of $42. Forty-two years later it was judged on the lawn at Pebble Beach.

Details

The '32 McGowan Brothers' A-V8 was built in 1955-56 by Bobby and Frank McGowan from Branford, CT. Bobby was interviewed on October 6, 1995 and describes the car. 'I started with a '31 roadster that my brother, Frank and I bought from Edward's Welding Shop in Stoney Creek, CT for $7.50 apiece. I also bought a wrecked '40 Ford coupe for $7.00. At that time, I was in the Cam Carriers car club and we had a club project for a '32 Ford pickup. I bought the project for $20.00, but had to give the body back. A guy named Charlie Hilde Z'd the chassis and made the nice wishbones. Jack Crump from Guilford, CT did the body work. I bought the brand new 59AB factory relieved truck block and a used McCulloch Supercharger for power. I used the '40 Ford 3.78 rear end, transmission, brakes and dash. The radiator came from the pickup and the clutch was GM type. I bought the dropped axle from an ad in one of the little Hot Rod books. The master cylinder and clutch cylinder were from '54 Fords and the steering box was from a straight axle Chevrolet. I used '50 or '51 Pontiac taillights. The paint was '53 Buick Tahitian Red and pin striping was done by Jim Tyrell. I raced and showed the car a little bit, but mostly it was my driver. It was in one regional magazine with my redheaded sister standing by the car.' In 1997, the 'McGowan Brothers' Roadster' was one of the nine restored nostalgia Hot Rods shown on the lawn at Pebble Beach. In 2003, it was one of the featured 1950's Hot Rods in the book Hot Rod Chronicle by Don Prieto and foreward by Ken Gross.