1932 Ford Model 18 Three-Window Coupe. Built to enhance corporate prestige and outclass the six-cylinder Chevrolet, the Ford V8 was conceived during the mid-1920s. The V8 coupe was produced in three- and five-window versions and was ideal for buyers who drove primarily alone or with just one passenger. Like other 1932 Fords, it was styled under the guidance of Henry Ford’s son Edsel and produced in plants around the world, including Europe, England, South America and Asia. Because of their great popularity among performance aficionados, 1932 Ford V8 coupes are difficult to find in original, unmodified condition.
	1932 Ray Brown Deuce. Today some of the best remembered and most coveted Deuces are the hot rods that have come to be known by the names of their builders. The Ray Brown roadsters are one of the most highly revered open 1932 Fords. Ray became a major aftermarket supplier of seat belts and accessory wheels to the OEMs.
	Deuce Events January 26 – 28 2007 Grand National Roadster Show Pomona, CA 877.763.7469; www.hotrodshows.com February 19 – 24 Deuce Week Petersen Automotive Museum Los Angeles, CA 323.964.6366; www.deuceweek.com

It was the “Little Deuce Coupe” the Beach Boys sang about, and the hot rod that sped young Harrison Ford to fame in American Graffiti. And this year the 1932 Ford Deuce turns a ripe-old 75, amid hoopla that stretches all the way from the streets of Detroit to the beaches of Southern California.
Born of a style-conscious era that produced other design gems like the Chrysler Building and the sleek Pan Am Clippers, the Deuce was both a pleasure to look at and a wonder to drive. The credit goes largely to Edsel Ford, son of company founder Henry Ford, who transformed the clunky Model A into a fluid, streamlined dream machine with engineering 20 years ahead of its time.

There were stylish, high-performance cars before this, but they cost a pretty penny. What set the Deuce apart from its predecessors was the fact that it was developed, built and priced for the middle class – a vehicular masterpiece available to the general public. Prior to its debut, it was inconceivable to most automakers that your average Joe (and Jane) driver might actually want to go fast in something that turned heads.

“The style of the Deuce was very striking. I just think they’re beautiful cars,” says Dick Messer, director of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, which is celebrating the vehicle’s birthday with Deuce Week (February 19 – 24). “But it was revolutionary in several ways. It took Ford in a whole new direction.”

Indeed, the Deuce was more than just a pretty face. It carried the world’s first mass production V8 engine, rescued Ford from the sales doldrums triggered by the Great Depression and established the company as a leader in automobile design. And, perhaps, most significant of all, it became the archetypal American hot rod and the original spark for an auto accessories aftermarket now worth billions of dollars each year.

Returning from World War II with time on their hands, money in their pockets and engineering expertise they had acquired in motor pools and aircraft hangers, GIs started souping up cars to race on weekends. The fad caught on like wildfire, especially in Southern California, where you could pick up a used Deuce for around 20 bucks. They were both powerful and incredibly easy to strip down and modify. A couple of weekends in the garage – ripping off the fenders and chopping off the top – and you had yourself a bona fide drag racer.

“These cast-off cars,” says current Ford Motor Company chief designer Larry Erickson, “built in backyards and small garages, performed far beyond their original capabilities and often rivaled the performance of the best in the world.”

The 1948 launch of Hot Rod magazine (by museum founder Robert E. “Pete” Petersen) spread the Deuce gospel across the rest of the country. “A lot of trends start on the West Coast,” says Messer, “and this was one of them. Guys back east would read about what Californians were doing with their 32 Fords, and the car just caught on as the iconic hot rod.”

The love affair with the Deuce continues today with thousands of hot rod enthusiasts around the country. Back in 1932, the sticker price was a modest $610; nowadays, an original Henry Ford Deuce Roadster in sterling condition can fetch upwards of a million dollars at auction. “Assuming you can actually find one,” says Messer. “All the good ones are in strong hands. Ones that are historical don’t come up for sale very often, and when they do it’s usually through private sales.” Even reproductions and reconditioned models with mostly new parts sell in the $60,000 to $100,000 range.
To mark the anniversary, Ford Motors assembled a panel of experts to select the “75 Most Influential” Deuce hot rods of all time. The American Graffiti car is on the list, as are other legendary 1932 rods like the Li’l Coffin, the Orange Crate, the Dan Fink Speedwagon and the Phil Cool Roadster.

Bruce Meyer, owner of the Doane Spencer Roadster and five other cars on the Ford list, bought his first Deuce in 1979 and has never looked back. “The Deuce pretty much defines hot-rodding,” he says. “A beautiful, well-designed car that’s also great fun to drive. And I drive them every chance I get.”

More than a dozen of the most influential Deuces are unaccounted for, presumably stripped down for parts or transformed into later hot rods. But those that Ford could locate – more than 50 – will appear together at the 2007 Grand National Roadster Show, January 26 – 28, in Pomona, CA (just east of Los Angeles).

During Deuce Week, 200 to 300 1932 Fords will come and go through the museum. On February 24, Deuce Day, approximately 600 from around the world, some of them shipped from as far away as New Zealand, will be on display. In addition to a tour of Orange County car collections and the National Hot Rod Association Museum in Pomona, the event includes a Deuce procession up the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu and a tour of the San Fernando Valley, cradle of the American hot rod movement.
“These cars were meant to be driven,” says Messer. “And that’s exactly what we’re going to do during Deuce Week – drive them along the roads and through the neighborhoods where they first appeared.”