Photo: Barrett-Jackson
Having first surfaced in the 1920s, hot rods are interesting enough for a certain group of people to be made even today. But as with most great things in life, it’s the older ones that have a unique appeal - in this case, the machines put together back in the glory days of the genre, the 1950s.
The hot rod you’re looking at now, a 1932 Ford by design, was first shown at the Oakland Roadster Show in 1952. It is now in possession of Barrett-Jackson CEO's Craig Jackson, who will be selling it with no reserve during his company’s event in Scottsdale in March.
The all-steel orange machine has quite a story to it. Its builders originally envisioned it with a flathead V8 tucked between the radiator and two-seater cabin, but a subsequent owner decided that wasn’t enough and swapped it for a “nitro-burning race engine.” This apparently allowed it to race at speeds of 106 mph (170 kph) down the quarter-mile.
It’s racing career didn’t last long, and it then got deposited somewhere, spending over three decades tucked away in a California garage.
It was found and rescued, only to have its engine swapped once more. This time, the owner replaced the racing powerplant with a 239ci (3.9-liter) made by Ford in 1953. The engine was fitted with a BDS 4-71 supercharger and three Stromberg 97 carburetors, but most importantly, it was bored to 278ci (4.6-liter).
Nicknamed Hula Girl, the hot rod was even featured in the Forza Horizon 4 video game, where it is available together with a Chevy Chevelle, a Ford Bronco, and the Atomic Punk bubble top in the Barrett-Jackson Car Pack (selling on Microsoft’s store for $6,99).
“Rarely do these period-correct hot rods come along, and this is a real special one,” said Jackson in a statement. “Hula Girl was far ahead of its time; it would take another four decades for the “street-rod fraternity” to catch up to its chopped, channeled and contoured lines.”
The all-steel orange machine has quite a story to it. Its builders originally envisioned it with a flathead V8 tucked between the radiator and two-seater cabin, but a subsequent owner decided that wasn’t enough and swapped it for a “nitro-burning race engine.” This apparently allowed it to race at speeds of 106 mph (170 kph) down the quarter-mile.
It’s racing career didn’t last long, and it then got deposited somewhere, spending over three decades tucked away in a California garage.
It was found and rescued, only to have its engine swapped once more. This time, the owner replaced the racing powerplant with a 239ci (3.9-liter) made by Ford in 1953. The engine was fitted with a BDS 4-71 supercharger and three Stromberg 97 carburetors, but most importantly, it was bored to 278ci (4.6-liter).
Nicknamed Hula Girl, the hot rod was even featured in the Forza Horizon 4 video game, where it is available together with a Chevy Chevelle, a Ford Bronco, and the Atomic Punk bubble top in the Barrett-Jackson Car Pack (selling on Microsoft’s store for $6,99).
“Rarely do these period-correct hot rods come along, and this is a real special one,” said Jackson in a statement. “Hula Girl was far ahead of its time; it would take another four decades for the “street-rod fraternity” to catch up to its chopped, channeled and contoured lines.”
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