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Sweet Street Rod: 1932 Ford Roadster

Vehicles like this 1932 Ford Roadster are perhaps among the coolest cars out there. They are a remnant of a bygone era, still being enjoyed in today’s modern world! Street rods aren’t really my thing, but this ’32 Ford is absolutely doing it for me. Many thanks to reader Rocco B. for sending this in! The slotted wheels suggest this car was created in the ’70s, though it could really be at home in on the hot rod scene in any era. The paint, wheels, and clean, simple style all work in unison to make this an eye-catching creation. In a sea of fiberglass hot rods, this Ford’s body is steel and started life as a regular street car. Find it here on craigslist in Michigan with an asking price of $7,995. 

Clean and simple. This whole car was created with the intention of simple vehicular enjoyment, and while some better interior pictures would be warranted, for the price this car could be a lot of fun for your money. The seat doesn’t look to have seen a lot of abuse, or even sun damage. This car is in such good shape that I suspect it was someone’s weekend fun car, and may have seen use primarily at local shows and cruise nights.

Because this is a street rod, naturally a Chevrolet 350 occupies what I will loosely refer to as the engine bay. The radiator has been removed, and the ad is written in such a way that it implies it may be included with the sale. There is no mention as to whether or not this street rod runs, but the easiest place to start would be to run some basic tests and give it a tune-up. With a little work, this 350 might just fire up and the buyer could have a neat little cruiser just like that! This car would be an excellent beach cruising vehicle, and would be right at home at a drive-in movie or classic diner.

How can you say no to a vanity plate like that? Or headers with removable block-offs? This car has the option to be loud, or obnoxiously loud and the stance is just perfect. Hopefully the new owner will preserve this car the way it is, and enjoy it for what it is. Being a California vehicle, the frame and body are almost certainly in good condition and free of rust. This car has been in storage for seven years, and is now ready for a new home! This car has so much dated style it is almost certain to attract the right buyer.

Comments

  1. Avatar Shawn Fox Firth

    A remnant of a bygone era still being enjoyed in the modern world . . .sounds like your describing Me LoL .

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  2. Avatar C Carl

    Greetings from Utah

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  3. Avatar gaspumpchas.

    Sorry, that Mill looks like a Y-block ford.Nice car, put another eng in and drive!! Good luck to the new owner!!

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    • Avatar Jason

      Yep, Ford Y-block, and by the looks, it may be from a car as it has the 11 o’clock angled car thermostat housing. The add says it’s a 312.

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  4. Avatar Rock On Member

    Great deal, you probably couldn’t even buy a glass body and reproduction frame for that kind of money 💰. If it was a coupe I would be all over it.

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  5. Avatar Steve R

    Steel body with no doors? I don’t know early Fords, is it even a 32 style body?

    Steve R

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  6. Avatar BOBv

    not a 32 Ford guys, look at the removable gas tank and other features. It’s a 30 or 31 Model ‘A’ Ford

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  7. Avatar EDWIN F GIBBS

    i’ve been craving a t-bucket but the has peaked my interest. i don’t care if it is a ford y-block. it is still cool.

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  8. Avatar chad

    agreed, cool.
    Buddy built 1w/blower on top – $80,000 sale.
    Buyer took it to Bonyville (spelling) Salt Flats – over 200 mph. His dream fulfilled.
    Glad this one has all 4 fenders…

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  9. Avatar Todd Fitch Staff

    I’d like to see it just as-is, only running, and safety items fixed. Minimal updates. Don’t see many 70s period street rods. Needs a CB whip antennae with a ‘coon tail on the top.

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    • Avatar Andrew Tanner Member

      We think alike Todd!

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  10. Avatar Chuck Cobb

    NOT a SBC, fuel pump on wrong side

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  11. Avatar House of Hotrods

    Definitely a Model A, maybe titled as a ’32, but not one. Could be a neat little low budget hot rod if it can be sorted ok.

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  12. Avatar LAB3

    Looks like fun but for a couple grand more you can find these in running and driving condition pretty much any time here in Michigan.

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  13. Avatar Ralph Terhune

    Nice to see an old street rod with something other than a d*mn small block chebby in it. Refurbish the Y block and drive the wheels off it!

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  14. Avatar Speedy D

    Most definitely NOT a 32 ford — it is a 1930-31 Roadster body — far too many give away features to be anything but 30-31 — looks to have loads of filler everywhere — buyer beware! — still not a bad price

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  15. Avatar C Carl

    Lake el Mirage

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  16. Avatar Joe Haska

    Andrew, I have been reading what you said about this 32 Roadster (which it isn’t even a 32), and I can’t figure out if you are just putting everybody on to see what they will say, or maybe the pictures are not of the car you are talking about! Or what seems more likely is that when it comes to traditional Hot Rods and what it is all about you obviously ” Don’t know your butt from 3rd base”. Look at the 34 Roadster that was on the site a day or so ago, that’s a traditional Hot Rod, put together with the real deal pieces. If you don’t think so look at the price. I wouldn’t give you 7 grand for this cobbled up Model A, it might, with a considerable amount of effort, money and lots of creativity make a passable Rat Rod. If you know Corvette’s or BMW’s find those and describe them ,but stay away from stuff that you don’t have a clue about. Look at the photos from Utah, can you see the difference, I hope so, maybe you will understand what I’m saying. I know you don’t know me or my background, but I have been building and driving traditional Hot Rods for 60 plus years, and I truly love the cars, the history and everything that goes with it, and this car just isn’t that. This car is like comparing a dune buggy to a 57 Porsche Speedster.

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    • Avatar Andrew Tanner Member

      Thanks for your input Joe! First let me just say you’ve been building cars longer than I have been alive, so I have no doubt in my mind that everything you say is true. What I will also say is that I wrote this article because I thought this was a pretty cool little car, and assumed that the seller had described it correctly in the for sale listing as being a ’32 and being a 350. Because this car is far outside of my typical area of expertise, I stuck by the information provided by the seller and did not make any assumptions but I see now that perhaps the seller is the one who isn’t totally up to speed on what this car is. Because this is not a vehicle I have a lot of experience with, I was not able to identify the correct year and engine as easily as you and other more experienced readers. Cheers!

      Like 0
      • Avatar Pat

        Careful the God has spoken. Lighten up Francis….
        Everybody has to start somewhere

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  17. Avatar Dolphin Member

    I am blessed to live in an area where there are lots of retired old guys, and also young car guys, who have rods and use them on the street. Saw 3 or 4 on the road today.

    It takes me back to when, as a teenager, I thought that a Deuce coupe or roadster was the ultimate. Well, I still do think either of those would be the ultimate rod, altho I never got one…or built one, either. Beyond my skill set.

    Those roadsters & coupes that Carl sent pics of on the dry lake beds/Bonneville remind me of about my favorite movie, “World’s Fastest Indian”. The atmosphere of that movie was fantastic, like what I see when I see pics like Carl’s. I assume Carl was there for SCTA events?

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    • Avatar C Carl

      Nope, I’m a dirt bike guy that used to hang out on lake el Mirage. Good stuff on the lake beds.
      The C is for concussion

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  18. Avatar Joe Haska

    Andrew thanks for the reply and not being too upset with me. I am 74 got my first car to build a 32 Coupe when I was 14. I am still driving and working on the 34 Ford Coupe, I bought in 1963. I drive all my cars and have never owned a trailer. I really can’t give you the number of early Hot Rods I have owned and built, I am talking mostly 32 to 48 Fords, and also allot of early pick-ups. My everyday car is a 53 Ford pick-up, and I have had many cars featured in magazines and books, and have produced custom car shows for 25 plus years. I love Hot Rods and I know good from bad , well built from junk. So I say with some authority this Model A is not a good representation of the traditional Hot Rod. But, as strong as I feel about that, I would certainly not claim the same level of knowledge of say restored Corvettes or Mo Par Muscle cars, and in all fairness to you, you did state at the beginning of your article that you did not know much about this type of car. I respect that, and I hope you can understand my passion, and know I was rather harsh, and it wasn’t personal, and I have no doubt there are other automobiles that you know much more about than I do!

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    • Avatar Andrew Tanner Member

      No worries Joe! You have the right to be knowledgeable about this. Thanks for reading!

      Like 0
  19. Avatar W.reid

    Owned a 25T roadster for 12 yrs.polished and ported small block 305cu.inch chevrolet. Drove it all summers even drove it to Cslifornia from Brit is Coumbia Canada one year to streetrod nationals on Minnesota put 5000 miles on it in 3-weeks.lot of fun.B Reid.

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  20. Avatar jeff6599

    Come on Tanner; you’re a professional now, being paid for a journalistic career in automotive marketing. You cannot take this lightly. Thousands of us out here are counting on you to get it right. No one is expected to know everything but develop a technique of looking it up. It would have taken less than three minutes to Google some photos of a 1932 Ford roadster to verify an unconfirmed statement. That would also have saved you from identifying the engine as a 350 instead of a Y block Ford which he did state in his ad.

    I had a shop instructor once whose mission was to teach his students the following life lesson: Be your project big or small, Do it right or not at all.

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  21. Avatar jeff6599

    Come on Tanner; you’re a professional now, being paid for a journalistic career in automotive marketing. You cannot take this lightly. Thousands of us out here are counting on you to get it right. No one is expected to know everything but develop a technique of looking it up. It would have taken less than three minutes to Google some photos of a 1932 Ford roadster to verify an unconfirmed statement. That would also have saved you from identifying the engine as a 350 instead of a Y block Ford which he did state in his ad.

    I had a shop instructor once whose mission was to teach his students the following life lesson: Be your project big or small, Do it right or not at all.

    Like 0
  22. Avatar jwinters

    tough crowd today.

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  23. Avatar LAB3

    After reading these last few comments I’m going to call my parents and thank them for keeping my toilet training relatively trauma free. Someone once said you get what you pay for, I’ve never once been denied access to this website due to non-payment. The person who wrote the article worked from the information that was given, if anyone here has a problem with that go after the seller.

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  24. Avatar Luki

    LAB3 I could not have said it better myself.

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    • Avatar LAB3

      Those aren’t my words, I just arranged them.

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  25. Avatar Rock On Member

    lab3 👍

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  26. Avatar jeff6599

    LAB3, Sorry but he didn’t. The ad said 312 engine. He said 350 SBC. This is his career. He is not doing his job which has to include researching what he composes. Regards, Jeff

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    • Avatar LAB3

      I’m sure that’ll be on his mind as he squanders the fortune he made from writing the article on a bar burger and a couple of shells of domestic pilsner.

      Like 0
  27. Avatar jeff6599

    You, sir, are becoming cheeky. Here’s to it! Cheers
    Jeff

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    • Avatar Andrew Tanner Member

      Hi fellas, don’t mean to beat a dead horse here, but the original listing has been edited since I wrote this article. The ad originally read as “350 AUTOMATIC” and has since been changed so it reads “312 FORD Y BLOCK, TRI-POWER, 3SPEED MANUAL” as I’m sure you’ve seen. I may not be the most experienced person out there, but I can certainly read and I would not have overlooked this description. I even double checked it last night after I was initially corrected that it was a Y-block to make sure that the ad still said 350, and it did indeed. It has since been corrected by the seller. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused!

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      • Avatar Conivan

        I come here for the comments and to learn from the pros. You sr. Do a fine job here and I along with others I’m sure appreciate it. Don’t take any of this personal. It easy to comment on something or someone. You don’t have to defend your self in my opinion.

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      • Avatar LAB3

        Checked out the ad last night before making my first comment, it did indeed say 350. The Wayback Machine doesn’t have it archived but the Craigslist ad does say “posted four days ago, revised 18 hours ago” at the bottom.

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      • Avatar BMW4RunninTundra

        Andrew, you will need thick skin with some of these thick headed know it all commenters!!!! You have held your tongue and taken totally unnecessarily harsh criticism!!!! Your responses have not stooped to the level of your detractors! Quite an admirable trait!! If only some of us could do the same……….. As to the “journalistic career” line, as i understand it, by reading other BF Writers, it sounds like that for most of you guys, this is a “second job” type of deal.
        Keep up the great work!!!! MOST of us appreciate it!!!!!!!!!

        Like 0
  28. Avatar newfieldscarnut

    Take a deep breath and relax …

    Like 0
  29. Avatar Rodney

    Everybody, let’s have fun! It’s cars, not Korea……

    Like 0
  30. Avatar Dave Wright

    The problem with misinformation is it takes on a life of its own. All these articles are available on google. I make mistakes as a commenter occasionally but my comments are just that and taken from my experiance and grey matter. If I was writing an article or for a living (I have done that too) I would be double checking everything I said before pushing the post key. How many years did we think Billy the Kid was left handed by looking at his reverse printed portrait? It was only a few years ago some detail oriented soul saw the rifle he was holding was backwards. Any novice should know a small block Chev (the most common V8 on the planet) when looking at it…..or when it is not. Any educated person has endured criticism, it is a basic method of teaching. When I was in photography school and all my military school, it could be brutal. It was how humans learn the quickest and best. I am sure any craftsman or artist has had the same experience. In my body shop……we have gone through a few apprentices, some people just attempt the wrong path and are slow or unable to learn the assigned task. It is best to figure that out early so you can find a better direction.

    Like 0
  31. Avatar Huntley Hennessy

    I think we all agree it is not a 32. I have been building hotrods since 1956. My current inventory consists of a 30 Ford Roadster steel body with a blown 350 Chevy, 700r4 trans and Jaguar rear end. A 1940 Ford tudor also with 350 Chev power and a 1947 Ford coupe with a Vortech supercharged 5.0 Ford motor with AOD trans and Lincoln disc brake rear end. I drive my cars and enjoy every minute behind the whee.

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  32. Avatar Darrel

    Well with all these “experts” here, who needs to double check facts?? Lighten up guys, be thankful he even writes. As some one already said, its cars, not Korea… Grow up. SMH..

    Like 0
  33. Avatar El Chinero

    and Houdaille shocks up front ….http://www.ebay.com/bhp/houdaille

    Like 0

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