Me & My Car: 1932 Ford Highboy V8 actually includes very little of 1932

I think the old expression that “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” applies to this week’s feature car, a 1932 Ford Highboy V8.

The model year 1932 was a big one for Ford Motor Co. It was the year they brought out their first flathead V8 engine, which was a hot one but not the first V8 or even the first American V8. The first V8 was invented by the French engineer Leon Levavasseur in 1902. Cadillac used a V8 engine as early as 1915, but it was Henry Ford who used his assembly line production to mass-produce the V8 that changed to auto business forever. In addition to the assembly line, Ford used a single engine block instead of combining pieces to manufacture the engine, making it more economical to build.

Criminals Bonnie and Clyde stole a 1934 Ford V8 and reportedly wrote a complimentary letter to Henry Ford about the car and how good it was for their business. Moonshiners also found the Ford V8 to be a great car for their business too, hauling booze and outrunning the cops. Those moonshiner pursuits are said to have been the forerunner of NASCAR races.

Ford Motor Co. didn’t build the 1932 V8 forever, though, yet the desire for speed, performance and that style didn’t disappear. The hot rod was born, and many who wanted a good hot rod long after Ford quit building the 1932 V8, built their own known as kit cars. It’s sort of like buying your car at Ikea, where “some assembly is required.” Today’s feature car is one of them.

Kit cars have been around a long time but became more popular after World War II and the development of fiberglass. A kit car usually starts out as just a body with the buyer/builder providing almost everything else, including the frame, motor, transmission, suspension, wiring, etc.

It’s very unlikely to find two kit cars exactly alike as some buyer/builders would find parts they need in junk yards and from damaged or wrecked vehicles. Others would acquire new parts from all different sources. The buyers of kit cars seem to fall into two categories: “I love working on old cars” or “I’ve been there and done that,” as in the case of this issue’s car owner, Russ Nelson, of Danville.

“I’ve always been into hot rodding,” he said, “since I was 15 years old. I’ve always had high-performance Fords. We built some hot rods when I was very young and sold them.”

Nelson was looking for a really nice one but didn’t want to build another one.

“I had certain requirements. It had to be a ’32 Ford with a Ford engine and a Ford transmission. This one came up, and it just checked all the boxes I was looking for, so I bought it. It was in Marietta, Georgia.”

According to the California DMV, the car is a 1932 Ford Highboy V8, but it’s really a kit car. About the only things from a 1932 Ford are the radiator, grill and hood. The rest of the body is fiberglass. It has a Ford V8 engine, but it’s a modern 350-horsepower, 302-cubic-inch engine with a Ford C4, three-speed automatic transmission. Even though it’s registered as a 1932 Ford it doesn’t ride or drive like one.

The car has four-wheel independent suspension with adjustable chrome coil springs and disc brakes. Other modern creature comforts include a black leather heated seat, tilting steering column with a banjo steering wheel and a SiriusXM radio. It also has rack-and-pinion steering and a Jaguar XKE rear suspension. It’s a very cool car painted Ford Fleet Green with American Racing Torque Trust wheels and leather straps to hold down the hood that covers the much-chromed engine.

The owner says this is pretty much a fair-weather car even though it does have a removable soft top. It also has removable back and side windows and if necessary, a single manual windshield wiper. With no fenders, though, he doesn’t want to drive it on wet streets as the cleanup would take an eternity. Nelson paid $40,000 for this car about a year ago. He’s happy with the price and said it would have cost him more than that just for parts plus having to assemble it himself.

Companies were prohibited from manufacturing turnkey kit cars until about two years ago. New laws were passed that allow a company to manufacturer replica vehicles that are at least 25 years old but with certain restrictions. They don’t have to include all the safety equipment that modern cars have but they still have to comply with environmental rules. There are also limits on the number of vehicles they can produce. Reportedly, there are multiple kit car manufacturers in the United States and that market is growing.

Have an interesting vehicle? Contact David Krumboltz at MOBopoly@yahoo.com. To view more photos of this and other issues’ vehicles or to read more of Dave’s columns, visit mercurynews.com/author/david-krumboltz.