This ’32 Ford Coupe Hot Rod of the Year Finalist was Influenced by USAC Midget Racers and Sprint Cars
It’s easy to see the circle-track influence of J.D. and Joni Keith’s chopped five-window ’32 Ford Coupe, which came naturally thanks to J.D.’s upbringing in Indiana race country.
“My family has been involved in USAC Midget and Sprint Car racing since the 1950s,” J.D. says. “My dad raced motorcycles then USAC Midgets in the ’70s and ’80s. I raced a micro-sprint in the ’90s. My great uncle owned a USAC Midget in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. I have his ’60s-era D-A Lubricant jacket that inspired the look of my car.”
J.D. found the rough beginnings of the coupe on the HAMB message board a decade ago. Calling it a body might be an overstatement; it was more a collection of panels. Still, you need to start somewhere, right?
J.D. turned to Steve “The Greek” Panerites to build the Indy-inspired chassis using ASC frame rails with lightened boxing plates and torsion bar suspensions – parallel bars in front supporting a custom axle with chrome moly hairpins, and transverse bars in the rear with custom birdcages supporting a quick-change rearend with a torque arm and chrome moly radius rods. Halibrand “lobster” front and rear disc brakes reside behind 16×6- and 18×7-inch Halibrand wheels and Excelsior tires.
Grams Racing Engines built the small-block Chevy, which uses 3.562-inch stroke crank and custom Wiseco pistons to achieve 361c.i. It’s fed by a vintage Man-a-Fre intake with a quartet of Rochester 2GC carbs, an MSD ignition lighting the fire and Sanderson headers leading to a 2.5-inch stainless exhaust. A Tremec TKX five-speed offers competition flavor.
J.D. assembled the ’32 Ford coupe body using many new panels from United Pacific and getting assistance from his buddies in the Road Kings car club. He then had Saltworks Fab chop the top 3.25-inches in front and 3-inches in back and raise rear fender reliefs 1.5-inches, among other nips and tucks. Don Gould then handled the bodywork and sprayed the Metalux DA Lubricant yellow finish, which was enhanced with black scallops and lettering by Brad Plantenga at Bullseye Visual.
The inside maintains the competition vibe with a dash full of Stewart Warner gauges restored by Chris Schlaff, plus a custom Schroeder-style four-spoke wheel, pedals, and shifter by Steve Panerites. The houndstooth inserts in the black leather upholstery were inspired by vintage Indy roadsters and stitched by Brian Bohde.
“Joni and I are thankful for the many people that worked on our ’32 Ford coupe and the friendships that were made along the way,” J.D. says. “A late hot rodder friend of ours named Butch Fairchild always said, ‘it’s not really about the cars, it’s really about the people.’ He was right.”
Photos: Marc Gewertz, John Jackson
