Roadster Revival – Kent Matranga’s Muroc II ’32 Roadster
Kent Matranga’s Muroc II roadster is enjoying a revival. Back in 2001, the car, then owned by Nick Baron, was built into a bright red show-winner and garnered the Goodguys America’s Most Beautiful Street Rod crown. Matranga acquired the car at auction several years ago and with the help of Brown Auto Design and the Matranga Hot Rods team – including Paul Hattrup, Bill Brakman, Ryan Rivers, and Don Derler – he has updated it from a delicate show car into a modern highway hot rod.
The Muroc roadsters were originally sold as bare-metal rollers by Kugel Komponents and featured polished Kugel independent front and rear suspensions. Recent updates to Kent’s car include texture-painted Boyd Coddington five-spoke wheels, plus Inglese eight-stack injection and hot rod style brightwork for the LS6 engine.
The bright red finish still looks great on the hand-built Marcel Delay body and now benefits from updates like custom Art Deco-style front turn signals and ’39 Chevy LED taillights. The cockpit got a more extensive makeover, with a revamped dash and console, Classic Instruments gauges, handmade trim, plus fresh leather upholstery from Gabe’s Custom Interiors.
The revived roadster looks fresh and up to date, which is a credit to the strong fundamental design it started with two decades ago. Even more impressive is that it runs better than ever and will actually be seeing some street use with Kent behind the wheel.
Photos by John Jackson
