Legends of Hot Rodding: Little Deuce Coupe – the Most Famous ’32 of All Time?
“She’s my little Deuce coupe
You don’t know what I got”
—Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys
We know. Calling anything the “most famous” is quite a statement. But the media attention and cultural significance of Clarence “Chili” Catallo’s custom Deuce coupe equals that of such icons of iron as Kookie’s T-bucket, the California Kid, and ZZ Top’s Eliminator coupe.
In the early-’60s, the Beach Boys were atop the pop music scene. They took California surf culture mainstream, driven by brilliant harmonies and Brian Wilson’s transcendent songwriting. Yet during this same period SoCal’s hot car scene was just as much a cultural wave, sans huarache sandals and Pendleton flannel shirts. 
The Beach Boys’ fourth album was titled “Little Deuce Coupe.” Released in 1963, it soared up the charts, quickly earning platinum plaudits. The focal point of the album’s cover was Catallo’s electric blue ’32 Ford, known as the Silver Sapphire. A joint creation by the famed Alexander Brothers of Detroit with additional work by George Barris, it had already appeared on the cover of Hot Rod magazine in 1961.
Chili, as he was affectionally known, had just earned his driver’s license in 1956 when he spotted a forlorn ’32 coupe poking out of the weeds at a service station in a Detroit suburb. Seventy-five dollars later he stuffed the pink slip into his Levis.
After a tune-up of the underpinnings, Chili had local motor maven Bill Wanderer put together a 344-inch Olds V8 topped with a GMC 6-71 blower. Chili, though, didn’t want a race car, he desired a showstopper. Fortunately, custom legends Mike and Larry Alexander’s Custom City shop was in nearby Southfield, Michigan. Torches at the ready, the A-Team dove in.
The coupe was sectioned and channeled six inches, and most importantly, the Alexanders crafted a unique hinged grille-light ensemble with stacked headlights flanking a custom grille. Aluminum fins were fabricated to conceal the frame rails along the sides, with blue metallic and silver scalloped paint enveloping the body.
Chili hit the show circuit with the Silver Sapphire, towing the beauty behind a ’53 Oldsmobile. The car was a sensation and best in show trophies were common. Chili had yet to turn 20 years old.
And then, the lure of SoCal sunshine proved irresistible. Chili landed a job with none other than George Barris sweeping shop floors, and the King of Kustomizers just had to add his fingerprints to the project. He chopped the top three inches and resprayed it an electric shade of diaphanous blue. It was in this guise that Hot Rod photographed the car for a cover story that caught the eye of the Capitol Records brass. The image on the Beach Boys album cover was an outtake from that photo session.
In 1962, Chili sold the coupe to a car club in Pennsylvania, which later sold it to a fellow who swapped out the Olds V8 for a 440c.i. Chrysler. He owned it for three decades. All the while, Catallo’s son Curt pressed his dad to buy it back. Show car impresario Bob Larivee Jr. located the car in New York but the owner was reluctant to sell. Ever the promoter, Larivee prevailed on him to lease it as a headliner for his Championship Auto Shows. When the lease expired in 1997, Catallo was able to buy the coupe and return it to its rightful garage.
The family launched a restoration effort targeting the August 2000 Meadow Brook Concours d’Élégance. Sadly, Catallo passed away suddenly in 1998. Undeterred, son and daughter grabbed the restoration baton, committed to fulfilling Chili’s wish. Following a flurry of effort, the coupe was completed just in time for Meadow Brook.
Curt has held the coupe close ever since and recently initiated a five-year re-restoration effort to make it more accurate. Michigan-based hot rod builder Cory Taulbert guided the project, aided by a stack of unpublished Eric Rickman photographs from the original Hot Rod photo shoot.
The restoration involved a complete chassis rebuild that included un-boxing the frame to return it to its 1961 configuration. The body spent time at Metalcrafters in California, where Mike Alexander Jr. – son of the A-Brothers’ Mike Alexander – made repairs, with assistance from Chip Foose.
When metalwork was complete, Darryl Hollenbeck at Vintage Color Studio took on the task of spraying the vivid blue finish. It was matched to paint on the dash sprayed by Junior Conway at Barris Kustoms in 1960, which was buried under subsequent finishes. Following reassembly at Taulbert’s shop, including lots of chrome from Advanced Plating, Sid Chavers recreated the distinctive white vinyl button-tufted upholstery.
The newly restored coupe made its re-debut at the Gathering at the Roc in Oklahoma last October, and is set to make appearances at a number of other events this year
“My dad built the coupe to make people talk,” Curt told The New York Times in 2009. “It’s a 77-year-old car modified over 50 years ago, and it still has the same effect. I think that says something pretty amazing.”
Also amazing it that one of the best bands of all time chose to immortalize the Little Deuce Coupe on an album cover. Few Legendary cars can top that.
