Legends in Rodding: Eastwood-Barakat ’32 Tudor Sedan – An Orange and Primered Rocketship
Pete Eastwood has played a key role in the construction of some of the most famous hot rods to ever turn a wheel. It’s why he’s a Goodguys Legend of Hot Rodding.
Affectionately known as P-Wood, his all-star lineup of celebrated hot rods includes Tom Prufer ’32s; the AMBR-winning Kelly Brown track T; restorations of the McGee and Spencer and Baskerville ’32 roadsters; the Pierson brothers coupe; the SoCal belly tank lakester; Duffy Livingstone’s wild T-roadster road-racer, the Eliminator; and the SoCal Limefire roadster. You get the idea.
Yet one car that is closest to Eastwood’s heart is the “Eastwood-Barakat” chopped ’32 Tudor highboy sedan, built in the early 1980s as a nostalgia drag car. Barakat is Rick Barakat, a Pasadena High School buddy of Eastwood’s. In 1981 they attended the Fremont Nostalgia Drags; so motivated, they set out to build a really fast hot rod to compete in the following year’s event. For inspiration, Pete Eastwood decided to model the sedan after an early Hot Rod magazine feature car, Bob Tindle’s ’32 Ford Tudor known as the Orange Crate.
Both being longtime hot rodders, each had a plethora of hot rod stuff stashed about. Eastwood had a 350c.i. small-block V8, Barakat a TH400 trans. They located a rusty original Tudor body for $400. It was usable, except it had been stored upside down in the dirt, resulting in a rusted top. No problem. Pete knew a guy who had whacked off the top of his ’32 Tudor to create a faux phaeton. It found a new home atop the E-B ’32 sporting a buzz cut of 3-inches. To fill the top, a trip to a wrecking yard sourced a perfectly crowned roof off a ’63 Ford station wagon. More metal work ensued.
Meanwhile, Barakat was busy rebuilding the 1970 Chevy engine with a .030 overbore that fetched 355 cubic inches. Other mods included TRW flat-top pistons, a mild cam, various Chevy and Isky valve train components, and a Holly 750 carb perched atop a Z28 intake manifold.
A chassis guru, Eastwood boxed a 1932 Ford frame and outfitted it with a dropped ’34 Ford I-beam front axle, bookended by ’40 Ford spindles and drum brakes. A front leaf spring with reversed eyes and Adlan adjustable shocks muted road irregularities. A Pete & Jake’s four-bar setup kept everything in position.
Out back, Eastwood coupled a traditional rear buggy spring to Pete & Jake’s rear ladder bars, positioning a Currie 9-inch Ford; 3.42:1 gears and a Detroit locker hummed inside. Drum “juice” brakes provided stopping power all around, while a ’72 Vega steering box delivered directional control.
Interior accouterments were, ah, minimal – Vega GT steering wheel, Dodge van column shifter, Stewart-Warner gauges, and Mustang II bucket seats. And that was it. Not a scintilla of sound-deadening or upholstery anywhere, perhaps bringing new meaning to the term rattle-can. Then again, it was a race car.
The chassis, window frame, and other bits were painted a glossy Camaro Hugger Orange. When that bucket ran dry, Pete finished the exterior in a flat red oxide primer. Ironically, it was the primer finish that made the car stand out, as did its old-school hot rod vibe. In 1982, it became the first primered car to ever appear on the cover of Hot Rod magazine.
You’re probably asking yourself, “Yeah, but was it fast?” Indeed. Hot Rod’s own Gray Baskerville arranged a track test at Orange County Raceway, where in street trim the sedan blazed down the quarter mile with an E.T. of 12.11 at 113.92mph. With the mufflers removed and the quick-release headlights detached, it improved to 11.59 at 117.49mph. Just as important, Eastwood said it could repeat that time over and over, making it a potent bracket racer.
Eastwood and Barakat weren’t averse to driving the sedan on the road; it was always street legal. It even cruised to early Goodguys events in California, where it became a fan favorite, thanks to it boasting the imprimatur of HRM.
Eventually, Pete Eastwood disassembled the car, sold the body, and stashed the chassis for a future project. The car’s legacy was assured 2006 when it was added to the list of “The 75 Most Significant ’32 Ford Hot Rods of All Time.”
Longtime hot rod journalist Tim Bernsau believes that HRM editor Lenny Emanuelson made the right call in deciding to grace the cover of Hot Rod with a car clad only in primer.
“The Eastwood & Barakat sedan represents to me what hot rodding was all about in the beginning,” Lenny wrote in his editor’s column for that issue. He lamented that modern hot rods had become soft, losing that edgy rawness that triggers a visceral response. “The Eastwood & Barakat sedan,” he said, “brings those emotions back – it’s more animal than car.”
We spoke to Mr. Eastwood recently to get his perspective on the car four decades later. “You know,” he said with a grin you could hear through the phone, “pound for pound, dollar for dollar, I had more fun with that car than any rod I’ve owned.”
Coming from a Legend as influential as Pete Eastwood, such an endorsement speaks volumes.
