Honoring a Friend – Randy Lofquist’s 1932 Ford Coupe
The bond between a car builder and his customer can be strong, especially when it’s a repeat customer. Most builds are multi-year projects, so you develop a relationship and learn a lot about the other person’s tastes. Ultimately, the builder is helping the customer realize a dream, which is a pretty sacred thing.
Randy Lofquist had helped Jim Stewart realize one dream with his custom ’58 Corvette, which was built by Randy’s Nebraska-based shop, Dynamic Rides. The ’Vette earned Jim many accolades, including the PPG Dream Car award at the 2019 Goodguys Colorado Nationals. Randy and Jim were in the middle of building another dream car for Jim – a 1932 Ford coupe – when Jim unexpectedly passed away. Randy was understandably sad – he’d not only lost a customer, but also a good friend. He decided the best way to honor his friend was to buy the project car from his family and finish it to fulfill Jim’s vision.
The coupe was built using a lot of tried-and-true parts from the hot rod aftermarket, starting with the modified Pete & Jakes frame. It was assembled into a rolling chassis using a 4-inch dropped and drilled front axle, split wishbones, and a Competition Engineering four-bar rear suspension locating a Halibrand quick-change rearend. Buick front drum brakes and Speedway Motors rears back the 16-inch Wheelsmith steel wheels and Excelsior 5.00 and 7.50 tires.
The small-block Chevy doesn’t just have an old-school appearance – it’s truly vintage, with a ’62 283c.i. block and iron heads. The Offenhauser intake and triple Stromberg 97 carbs are equally old school. A Lunati cam and MSD distributer aid performance, as do lakes-style headers from Southwest Speed. The Lokar-shifted 700R4 transmission is more contemporary, but it makes long-distance driving much more comfortable.
The chopped three-window 1932 Ford coupe body is a fiberglass offering from Russ Nomore Street Rods. Randy fitted it with a steel firewall and a custom top insert for a more vintage appearance before treating it to a fine PPG Regency Red finish. Details like commercial headlights, ’37 Ford taillights, and Limeworks hood belts all add to the coupe’s vintage look.
The simple cabin showcases custom aluminum door and kick panels by Dynamic Rides and a bench seat stitched in black leather by Doug Winters. Stewart Warner gauges fill a finned aluminum Champion panel in the dash, while a Sun tach is strapped to the column beneath the Limeworks wheel.
Finished in 2022, the coupe saw its first 200 road miles at the Gathering at the Roc that year before logging many more enjoyable miles through the 2023 season. We’re sure that Randy can feel Jim’s presence next to him each time he takes the coupe for a drive.
Photos by Todd Ryden
