Thread: 1550 some Henry Ford 32 roadsters (and counting....)

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I am reading the history of the Deuce (a great - huge - book I bought at the primer nationals) and was wondering if anyone here knows exactely how many all original roadsters are left today out of the 1550 that HF built in 1932.

I know there are more "registered" 32 Ford roadsters today than HF built, but we all know that a majority of them are simply re-creations and not actually roadsters from 1932.

In other words, HF built only 1550 or so roadsters, how many are still in circulation today?

PS: Can you find out, from the frame number of an original 1932 frame, what model car actually was bolted to that specific frame when it was first built in 1932 ? (a sedan, coupe, roadster etc...).

I'd be curious to find out what my car started as, back then. (More than likely NOT a roadster LOL)

The generally accepted original production figure for roadsters is 12,597.

Wow, only 1550? I think I've seen all of them over the years. I'm amazed it's so low of a production number.

Anyway, I don't see any way that there is any count of survivors. So many have been made into hot rods that there is no central group that would be keeping track of where they are and how many. If it was old Packards or somethng, maybe then, but not with a car that has been modified as often as the deuce.

Could be wrong, though.

When is your Boyfriend going to join? We allow '48 Plymouths on here too.

Don

Production numbers from Roadsters.com site

Cabriolet 6,091
Convertible sedan 926
Five-window Standard coupe 51,794
Fordor sedan 37,363
Panel delivery 6,122
Phaeton 2,490
Roadster 12,597
Sedan delivery 400
Station wagon 1,383
Sport coupe 2,911
Three-window Deluxe coupe 22,148
Tudor sedan 124,101
Victoria 8,580

The serial number range was 1 to 203,126 but that included trucks and commercial vehicles. There are many more roadsters today than were ever made.....if you have a real frame with a serial number, you cant tell what body came on that frame so many sedans got rebodied into roadsters. Then, there are the cars that have been registered without a real serial number history....probably more than were originally built....one thing for certain, they may have built 200,000 frames in 32 but they only built 12,597 roadster bodies....a real body is the prize. The new Brookville, the ASC, and the RodBods bodies are distinguishable from the original. IT would be impossible to figure out how many 32 roadsters that exist today since many are titled as something other than a 32 roadster.

Originally Posted by robot

There are many more roadsters today than were ever made......

Ford made 1,552 standard roadsters ... and 11,045 DeLuxe roadsters ... so Faith was correct ... as far as she went ... she just did not say standards ...

I believe the statement that There are more 32 Ford roadsters registered today than were ever made ... WHICH ... would be true ... if you only counted the 1,552 standards number ...... by Faith ... is a urban myth or legend ... IF 1/3 of of the original 12 thousand plus 32 Ford roadsters survived ... ( doubtful ) that would mean that over 8 thousand 32 Ford roadsters have been reproduced ... With a 20 year run of reproduction ... that's over 400 a year ( or 8 a week ) for 20 years. MAYBE ... now ... they make that many ... MAYBE ... but not years ago ...

OR ... 12,000 32 Roadsters divided by 50 states ... is over 200 roadsters in each and every state ... I know that California has more than their fair share of the 200 ... but how about Delaware ... Rhode Island ... Alaska ... Vermont ... I bet there are not 200 32 Fords of any body style in all four of those states combined ...

Most reproduction bodies .... that are on original Henry built frame rails ... on sitting on a 4 door sedan chassis IMHO ... because they were the cheapest old car donor available and got NO RESPECT from the Hot Rodders until more recent times ...



Is a decent book ... and a enjoyable read ... but a lot of the stuff is a rehash of previously printed material and it is not totally correct ...

Randy

You can buy a title to a '32 roadster, which means there had to be an original car for that title and VIN #. But a person can also apply for a lost title, and get one in some states, and a new VIN # will be issued. It is understandable that it could be possible there are more titled roadsters than were actually produced.

I was also reading a Rod history book and according to it, an original serial number would start with 1 (4 cylinder) or 18 (8 cylinder). I do not think there is a way, except MV or Ford records to tell which body was on frame. My title states it was a roadster, but that may not be common.
Jim

Not wanting to put anybody down, but anymore deuce roadsters are getting about as rare as red Camaro's!!!! IMO the only difference between steel and glass is which side of the debate you are on. Given the choice of which to build, I think I would prefer a repop steel body, a new set of rails, and design the rest myself....... I've done enough of the "real steel" body rebuilds to know that a lot of times about all that is left of original Henry parts is the upper cowl, windshield frame, and the title.....

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

..................... I think I would prefer a repop steel body, a new set of rails, and design the rest myself....... I've done enough of the "real steel" body rebuilds to know that a lot of times about all that is left of original Henry parts is the upper cowl, windshield frame, and the title.....

I agree. I did a '34 a few years ago replacing the floor and and lower panels. I won't do it again. Today, the totally new steel bodies are just too attractive.

OK, let's give the "twice as many deuce roadsters now than Henry built" the smell test:

We know that ASC built 300 Dearborn Deuce roadsters, that is publicized.
Brookville probably has built and sold at least that amount, let's give them
350
Rod Bods is the price leader so let's give them 350 also.
That is 1000 steel bodies that are "new"

Wescott has been building bodies since the 1970's according to their web pages.....but they don't say when they started the 32 roadster body. Let's guess that they started 25 years ago and have shipped 3 bodies per week for 25 years...... 3 x 50 x 25 = 3750......this sounds way too high but let's use it.
For the other manufacturers, we will guess that they all total up to Wescott's total....so another 3750....this puts the total fiberglass guess at 7500.

Deuce guesses that 1/2 of the original roadster bodies are left...I think that is too high.....use 1/3 of 12,597 which equals 4,199...say 4000.

Thus, 4,000 + 7500 + 1000 = 12500.....kinda close to the original number of roadsters built. To sanity check, we know that there are NOT double the number of steel replacement bodies out there...... we know that there are NOT 2/3 of the original bodies left and the fiberglass body production would have to be very high to total double the number of deuce roadsters.....

Therefore, the myth that there are "twice as many deuce roadsters today than Henry made" is probably busted. By the way, the above guess is how many bodies were built....probably a good percentage are sitting in the garage unfinished.....I know mine is.

mike in tucson

Well, I have books with manufacturing facts on everything built in the USA from 1903 to 1970. But taking in consideration of all of the 32' roadsters that I normally see during the year, I would have to guess it would about 2 million and counting. Damn things are thicker than mosquitos.

It's a wonder that Bill Ford hasn't asked for a royalty fee for each one made after 1932. Would certainly go far in helping out the financially ailing corporation.

Originally Posted by robot

Deuce guesses that 1/2 of the original roadster bodies are left...I think that is too high.....use 1/3 of 12,597 which equals 4,199...say 4000.

By the way, the above guess is how many bodies were built....probably a good percentage are sitting in the garage unfinished.....I know mine is.

mike in tucson

Deuce guessed 1/3 ...
I would guess that a good number of the reproduction bodies ... are just that ... still just bodys ... not finished, and registered Roadsters.



It took me 10 years to put mine Roadster back together ... last time it was apart ... and my 3W is going on 2 years ...





I realize some folks work a LOT faster than I, but a lot don't either ...
Family, work and $$$ all play a big part in getting a 32 on the road. My situation was made more complicated by the fact that I was not using any repro bodies, panels ... or frames ...

I have a real title and a real frame with numbers that match the title....I bought it from a friend in Texas..... when I took it down to the DMV for the out of state title transfer, they have to inspect the VIN...easy enough. I put the frame on the flat bed truck and hauled it to the DMV. The inspector came out and looked at my paperwork and asked "where is the 32 Ford?"
"right there on the truck, sir!"
"you cant drive that!"
"I'm not here to take a driving test, sir"
"it's just a frame"
"that's where the serial number is"
"let me talk to my supervisor"
"OK"

They agreed to give me a title but not a license plate until it is inspected to be roadworthy.

mike in tucson

Ah yes I realized yesterday whenlooking up the production list again that I had looked at one line (roadster) and did not notice the next line read roadster deluxe. So you are right roadsters = 1552 and deluxe = 11045 a total of 12,597.00

And you'd think with this higher number, it would be possible to find an original body somewhere?

I visited Hollywood hotrod's shop and he showed me a roadster that was having his original tub repaired. he said they spent TONS of work/hours to try to restore it. In the end, almost nothing of the original body was left. the owner then decided to scrap this idea and get a brookville body instead and start from scratch (do people actually have that kind of money?????)

Of course I imediately asked for the guy's phone number and asked if he was married LOLOL (oh just kidding you guys!)

About Wescott: They started building roadster 32 bodies in 1974/75. I asked my contact at Wescott and that's what he said.

I believe Brookville is the most exact replica of the original HF body? How much do their bodies run now a days? I will need to make serious decisions about my body down the road... (I meant my roadster's body LOL). Since the current wescott older body is not painted yet and since I will probably end up redoing the interior, then this may not be such a bad time to think about whether I want to restore and keep the old wescott body (who's doors are out of alignment) or spend some more $$ and get a steel body, but if so i want the exact duplicate of the original.

I can afford the body, with some hard work at selling my fancy tropical fish , but what are the pros and cons of a steel body?

I can think that:

1- steel is more durable and will not go out of alignment
2- steel will protect you more in case of a car crash
3- steel adds value to the car

but then I can also think that:

1- steel eventually may rust (I'll probably be dead by then anyways LOL)
2- steel is heavier, so the car will not be as fast. And I like my roadster FAST hehehehe.
3- Gas mileage, which is bad to beghin with, will probably get even worse (what do you mean WORSE? Is that even humanly possible??? )

Please let us not here get into a debate of which is "better", I like both glass and steel. let's just stick to the facts.

Also, how much of a nightmare would it be to swap bodies? Yes I know wiring will have to be disconnected and reconnected etc, but my wiring needs to be organized, tagged and partially redonne anyways, so there again, not such a big stretch... And the timing may be right.