- Famous Cars and Famous Car People
- Cruising Strong for 90 Years
- Highlights From the Deuce’s Big Day
- Watch! Petersen Automotive Museum Grand Opening From 2016
The Petersen Automotive Museum has played a key role in promoting California’s rich car culture, and its hot rods in particular. Located on Los Angeles’ famous Miracle Mile, it opened on June 11, 1994, thanks to the vision of magazine publisher Robert E. Petersen and his wife, Margie. The institution received a spectacular revamp in 2014, securing its status as one of the best automotive museums in the world. If you haven’t been yet, well, you should definitely put it on your bucket list.
Precisely 28 years after its grand opening, the museum honored the 90th Anniversary of the 1932 Ford with a memorable weekend of festivities, and a new holiday: June 11th, now known as “National Hot Rod Day.” Mark your calendar!
This year’s celebration follows in the footsteps of other successful events meant to acknowledge this revered Ford model. Some might remember the 75th Anniversary at the Grand National Roadster Show in 2007, which highlighted the crème de la crème in Building No. 9. The Petersen Museum continued the tradition with their own 80th and 85th gatherings, in 2012 and 2017, respectively.
Famous Cars and Famous Car People
Fast forward to Saturday, June 11, 2022. The two-day happening began in the afternoon with the Deuce Gala. It celebrated the opening of Petersen’s new Ross and Beth Myers Gallery, featuring a special exhibit called Ford Fever: The Deuce Turns 90. It welcomed ten of our country’s most iconic ’32s, such as the Bob McGee roadster, the Doane Spencer roadster, and the Ray Brown roadster (pictured above, from left to right), along with the Doyle Gammell coupe, well-known for its perfectly proportioned chopped top. Other notable entries included two AMBR (America’s Most Beautiful Roadster) winners at the Grand National Roadster Show: Ermie Immerso’s Orange Twist roadster, dated 1988, and Chip Foose’s 0032 roadster, which debuted 12 years later.
The crowd then gathered on the roof of the building for a buffet dinner, followed at 7:00 p.m. by the presentation of the Robert E. Petersen Hot Rod Icon Award by the Petersen Museum’s Founding Chairman (and hot rod fanatic) Bruce Meyer. He and guest of honor Henry Ford III handed a neat award to Billy Gibbons, ZZ Top’s frontman and a hardcore hot-rodder in his own right. The program continued with an auction, showcasing two electric guitars signed by Gibbons, and then the highlight of the evening: a live performance by Gibbons, backed by the Franky Perez Band—a magical moment for the roughly 300 people in attendance.
Cruising Strong for 90 Years
Activities resumed on Sunday morning, with the Petersen Museum’s monthly Cars & Coffee gathering, featuring the Deuce Day Cruise-In, which took place on the top deck of the building’s parking lot. As you might expect, a large pack of ’32 Fords and their owners joined the shindig, and enjoyed a sunny day and complimentary pancake breakfast.
Troy Ladd of Hollywood Hot Rods fame brought a couple of stellar examples, specifically his own Dewar coupe, an incredible hot rod survivor that had been stored from 1961 until Ladd found it in 2018, and Pat Gauntt’s chopped three-window, the winner of the Al Slonaker award at the 2022 Grand National Roadster Show. Several hot-rod luminaries enjoyed the morning, including longtime journalist Pat Ganahl, who drove his gorgeous ’32 roadster. The Deuces shared the space with a handful of other rods and customs—all in all, a great way to spend a few hours on a Sunday.
Thanks to the Petersen Museum team led by Bruce Meyer for another stellar hot rod-oriented weekend. See you in five years for the 95th Anniversary of the 1932 Ford.
Highlights From the Deuce’s Big Day
The 515-hp, Roush V8-equipped ’32 Ford Victoria on loan from ace musician Eric Clapton now sits prominently in the Petersen Museum’s new Ross and Beth Myers Gallery.
Hollywood Hot Rods built an amazing three-window coupe for customer Pat Gauntt. It won the Al Slonaker award at the 2022 GNRS in Pomona last January.
Paul Gommi owns a great collection of jalopies, including this ’32 Ford roadster. With a history that harkens back to the 1940s, it even competed at the dry lakes from 1948 to 1952.
Tom’s Tub, the ’32 Ford phaeton created in 1982 by Street Rodder magazine founder Tom McMullen, was the guest star of a notorious 1984 Van Halen video, Hot for Teacher.
You don’t often see ’32 Ford RPUs (roadster pickups). This stellar example with Ford Boss 351 power belongs to Don Lindfors.
Bruce Meyer’s fleet of Deuce hot rods includes the Lobeck-Coonan-Bauder roadster, which became recognized when Barry Lobeck modified it in the mid-1970s.
The QuadraDeuce has evolved visually since it was first built by Summit in 1995. Its claim to fame: being the first all-wheel drive ’32 roadster.
Brad Smith purchased his ’32 Ford Tudor in 1957, and he still owns it today. 16-year-old Smith paid $65 for it at the time.
A 350ci Chevy V-8 topped with a 471 Dyers supercharger equips Lou Stands’ Deuce. The engine delivers in the neighborhood of 420 horsepower.
Augie Esposito won one of the four show awards on Sunday. Power for the beautiful 2-inch-chopped ’32 Ford coupe comes from a ’58 283ci Corvette mill.
The supercharged three-window Deuce driven by John Barnes has a long history, having been drag raced between 1951 and 1954.
Munster Truck: That’s what Bret Blackburn calls his daily-driven ’32 Ford hauler, chopped 2-1/2 inches and channeled 5 inches. It relies on a 283ci Chevy V-8.
Watch! Petersen Automotive Museum Grand Opening From 2016
Keyword: 90 Years of the ’32 Ford Celebrated at the Petersen Automotive Museum