1932 Phaeton

A 1932 Phaeton Provides a Series of Surprises

The Phaeton on the road in 2019.

By Glenn Davis

SURPRISE #1: A FRIEND ON THE TELEPHONE

By 1986, the chances of finding a good old Ford in our town's newspaper had begun to decline. Nevertheless, I doggedly continued my ritual of reading the classified advertisements daily and was quite surprised when an ad for a '32 Ford Phaeton appeared one Sunday morning. Heading to the phone, I could already feel the peculiar excitement that marks the beginning of a hot pursuit for a new automotive acquisition. The woman who answered my call told me that the car was still available. She was in the process of answering my questions when it dawned on me that I was talking to the wife of an old high school friend and college roommate, with whom I had lost contact some ten years earlier. She was as surprised as I was and after a brief catch-up discussion on family events. She related the story of her husband's purchase of the car and the downturn in their construction business, which required its sale.

The Phaeton had come to my friend as part of a twocar deal, which included a roadster. The cars had been purchased sight unseen, through a broker and were supposed to be "museum quality." Although they might have been museum quality at one time, they arrived at my friend's house in a sad state of disassembly and neglect. The Phaeton looked like a complete car from about thirty feet, but upon closer inspection, it became clear that the car had been taken completely apart and had spent time outdoors in the desert sand and the rain.

No bolt was more than finger tight, the rear doors were bent downward on their hinges and the runs in the paint on the frame went up instead of down. Clearly, the body had been off and the car had been abused. My friend and the broker were no longer on good terms and no previous history of the car was available. Nevertheless, the combination of my attraction to a good puzzle and my friend's offer to let me pay him off over two years, brought us to a deal and the car was mine.

SURPRISE #2: AUSTRALIAN BODY

At the time, I had just become active in the Early Ford V-8 Club and my initial fantasy was to restore my newly acquired Phaeton to Dearborn standards. This plan was soon dashed when my more knowledgeable friends told me that although the car was left-hand drive and had a US frame number, the body was of Australian origin.

Restoration in progress, 1992.

Consequently, I had to make a new plan. The car had an original '32 engine installed, but an extra, later model flathead came along as part of the deal. Investigation revealed that the later engine had been installed when the car last ran. Further, close inspection of the license tags, on the black California plates, indicated that the car had likely been assembled in the late sixties. I had long heard of stories about Australian '32 bodies being imported by Southern California hot rod enthusiasts, so I decided to reassemble the car as closely as possible to the condition it was in when last it ran. I figured that if I ever got it to show-worthy condition, somebody might recognize it and tell me its story.

SURPRISE #3: RECOGNITION IN PISMO BEACH

Given family activities, career commitments and my casual approach to hard work, it took nearly a dozen years to get the car assembled and back on the road. However, by 1998, the car was complete and we had begun driving it to various events around California. At a show in Ventura, a fellow recognized the car as one he had purchased at an auction in the seventies, but he didn't remember the details and I couldn't get any additional history - frustrating! Then, in 2001, while I was working the safety inspection at the Early Ford V-8 meet in Pismo Beach, long time V-8 Club member and noted Ford historian, Charles Seims, told me he recognized the license number as one that had been on a Phaeton featured on the cover of a magazine in the seventies. He said the car looked different and he couldn't remember which magazine, but he knew that was the same black California license plate he had seen almost thirty years before. I pressed for more details as politely as I could, in my excitement at finally getting a clue, but that was all Charles could recall at the time. We exchanged telephone numbers and he promised to look for the magazine in his collection.

SURPRISE #4: THE PHAETON IS FAMOUS

By the time 2006 rolled around, the Phaeton was semi-retired in the back of the barn, with its amateur lacquer job beginning to crack. My attentions had turned to refreshing our trusty '40 coupe. The coupe got a new paint job and along with our dog, Spenser, we drove to the Early Ford V-8 Club meeting in Tacoma, Washington. There, while walking Spenser around the streets of Tacoma, I ran into Charles Seims again. I wasn't certain he would recognize me after five years, but he greeted me by saying, "Hey, they're looking for your car!" I had no idea what he meant. He then gave me a brief overview of the quest for "The 75 Most Significant 1932 Ford Hot Rods.” He had never found the magazine, but thought our Phaeton might be on the list of missing '32 Fords. He told me I could learn more on the Hot Rod Hotline website.

Returning to our room, I looked up the web site, read the story surrounding the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the '32 and fired off a note saying that I might have one of the missing cars. By the time we were home, I had received a response from Dave Boule, one of the organizers of the celebration. Dave put me in touch with Richard Graves, who had originally constructed a '32 Phaeton that had been featured on the cover of the December, 1972, issue of Rod & Custom magazine.

Richard and I discussed some of the unique features of the Phaeton and decided it was the same car. Richard also told me that he sold the car to a fellow

The cover of Rod & Custom, December 1972.

The Phaeton at the Grand National Roadster Show, Pomona 2007.

who wanted it restored to original and gave me the name of his friend in the Early Times Car Club, who had imported the body from Australia. With Richard's clues and a few weeks of internet sleuthing, I was able to put together the history of the Phaeton, from the marriage of its imported Australian body, to a chassis taken from a '32 Tudor, to its sale at the liquidation auction of the Cars of the Stars and Planes of Fame Museum. Yes, it had previously been a museum car! Along the way, I spoke to several friendly people who remembered the car. We were also invited to show the car, now known as, "The Richard Graves Phaeton,” at a special Ford Motor Company event, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the ’32 at the Grand National Roadster Show, in January 2007. There, we spent an enjoyable weekend looking at legendary cars and meeting people whose names we knew from fifty years of reading car magazines. Truly an adventure for a life-long car guy.

As of August 2021, the Phaeton is still on the road. Our last outing was a trip to Buellton, California for the “Deuces on 101” show in October, 2019. I take it out at least once a month, as I have for more than twenty years. Driving it regularly keeps the battery charged and the juices flowing.

Tacoma Cream pinstripe being applied in 1998.