Jimmy Comstock was one of the older, car-crazy gear heads in the neighborhood I grew up in back on Long Island, New York in the '70's. While the other guys in that raggamuffin group had first-gen Camaro's, Chevelle's and Mustangs, one had a '52 Plymouth, Jimmy had a '32 Ford "hot rod" similar to this '32 Ford.
While I preferred the more contemporary cars the other guys had, there was something about Jimmy's funky, rusty, loud and obnoxious, brute force, throwback car I found fascinating.
The term "hot-rodding" is a broad term but in its purest sense it's where an old car is built or rebuilt using discarded or junkyard parts into something it was never intended to be. While tinkerers and shade trade mechanics had been building their own cars since the earliest days of the automobile, I have no idea what the impetus of Jimmy's car was, the practice really took off during the Great Depression as a less expensive alternative to buying a car. In the years immediately following World War II, since cars were scarce, many G.I.'s built their own, some "hopping" them up into serious, and dangerous, speed machines.
Building your own car, can you imagine? Contrary to what some say, some things do in fact change.
This '32 was originally "rodded" back in the early '60's and as of 1964, hasn't had much of anything done to it. That's pretty cool in and of itself. Therefore, this is not unlike the TV show "Happy Days", an old nostalgia piece that's not as old as it may seem. At first. With it's chopped top, shaved door handles and "frenched" door hinges, this thing is more of a '60's hot rod scene time capsule than a climpse into what a 1932 Ford was all about.
That '60's ethos continues under the hood where there's a period correct, GMC "4/71" supercharged, 283 cubic inch Chevrolet small block V-8 bored out to 301 CID. The GMC 4/71 supercharger was originally a truck exclusive, but engine builders found they could adapt them to other engines including the Chevrolet V-8. Four Stromberg 97 "two-throat" carburetors sit on top of it.
Small block Chevrolet's were a favorite of builders in the early '60's because they were small, lightweight, robust, abundant and easily modifiable. Ford flathead V-8's, which this car may have come from the factory with originally, were popular with hot rodders as well, but they had their limitations. The 1954-1964 Ford Y-block had its challenges as well. These days, most of these types of cars, some built from kits, would have a Chevrolet Big Block or the ubiquitous GM "LS" V-8.
No doubt there's plenty of oomph to this thing although shifting gears through the floor mounted, unsynchronized, 1939 Ford three-speed is not a job for the weary. The proverbial rock crusher that along with un-boosted steering and brakes, school bus like driving position and bouncy suspension making this a handful and a half to handle. I doubt this has seen an expressway in decades.
Ah, the charms of older cars; you've been warned. I almost feel bad for Jimmy Comstock seeing his jalopy was his daily driver.
Our '32 here is a bit unusual in that the builders kept its fenders, running boards and bumpers on: Jimmy's had had them removed. Many rodders tossed them to save weight. Their very tall rooflines often chopped giving them that sinister and classic "highboy" look.
"Highboys" ride on their frames like they did from the factory as opposed to "lowboys" whose bodies have been modified to ride around the frame of the car or sometimes between the frame rails.
This car was featured in the March 1964 edition of American Hot Rodder and a show winner at the "Autorama" in 1963. All that substantiate its $90,000 asking price? Me thinks but what does this kid who grew up on Long Island in the '70's know about these things.
I have no idea what ever happened to Jimmy Comstock's car.
