355-Powered 1932 Ford Highboy Cabriolet

Description

As the economy began to recover following the Great Depression, new enthusiasm emerged for hot rodding, particularly in Southern California, where the favorable weather and wide-open dry lakes gave rise to new dual-purpose race/street cars. Among the myriad of body styles being built from Ford Model As, Ts, and Bs at the time were so-called “Highboys,” a term which rose to define unmodified hod rod bodies that sat on top of the frame rails. Because “channeling” a body to be mounted lower on a chassis is a challenging and time-consuming process, many younger hod rodders opted to leave the body sitting high atop the frame, with mostly 1928, 1929, or 1932 Ford roadster bodies being used in their construction. 

This particular Ford Highboy Cabriolet was built in 1997 with a new fiberglass body sitting atop a custom-fabricated Stage III chassis from the renowned Roadster Shop in Mundelein, Illinois. It is powered by a 350 cu-in Chevrolet small-block V8 paired with a Muncie four-speed manual transmission with only 7,385 miles traveled since the completion of the build. Resplendent in Vermillion Red, this custom ground-up build is primed for enjoyment by its second owner on weekend cruises and at local car shows.    

Highlights

• Gibbon Fiberglass body with a 2½-inch chop, rolled rear pan, and shaved cowl and radiator shell with professional Dupont two-stage polyurethane paintwork in 1996 Ford Vermillion Red

• 355 cu-in Chevrolet four-bolt small-block V8 rated at 370 horsepower at 5,600 rpm with 372 lb-ft of torque at 4,300 rpm built by Reid's Automotive, Inc. in Whitman, Massachusetts, featuring:

  • Resurfaced block bored .030 over during the rebuild 

  • Competition Cam

  • Air Flow Research (AFR) aluminum cylinder heads

  • Edelbrock Performer RPM intake manifold

  • Holley 750 Double Pumper carburetor

  • MSD Digital 6AL ignition control

  • Stainless Sanderson block-hugger headers

  • Polished stainless 2½-inch exhaust system with Flowmaster mufflers

• Muncie four-speed manual transmission shifted via a floor-mounted Hurst shifter

• Full Stage III boxed chassis by the Roadster Shop in Mundelein, Illinois

• New Wilwood master cylinder along with Willwood front brake calipers and pads were reportedly installed in 2022

• Heidt’s fully independent front suspension

• Triangulated four-bar rear suspension with American coil-overs and a sway bar

• Narrowed 9-inch Ford rear end with 3.70 Posi gear ratio

• Red-finished, staggered, five-spoke American Torq-Thrust wheels mounted with BF Goodrich radial tires

• Vintage Air air conditioning and heat

• Custom interior by Barnes and Dunbar featuring Recaro bucket seats trimmed in gray cloth, gray leather door panels, and gray BMW carpet

• Custom dark gray cabriolet soft top and boot cover by Barnes and Dunbar

• Fully body-color-painted undercarriage 

• Featured on the cover of the February 2009 edition of

  Streetscene

  magazine, as well as on the 1999 pilot episode of

  Street Rodding: An American Art

  narrated by Bill Stephens – view the full episode

  here

• This 1932 Ford Highboy Cabriolet is offered with the five-digit odometer showing 7,385 miles since the completion of the build in 1997

Features

• Full instrumentation, including tachometer, battery, and oil pressure gauges

• Alpine AM/FM 8-speaker stereo with trunk-mounted AMP and CD changer

• Tilt leather-wrapped steering wheel

• Power windows

• Remote release power doors and trunk

• Power Antenna

• Electric Windshield wiper

• Ron Francis wiring throughout 

• Trunk-mounted Optima Yellowtop Dry Cell battery behind a custom back panel

• Custom tail lights with a third brake light from a late-model Ford wagon

• Front turn signals integrated into the front chrome bumper

• 25-gallon custom stainless tank 

• Under-dash-mounted fire extinguisher 

• Shaved door handles and hinges

Known Imperfections

• Paint chip near driver’s side hood gap

• Remote-release doors and key fob work intermittently

• Stereo head unit shows an error code intermittently

Included

• Louvered and painted engine side panels (removed)

• Custom California car cover

• Research and build documentation, including meticulous logs of all parts, labor expended, materials, dyno test sheet, and a full set of hand-drafted, as-built wiring schematics

• Photo album documenting every stage of the build

Ownership History

This 1932 Ford Highboy Cabriolet was built by the consignor and his wife with professional help from the Roadster Shop in Mundelein, Illinois (chassis), Reid's Automotive, Inc. in Whitman, Massachusetts (drivetrain), and Barnes and Dunbar (interior and soft top). The hot rod has been enjoyed since and remains highly usable, now showing 7,385 miles at the time of listing.

Hagerty Marketplace has confirmed a clean title status, the owner maintains the title in hand and will send it to the Hagerty Marketplace team to be reassigned to the new owner after the auction is complete.