Twelve miles from downtown Los Angeles, in a quiet suburban neighborhood in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, is Mike Griffith's house. From the street, it's impossible to tell that Mike's 1-acre property is a treasure land of '32s and other early Ford rods and parts. Mike grew up here and has been collecting and building cars since his teenage days. Some of his collection is sold within weeks of purchase. Much of it has been here for decades. All of his rods are built in the traditional style of the '40s, '50s, and early '60s. We dropped in to shoot a car feature or two and came back a week later to photograph the whole hill of vintage tin.
Fenders, wheels, frames, doors, running boards, cowls, crossmembers, springs, and hoods are stacked high at one end of the property, not to mention various early Ford bodies Mike has. We don't have enough pages to show you the sheds and garages filled with headlights, pedals, dashes, and other small parts. "When I start to build a car, I rummage through this area," Mike said. "It might take me a couple of hours to find the piece I need, but I can put my hands on just about anything."
Mike Griffith in his natural habitat: Deuces. The orange roadster (his driver) was originally built in 1958. Mike has owned it since 1974. The Tudor sedan, with 51,690 original miles, was recently purchased from its second owner, who bought it in 1952. The roadster on the left (aka The Jalopy) was Mike's attempt to build a '45-era car in 30 days using stock parts from around the property, including a '39 Merc engine and box and steel-pack mufflers. After 30 days, the roadster wasn't finished, but was driveable.
The red grille shell emblem on this dark green three-window indicates that the car was shipped from the Ford plant to Europe. It ended up in Denmark, where it was turned into a hot rod in the late '50s. The full-race Flattie has Navarro heads, Evans intake, dual carbs, and Fenton cast-iron headers.
This roadster was hot rodded in 1955 by the same Danish builder who owned the green coupe. It is the same dark green, but with black fenders. The Flathead engine is matched up with a '39 transmission with Zephyr gears.
Mike's newest purchase is an original unchopped five-window coupe on rails. It was originally from the state of Washington-but ended up in Southern California-and is excellent raw material for a project.
The late owner of this channeled, unchopped three-window owned it since 1949. Mike bought it from his widow and is building it into a traditional rod for his wife Donna. He pulled the 350 and IFS and added a drilled front axle, Model A front crossmember, and American twelve-spokes. Polished American five-spokes, Buick drums, and a 401ci nailhead are planned.
Unchanged in 40 years, this five-window coupe features a load of early-'60s touches, such as chromed door hinges, front axle, driveshaft and split wishbones, 'glass mufflers, scavenger pipes, chrome reverse rims with whitewalls, and black Naugahyde interior. The '59 Corvette 283 with Duntov cam is hooked to an early T-10 four-speed.
When Mike bought this roadster for $300 in 1967, it was blue with the number "200" painted on the sides. He added a drilled and filled chromed dropped axle and drilled split wishbones and painted it Plymouth Plum Crazy. In 1979 he sold it but bought it back years later. It has a 350 with a TH400 and will soon get chrome reverse wheels and whitewalls.
This race roadster's history includes circle track competition from 1955 to 1961 and 9-second e.t.'s on the strip. The engine is a 327 with a 6-71 GMC blower and dual C series AFBs from a '63 Corvette, which will eventually be detuned for the street. Other race stuff includes a rollbar, push bar, 'chute, and Summer Brothers axles. Wheels are five-spoke American mags and 16x8 Halibrands.
The other full-fendered coupe in the collection is this black three-window, packing a '56 Buick nailhead topped with six Stromberg 97s. This unrestored rod was built more than 40 years ago, has been extremely well-preserved, and is going to stay that way. Mike has many of the original trophies and old photos.
This fendered Model B four-banger roadster is completely stock except for 16-inch Kelsey Hayes wire wheels. It was restored in Louisiana in 1970 and brought to California 10 years ago. Mike rebuilt the chassis and is considering a 21-stud Flathead with early speed equipment to turn it into a pre-war-style rod.
In the '60s, this tube-chassis '32 American Bantam roadster ran A/Fuel Altered in Southern California then raced in Niagara Falls until 1972. Notice the spindle-mounted American five-spokes in front and mags in the rear. Engine/trans combos have included an injected 480 Olds with a B&M Hydro and an injected Rat motor with a Powerglide.
One of Mike's non-Deuces, this stock-bodied '37 American Bantam roadster, is channeled over a 1x3-inch rectangular tube frame and powered by a Hilborn-injected 283 with Weedburner headers. It was built in the '60s and ran on the street during the '80s. After the previous owner died, the car sat in a paint shop for 12 years. Mike wants to narrow the rear, pull the front brakes, and add 12-spoke American spindle-mount wheels in front.