After a short time together Doyle sold the '32 to pay off the doctor bills after the birth of his daughter. The car changed hands through a variety of owners who would make changes to the drivetrain and suspension until it was a snarling menace with a Chevy 427ci big-block and a Corvette independent rearend. Through the remainder of the Sixties and into the Seventies the coupe led a checkered existence, with its owner running from both the law and spending extended stays incarcerated. The good news is the three-window survived its struggles and returned to the streets more than once, at one point again wearing its dark brown livery after being painted black.
The coupe prowled the streets in its most recognizable form until Tom Shiffilea purchased it and made the most dramatic changes since the Dick Bergren days. Despite strong vocalizations from the hot rod community, Tom made the car his own with the purple paint, a lively set of flames and a pure white pleated interior. But it wouldn't be long before a new owner would again enter the picture. While building his collection of historically important hot rods, Bruce Meyer set his sights on the "Doyle Gammell Coupe." In Bruce's words, "I don't want to rewrite history, just preserve it. When you say "hot rod" the first thing that comes to mind is the '32 Ford."
After some heavy negotiations with a reluctant-to-sell Tom Shiffilea, the coupe was eventually part of the Meyer collection. At first Bruce enjoyed driving the three-window and then stored it while attending to the restorations of previously-acquired cars like the Doane Spencer and Bob McGee '32 Ford roadsters. Finally the time came to return the coupe's most well-known and beloved identity so Bruce turned the car over to friend Bob Bauder for a "driver" redo, as he not only collects cars but drives them pretty regularly as well. In Bob's care familiar elements like the fuel-injected 283ci small-block, Moon tank and metallic brown paint saw a return, but user-friendly upgrades like a Richmond five-speed transmission and a 9-inch Ford rearend were installed in favor of the original Hydro trans and Olds rearend from the early days. After a year in Bob's shop the coupe re-emerged as a Sixties classic and Bruce has thoroughly enjoyed it because he says, "these cars were built as competitors, and in their own way they are still competing and winning!" Most recently the three-window was voted as one of the Top 75 '32 Fords for the 2007 75th Anniversary celebration along with four other historic cars in Bruce's collection.
Of course Bruce Meyer wasn't the only one who had his eye on the old hot rod, as Doyle himself had tried to buy the car only to be turned down. Ultimately Doyle decided that with the long standing legend of the "Doyle Gammell Coupe" to live up to he would prove to himself and others that he was actually capable of building the car that had haunted the dark corners of his mind for so long. At first Doyle planned a 100-percent nut-and-bolt recreation, but when he found out that Bruce had been able to purchase the car and was making a few changes he decided to personalize his version as well.