Mike Swain's 1932 Ford Deuce Cabriolet

Everything old is new again. After three decades of street rod decadence that showcased fads ranging from root beer-brown funk machines to billet-laden Pro Street cars so radical they couldn't be driven down a public road, traditional style is back, and bigger than ever. Simple paint, clean lines, nostalgic motors, and speed tricks developed on the salt flats and dry lakes in the years following WWII have returned. Of course, some rods never deviated from the original traditionalist theme, despite whatever contemporary trend may have been exploding around them.

These cars are survivors. Leftovers from a bygone era when primer was the most popular body covering, not because it was cool or trendy but because many early racers and street freaks couldn't afford to ante up for paint. Big, hulking Buick, Olds, Pontiac, and Caddy mills were dropped between the rails of early Fords, not for their nostalgic value but because the small-block Chevy hadn't been invented yet, and these massive chunks of iron were the biggest, baddest engines available at the local wrecking yard. The closest thing original rods got to billet accessories was when a part wasn't available anywhere, so the owner had to whittle it himself out of a block of alloy.

While many cars built in the early years of rodding morphed with the ebb and tide of the hobby and the constantly evolving tastes of their owners, a handful of time machines managed to make it through the years untouched, and they now serve as a testament to the ingenuity of the original hot rodders and as inspiration for the new crop of traditional rides being constructed in their image. The sweet little Deuce cabriolet you see pictured on the following pages is just such a car.

Mike Swain of Lebanon, Ohio, dragged this beautiful droptop Deuce out to the NSRA Nats in Louisville, Kentucky, and it absolutely floored us. The bitchin’ little cabriolet is a picture-perfect representation of a ’50s-era street rod down to the stickers in the trunk, and we absolutely had to show it to you. What makes this thing even cooler is the fact that Mike is just the second owner of the car nicknamed "Hot Rod," having picked it up from the widow of the original owner in 1995. So you want the nitty gritty details? This is the story, as told by Mrs. Ruth Winchel, who has been involved with the cabby since its inception.

"The body and frame were purchased from Lowe’s Auto Wrecking on Maple Road in Lorain, Ohio, in 1956. My husband, John Winchel, and his brother-in-law, James Dittmer, built the car in their garage during the winter and spring of 1956 and 1957. Every part used in the car, including the ’50 Olds engine, came from various junkyards around Lorain County, as new parts were either too expensive or hard to come by. The Ford was originally black with red trim, and it was later repainted silver by a nephew. The seats are from a ’58 Ford Fairlane. We nicknamed the car ‘Hot Rod,’ and it was used only for pleasure and joy riding; it was never in a show."

In the seven years since purchasing the Deuce, Mike and his son, Nick, completely disassembled the car and restored it from top to bottom, retaining all of the original ’40s-era dirt track suspension and running gear. New "vanilla shake" white paint and tasteful red pinstriping by Tom Willis of Carlisle, Ohio, top things off. So is this thing bitchin’ because it taps into the hot trend of "traditional rods" and nostalgia? No way. This baby is a survivor. It was a killer ride back in the Eisenhower administration and remains that way today, unchanged, and ready to cruise—just the way it should be.