The Slo-Pokes Car Club of...
The Slo-Pokes Car Club of Dubuque, Iowa, got together for this group shot in 1953. That's Bob Willis behind the wheel of his '30 Model A roadster, with his brother Joe riding shotgun. Noel Mauer is standing third from right in the club jacket and white T-shirt.
Bob Willis' 1930 Model A Roadster
Noel Mauer's1932 Coupe
Dubuque, Iowa
When Chuck Lahey takes his '30 Model A roadster back to his hometown of Dubuque, Iowa, folks call it "Bob Willis' old roadster." Rightly so, says Chuck, who sent us these photos and told us this story.
Bob owned the street/strip roadster (really a coupe with the roof cut off) in the Fifties. "It was channeled about 12 inches on a '32 frame and ran a hot Flathead with three 97s, with a '40 Ford transmission and a Columbia two-speed rearend," Chuck wrote. Bob's friend, Noel Mauer, drove and raced a '32 five-window coupe, powered by a tri-power Flathead, that was a high school shop project. "He chopped the top and channeled the body on the original Deuce frame." Bob and Noel were both members of the Slo-Pokes Car Club in Dubuque. In the Sixties, they teamed up to build and race a nitro-burning, Hemi-powered, front-engine rail.
Bob sold his roadster in 1958. Chuck Lahey bought it 10 or 12 years later and owns it to this day-except during those visits to Dubuque. Noel's coupe was featured in the November 1960 issue of Rod & Custom, and he is still the owner. The dragster can still be seen in the Lensing Auto Museum in Lensing, Illinois.
George T. Schneider
Cutchogue, New York
1934 Ford Coupe
Hot rods have been George's passion since he was a 10-year-old kid building model kits, so this full-size version brings the whole thing full circle. The three-window body from B&C Fiberglass sits over a Total Cost Involved chassis featuring a drilled I-beam, wishbones, and monoleaf spring in front. A Currie 9-inch with 3.25 gears, coilovers, and four-bar completes the rear. The powertrain combo is a fresh 327 Chevy and a new TH350 automatic. George chose ET Wheels, pairing five-spokes with knock-offs in the rear with 10-spoke Gassers in front for a period appearance. On the inside, he built a two-piece dash from South American cocobolo wood. This was a one-year project-pretty quick we'd say. The coupe is done, but George isn't; he's following up this project with a traditional '32 highboy buildup.
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 Yesterday's young guns, Bob...  Yesterday's young guns, Bob (left) and Noel, with the hot rods they built and raced in their high school days, reunited in 2006. |  Noel and Bob line up at the...  Noel and Bob line up at the starting line, Noel in the Deuce coupe and Bob in the A roadster. The roadster wins. |  There goes Bob, making a pass...  There goes Bob, making a pass in the roadster at Cordova Dragstrip in Cordova, Illinois, in 1957. "Yep, that's a football helmet!" |