This Highboy not only looks the part, it is the part. Built by Miller Automotive, of Chino, CA, it was timed at 142.97 mph at Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats on August 21, 1954. Powered by the venerable flathead, with Offenhauser aluminum heads, three 2-barrel Stromberg carburetors, a Harman and Collins magneto and a Halibrand quick-change rear end, it remains in its racing condition.
It has the patina of history, with faded metallic blue paint, gray leather upholstery, a utilitarian custom instrument panel with period black-on-white Stewart-Warner instruments, and blue carpet on the floor. On the dashboard is a brass plaque from the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) commemorating its Bonneville speed run.
SCM Analysis
Detailing
| Vehicle: | 1932 Ford Miller Automotive Roadster |
| Years Produced: | 1932 |
| Number Produced: | 6,893 DeLuxe V8 roadsters (plus 520 standard V8s) |
| Original List Price: | $500 |
| SCM Valuation: | Median to date: $57,750, high sale, $133,100 (no-history cars) |
| Tune Up Cost: | $250 (estimated) |
| Chassis Number Location: | On front frame rail, driver’s side (Note: this is not a 1932 Ford VIN number; they have an 18 prefix) |
| Club Info: | Goodguys, National Street Rod Association (NSRA) |
| Website: | http://www.good-guys.com |
| Alternatives: | Any other ’50s-era hot rod with a period build and race history |
| Investment Grade: | B |
This car, Lot 249, sold for $60,500, including buyer’s premium, at RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction in Monterey, CA, on August 19–20, 2016.
Genuine dry-lakes-racing Highboy Ford roadsters, like the ex-Ray Brown ’32 in the Petersen Automotive Museum, Bruce Meyer’s ex-Doane Spencer Deuce or the ex-Jim Khougaz/Mark Van Buskirk ’32 roadster are highly prized today. Depending upon their owner’s reputation and the car’s race history, examples have sold for six-figure sums.
From the early 1940s, stripped and souped-up roadsters like this one lined up by the dozens to run at El Mirage and Harper Dry Lakes, as well as at Bonneville. Ray Brown’s ’32 roadster, with a stroked 284-ci flathead running on alcohol, turned over 120 mph at El Mirage. That was impressive for a car that served Ray as his daily transportation as well as his weekend race car.
This raked and nicely patinated Deuce roadster definitely has the look. And it’s got all the right speed equipment. It was purchased at Christie’s’ Pebble Beach auction in August 1997, before I became director of the Petersen Automotive Museum. It had been owned by a Los Angeles man named Rollie Reso, and it looked pretty much exactly the way it does today. The Christie’s catalog stated that several of the Bonneville modifications, such as a racing fuel tank and shortened radius rods, were replaced with stock ’32 items, and the roll bar was removed for conversion to street operation.
A mystery
Certainly, it would have taken some serious horsepower to move this rather un-aerodynamic racer at 140-mph-plus. So there’s a question as to the engine’s actual-vs.-stated displacement — it had to be more than the stock 221 cubic inches. That AB-prefix frame number is not correct for the period Deuce rails, prompting another question about a probable missing title.
To my knowledge, this car was never featured in a hot rod magazine. It’s not pictured in any of Don Montgomery’s historic books. Christie’s catalog noted that it was pictured in the 1954 Popular Mechanics Hot Rod Handbook.
That said, even if it didn’t have verifiable history, and that SCTA timing tag — which certainly looks real — was a swapmeet find, to duplicate this car, with a gennie steel body and Deuce rails, albeit sans an original California title, would take considerably more than the $60,500 sales price.
When the Petersen Museum sold a number of its cars in 2013, this roadster went for $52,800 at Auctions America’s Burbank auction (ACC# 6733735) — and I thought that was a bargain.
Searching for clues
An inscription on the tail reads: “Rod Riders, RTA.” Researching that club, possibly in the Russetta Timing Association (a rival to the SCTA), might bear some fruit. Meanwhile, we can speculate on the low sale price.
You couldn’t begin to duplicate this car for the price, which makes me wonder if it was in fact a real Bonneville racer, or instead it was a neat assemblage of vintage parts. Don Montgomery, author of several terrific photo books on early hot rods, kindly researched the period Bonneville records.
“The Miller Automotive entry was listed as car no. 284 in the B Roadster class,” Don wrote. “There were nine entries in the B Roadster class, of which five entries had recorded times (speeds). There was no recorded time for the Miller Automotive entry.” Don added that according to the 1954 Bonneville program, the meet was from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5. Perhaps the SCTA timing tag (Aug. 21, 1954) is ‘new?’”
Don said he could not find an entry for this car in his limited Russetta Timing Association records. “Assuming the car ran the RTA,” he noted, “I believe that the owner would have been in the Pacesetters club (Pomona Valley area). I see that John Stauffacher ran a class B Roadster at the Russetta meet on Oct 10, 1954. That car recorded a time of 142.011 mph. Perhaps this is that roadster? Miller Automotive could have been a sponsor.”
A lucky find?
Looking at all the facts and clues brings me to one conclusion: There’s every reason to suspect this is a “real” racer from the period. The new owner could try to find Rollie Reso (I couldn’t) and maybe even look for John Stauffacher to learn the story.
In the meantime, this is a lot of hot rod for $60,500. It was below the market at that price without the history, and if its history does end up checking out, consider it a screaming deal.
(Introductory description courtesy of RM Sotheby’s.)