Postwar-styled Deuce roadster named America’s Most Beautiful Roadster

Posted on Nov 20, 2021 in Featured | 2 comments

If there was any doubt that the vintage look has arrived in the modified-car world, one needs to look no further than the last few winners of the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award, which have all featured a period appearance combined with the extraordinary fit and finish that it takes to compete at such a high level. This year’s winner is no exception.

When well-known California custom-paint-and-body man Darryl Hollenbeck decided to build a retro-style roadster for his wife, Teri, with the help of Michigan hot rodder Cory Taulbert, those following along could soon tell that the result was going to be worthy of any indoor show. The car you see here is the product of that collaboration and received the ultra-prestigious AMBR trophy this past weekend at the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, California.

The Hollenbeck ’32 started life as a street rod project based on a reproduction 1932 Ford roadster body from Brookville Roadster and frame from the SO-CAL Speed Shop. The Hollenbecks wanted a more traditional bent to the car, however, and arranged to have Cory Taulbert build the Deuce chassis at his father-in-law’s shop, Webb Automotive Art. Cory removed the fabricated SO-CAL center crossmember and replaced it with an original 1940 Ford X-member.

In the rear a quick-change differential was hung from a Ford Model T spring, and all four corners received 1940 Lincoln-style self-energizing drum brakes. Up front is a drilled-and-dropped I-beam axle located by split wishbones. The front wheels are original 1940 16×4 units, and the rears are 18×4.25 in homage to the 18-inch accessory (aka “milk truck”) wheels that were popular at the dry lakes in the 1940s and ’50s. The black steel wheels are shod in pie-crust Firestone bias-plies in an emphatic big-and-little combination.

The Brookville sheet metal, including a 25-louver hood and filled grille shell, was covered in a custom-mixed brown-green hue applied by Darryl himself. The exterior was finished off with period Guide headlamps, Chrysler Airflow taillamps and door handles and a removable black top.

Inside, the roadster’s cockpit was covered in a combination of brown leather and NOS 1969 Cadillac fabric. Eye-catching details include a large-diameter Stewart-Warner Police speedometer, reproduction 1950-’51 Ford Crestliner steering wheel and a hand-turned shift knob made from Detroit agate (hardened layers of paint harvested from a paint booth—in this case, that of Darryl’s father, Dale).

Departing from the thus-far entirely period theme are a 385 hp small-block Chevrolet crate engine matched up to a Borg-Warner T5 five-speed transmission, although these components were carefully blended with their surroundings, thanks to plain iron exhaust manifolds, black-steel valve covers, generator-look alternator and a Model A shift lever. We can only presume this engine-and-trans combination means Teri and Darryl mean for the roadster to get some serious mileage once its car-show duties are complete!

Other AMBR competitors this year were an interesting mixture of the period-inspired and completely contemporary, alongside some returning past competitors, including one ’32 Ford that had been precisely restored to its 1989 show-car configuration. We anticipate having further coverage of the GNRS soon, so check back!