The T-Bird Deuce -- tbirddeuce Built in 1955 -- 24 owners in 60 years. Sixty years ago this 1932 Ford Roadster was found in an orchard in Port Burwell Ontario by Michael OByrne of Dorchester Ontario. He purchased the car for $35.00 and brought it home to his Dads Ford dealership and started building his hot rod. He used pictures from various California Hot Rod magazines for his build. He used a 4 inch chromed dropped front axle from Rossinis Speed Shop in Chatham Ontario along with brakes and steering from a 1953 Ford pick up truck. He used a 272 V-8 engine and automatic transmission from a wrecked 1955 Ford with 1300 miles on it. This was a Christmas present from his Dad. Parts from the same car were used to build the dash. The closed rear end was from a 1948 Mercury. The bobbed rear fenders were fabricated by Zip Cole a body man from Ingersoll Ontario. The car was painted a Sherwood Green The white upholstery and roadster top were done by Dick Lindsay of London Ontario. This car was driven by Michael all over S/W Ontario during the late 50s. Doing the drag on Dundas Street in London or driving to Cayuga Drag Strip to race the car. Everyone knew this was Michaelss car. The engine was updated to a Thunderbird 312 V-8 with 3 deuce set up and Michael was every where with his hot Rod. It was one of the very first California style hot rods in Ontario. The National Film Board of Canada approached Michael in 1959 to borrow his hot rod for a film shoot being done in London for the Canadian Department of Defense. They were doing a recruiting film titled The Career Soldier. The hot rod scene was filmed on the street just outside of Wolsely Barracks. It was very short but effective showing the car, the motor and the sound of the exhaust. The film is now converted to DVD from the original 16 mm sound film version. I now have a copy of the complete film in my memorabilia collection. Note - there is a link to the You Tube Video on my web site -- tbirddeuce One day Michael received a visitor while he was working in his Dads dealership from a fellow London car guy who made Michael an offer he could not refuse for the hot rod. With that the hot rod was gone and the start of what was to become the most documented history any car has ever been on begins. Over the next 50 some years, the Roadster changed hands twenty four (24) times. I was one of those owners, # seven, owning it in the early 60s. The sixtys were the best of times and I enjoyed the car to the fullest. Collector Car Shows were just starting and I did show the car in Toronto, Oshawa, Chatham and London. London was a hot bed for cars and Michaels Roadster fitted right in. We cruised Dundas Street during the week and headed for the drag strip either at Grand Bend or St. Thomas on the weekend. I dated my now wife with this hot rod. All good things must come to an end as one day I made a deal with my friend Danny Richie and he now owned the hot rod. Next for me came marriage, children, a mortgage and climbing the Corporate ladder with very little contact to the car scene although I never got that car, my old hot rod out of my mind. Upon retirement my wife and I spent our winters in Sebring Florida until medical issues prevented us from returning. Being back home in Ontario with the long cold winters, I decided I would look for my old hot rod. With the help from my long time friend Jim Prowse and my new friend Mike Lowden we were able to trace the car in 2011 to it present owner in Waterford Michigan. I visited Mr. Roy Breault in February of 2011 and walked into his shop to see his 1932 Ford High Boy Roadster and immediately knew it was the car that I had sold forty seven (47) years earlier. I was able to work a deal to purchase the car and it was returned home to Ontario. We introduced the car back into the London car scene at Steve Plunketts Fleetwood Country Cruize-In, June of 2011. We had eleven of the previous owners or members of their families at our reunion. I personally have made very few changes to the car and I have no intention to do so. I have too much respect for all the previous owners. This car was built as a hot rod in 1955 and is now, in 2015 a 60 year old build. During that time there have been 24 owners, ALL of which we have been able identify. Each one enjoyed the car and put their personal touch to the car, but each respected what the others had done and the car remains today very close to the way Michael OByrne built it so many years ago. This is a very brief history of The T-Bird Deuce. The complete story in both pictures and words can be found on my web site -- tbirddeuce Over the last four years the car has received a number of awards including The Driven Award from Street Rodder magazine at the Detroit Autorama in 2013 with a five page write up in the July 2013 issue of Street Rodder magazine with a small picture on the cover. At the inaugural 2013 Cobble Beach Concours dElegance show in Owen Sound the car won the Ribbon for third place in a class of seven. At many local Ontario indoor and out Car shows the car has received numerous awards for Best of Show, Top Ten Awards, and class wins. It draws attention with its old school look and the 60 year history. Canadian Hot Rod magazine Vol. 6 Issue 2 in 2010 ran the story by Mike Lowden when we were looking for the car. They ran a follow up article when we found the car in Vol. 6 Issue 5. Old Autos Newspaper ran articles in both the April 4th and the July 4th 2011 editions of their paper telling the story. Many other Canadian and American publications have included both stories and pictures of the history of this old hot rod. Just recently I have had interest from Car Magazines in Brazil and Australia. Thank you for your interest in the T-Bird Deuce and hopefully I have earned your support. Your truly John Willoughby
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 16:47:56 +0000
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