There have been many examples of scale models or even bronze statues inspired by a significant car, but it rarely happens the other way where a bronze sculpture intrigued a patron sufficiently for him to create a real car as a tribute. The “S’Deuced” project brought a stunning Stanley Wanlass bronze sculpture to life by creating a full-sized ‘32 Ford roadster that duplicated every element of the original bronze, right down to the weathered paint finish. Richard Munz had previously acquired one of Wanlass’ pieces, called “First Love,” after initially meeting Wanlass on an Americruise Hot Rod tour when it drove through Salt Lake City and stopped for a picnic. “My friend, Roy Brizio, knew Stanley. Since we’re close by, we went up to his home in Sandy, Utah, for a tour of his studio.” The project began when Munz later saw “S’Deuced,” a bronze sculpture of a ’32 Ford roadster, while chatting with Wanlass at an auction in 2004. At that time, he took extensive photographs of the sculpture, which Munz believes to be one of the larger bronze statues Wanlass ever created at 3-feet long and a weight of 300 pounds. Fortuitously, he had purchased a rolling chassis from Johnny Badger, a friend in Scottsdale, Arizona, who he had known for years. Whenever he’d get more things than he wanted and needed a little cash, Munz said he would buy them, including several Ardun V-8s over the years. “I already had this rolling chassis with a built flat motor in it, along with a ’32 roadster body. It was sitting on my grease rack back at the shop. When I got the ‘S’Deuced’ pictures developed, I laid them across the top of the roadster’s rear deck and I began to have an idea.” Munz said that after attending Bonneville in 2008, he was driving back to Salt Lake City from the Salt Flats with his grandson Robert, who lives in Idaho. Munz said he reached out to Wanlass about halfway to Salt Lake City and asked if he could take Wanlass and his wife Joyce to lunch to introduce them to Robert. “We went up to Stanley’s studio and we gave Robert the tour. Standing in the studio, with my arm resting on the back of the bronze deuce roadster, I said, how would you feel if I created a real car from this bronze?” “Oh,” Munz recalled Wanlass saying, “I’d be honored.” Munz then contacted Jim Busby at his shop in Laguna Beach, who said it was certainly a project they could take on. Once he had returned to Madison, Wisconsin, Munz took the flat motor out of the ’32 chassis, replaced it with an Ardun engine he had and gathered up the parts and pieces he had accumulated over the years; what he didn’t have, they found. Munz said Paul Gommi was instrumental in locating some of the important rare parts used in the build, such as the Auburn dash. Munz found an original Autopulse fuel pump from Little Dearborn in Minneapolis, and with nearly all the little parts and pieces they needed on hand, the project began. “From the outset, Busby was skeptical,” Munz said. “‘I don’t know about this project,’ he said. The boys in the shop told me that he was always kind of grumbling about whether this was the right thing to do. He even called me one day and said, ‘Hey, Munz, if you don’t like the way this is turning out, we can strip it down and paint it.’ I said, no, that’s what I want to do.” After the car came out of the paint shop, Chris Hukill had completed the patina paint job and the project was nearing the finish line, Munz found it needed to be hand rubbed on certain areas to ensure it would match the bronze sculpture, which Wanlass had allowed Munz to take to Busby’s shop to use as a reference throughout the project. “Busby got some rubbing compound, or maybe it was Scotchbrite, I’m not sure which. The story has it he went to the shop at about 3 a.m. one morning and started getting his fingerprints on the deal by creating the worn areas on the car to match the bronze. What happened next was I got a phone call from him and he said, ‘Hey, Munz, I think you’re going to like the way this is turning out.’ Well, he had gotten his fingerprints all over it: true story.” The details on the roadster match the bronze sculpture exquisitely, something which is especially evident when the sculpture and the real car are seen side-by-side. The faded red paint is a clear-cut match, and the radius rods are drilled and the period headlights are topped with little parking lights. With no hood sides, the blown Ardun V-8 can be clearly seen, as can the Vertex magneto on an angle drive and the Hildebrandt oil-filter housing. The raked, slanted windscreen is one of Wanlass’ designs that can still be bought from Dick Rodwell. A Moon fuel tank with a pressure pump and big-and-little whitewalls round out the specification. Busby’s shop duplicated every detail. “After it was done, I took it to the Grand National Roadster Show. At one point, Stanley and his daughter Brandy sat in the car and snuggled up just like the couple in the bronze sculpture. It really brought the whole thing to life,” Munz said. “Another nice thing that happened, before Bob McCoy even realized who owned the car, he awarded it the ‘Real McCoy Award.’ So, I’ve got a large framed ‘Real McCoy Award’ that’s in the shop, right next to the car. Of course, in order to tell the story, I had to own the bronze, and now I do. After we had the ‘S’Deuced’ roadster at the Grand National that year, I left it for a time on display at the NHRA Museum. It’s been quite a conversation piece, I must say.”
