the ’32 it stopped traffic. By 1961, road-driven Hot Rods of this caliber were becoming rare. One could buy a stock 409 Chevrolet that would hammer most street roadsters. Many cars were mothballed, and nobody thought Street Rods like Woodard’s roadster had a future. Moeller continued to drive the ’32 as his street car, to and from college, and he took it to more shows as well. “When I started working for ISCA,” Moeller said, “we used the car in the display booth.” He remembered driving the ’32 to Cobo Hall for the Detroit Motorama one chilly February. “It was so cold, driving without a top,” he said with a laugh. “I froze the tips of my ears.” In 1968, Moeller decided to sell the roadster, as it was, because he was much too busy to rebuild it. There were two interested buyers, so Moeller asked them each to submit a bid. Pete McManus’s $2,032.32 bid was the higher of the two. McManus was from Indianapolis. A member of the “Indy Idlers” car club, he also became an out-of-area, associate member of the LA Roadster Club in 1969, and the gold roadster is pictured in the LA Roadsters’ anniversary book. After he bought the ’32, McManus touched up the paint and plating, got the car running and drove it to the first Street Rod Nationals in Peoria, Illinois, in 1972. There, the car was spotted by Bernie, Paul and Joe Sievers. Bernie told McManus that if he ever wanted to sell the roadster, he’d be a customer. Two years later, the plot took a strange twist. With deuce roadster prices accelerating upward, McManus decided to reverse directions and make a stocker out of the Woodard/ East/Moeller Hot Rod roadster. Jerry Moon had obtained a stock ’32 Ford Tudor Sedan for a project, so McManus traded him the modified parts, like the filled grille shell, the firewall, the front suspension and, of course, the Chevrolet engine. Later, Moon sold the modified parts, along with what was left of the sedan, to Don Ennis. In 1975, McManus had several pending projects and needed some funds, so he called Bernie to see if he wanted to buy the now-stock, but not yet completely restored ’32. The roadster was soon on its way to Vincennes, Indiana, less a few key parts, but McManus kindly told Bernie where to find them. The funny thing is, at the time, Bernie wasn’t interested in those parts, as his plan was also to finish making a stocker out of the once-modified deuce. And that’s what he did, painting it in black lacquer with apple green wheels and re-installing cowl lamps and even a period ’32 flathead under the hood. The born-again ‘32 Ford was finished in 1978. No trace of the hot-gold deuce remained. Fast forward to 1992. Under Pat Ganahl’s inspired leadership, Rod & Custom presented a special 60th Anniversary Deuce issue with a six-page section on significant ‘32s, including the Woodard/East/Moeller car as it had appeared in gold. That got Paul thinking. Hot Rodders had begun to restore historic Hot Rods by then. Bernie decided that since he had most of the original ’32 that comprised the show car, he’d simply rebuild it back to its ISCA show-winning configuration. Fortunately, Bernie knew how to find Ennis, who still owned the plated suspension and the other pieces he’d bought. The interior, chopped windshield and folding top were owned by another Ohioan, and Bernie had saved other modified parts that he had removed, including the doors with the faired-in hinges. Bernie and his brother Joe restored the ’32 once more, converting it back to its Hot Rodded form. The plating bill was more than $10,000, showing they didn’t spare the key details one bit. With the old interior as a guide, Ed Thralls of Mitchell, Indiana, duplicated it in white Naugahyde with black piping. The running boards were recovered with white rubber. Paul even repopped the original yellow ’56 California license plate. Bernie kept the car for three years, then advertised it for sale in Hemmings Motor News. Richard Munz of Madison, Wisconsin, was very interested. He knew the gold roadster from years back and saw it when it was featured again on the cover of Rod & Custom in November 1995, just after its restoration was completed, along with a roadster that it inspired—a Roy Brizio-built, full-fendered, blue/violet, white-trimmed, SVO Ford-powered ’32 roadster. (Munz owned Roy’s dazzling purple deuce for a time, then traded it back to Brizio.) Munz said he was always interested in the Sievers-owned ex-Woodard/East/Moeller deuce, and he offered Paul a price “… that I thought was more than adequate.” But at first, they couldn’t agree. After attending the 2000 “Oakland” Roadster Show in the Cow Palace and seeing the restored Joe Nitti ’32, Munz said he reluctantly acknowledged that the prices for historic Hot Rods were “… getting up there.” He got together again with Bernie, and this time, they reached a deal. Munz really likes this old roadster. “It’s spectacular,” he said. And he’s not the only one who thinks so. When the 75th anniversary of the ’32 Ford was celebrated in 2007, a group of Hot Rod experts chose the 75 Most Significant Deuces of All Time from more than 400 applicants, and this gold beauty was one of the 75 cars selected for the honor.
