Coincidentally, Richard Munz was in attendance at Pomona for the ’32 Ford Anniversary extravaganza. As Munz owns the ex-Tommy Foster and Neal East deuces and they were located in Madison, Wisconsin, they were transported to the Fairplex in the same truck that held Dewey Cherek’s radically restyled ex-Bill Breece ‘32 coupe, which was picked up in Milwaukee. That car had Wisconsin license plates, prompting Munz—when he learned the channeled coupe was for sale—to make a few inquiries. He did not know it was the Breece coupe at first, just that it was a 75th anniversary award-winning ’32. Munz took the plunge. He bought the coupe, and then when Greg Sharp and automotive journalist Ken Gross delivered the show sign, Munz realized what he had. After the ’32 Ford Anniversary Celebration, Munz pondered what to do with his new acquisition. It really didn’t make sense to tear into the completely redone coupe to somehow restore it back to the way Breece originally built it. After all, Breece himself had done most of the work on the car for its second iteration. After considerable deliberation and discussions with knowledgeable friends and experts, Munz decided to recreate the Breece coupe exactly, an exercise that was not easily done considering the original car’s many rare parts. Bill Ganahl, owner of South City Custom in Hayward, California, and the son of writer and editor Pat Ganahl, was chosen for the work. He started with a fresh Brookville 3-window coupe body and ordered it without a cowl vent. Bill had a great deal of experience at Roy Brizio’s shop on cars like the ex-Tom McMullen ’32 roadster, the ex-Jack Calori ’36 Ford Coupe, the Sam Barris Mercury and most recently, the Pierson Brothers’ ’36 Ford 3-Window. It’s fair to call the stunning result a “tribute” car, and that’s hardly a derogatory term. Bill Ganahl and his crew, along with Munz, had to secure numerous rare parts and accessories. Luckily, the original ’52 Oldsmobile dash had survived. Munz wanted this car to ride and drive as Breece had built it, possibly even to drive cross-country, so after the requisite and correct vintage parts had been sourced, they had to be rebuilt to perform perfectly. Munz supplied an original ’32 Ford frame as well as a ’32 Ford grille shell and a radiator. Pat Ganahl reported that matching Breece’s original “Passionate Purple” color was a particular challenge, as the Breece coupe had been completely repainted. But the original ’52 Olds dash had enough of the correct shade on the backside under its repainted red surface to be a source for a match. Joe Compani, of Compani Color, whose shop is co-located with South City Hot Rods, carefully mixed a urethane base/clear coat using both PPG and House of Kolor toners. The body was metal finished. The hubcaps, polished stainless covers and the steel wheels are genuine 1950 Mercury components. Chris Plante of Santa Rosa, California, fabricated the seat framing and the upholstery using many vintage photographs as a guide to what had been done half a century earlier. To say this recreation was an archaeological triumph would not be an understatement. Even the 1956 Ohio license plates, just a few hundred numbers off and in the same “YY” series, are true to the car’s origins. Nothing about the original concept was changed. Bill Ganahl and his team used old parts and resisted anything modern, and it shows; this car is a time warp. Now Munz has the best of both worlds: the original Bill Breece coupe body as it was modified by its creator in the 1970s, as well as a shining example that’s virtually an exact replica of the historic Hot Rod feature deuce, just as Bill Breece built it.
