Hoff’s full-fendered, deep purple 5-window, a Hot Rod cover car in late 1956, proved that a high school kid on a budget could build a mean-looking Rod that did double duty as a racer and a daily driver. Fifty years ago, month after month, Hot Rod, Rod & Custom and Car Craft featured souped-up cars from all over the country. If you were a Hot Rodder in the ‘50s, your fondest dream was to have an early ‘30s Ford roadster or a coupe. Then, you wanted to get your car featured in a major car magazine. For most Hot Rodders, that was only a dream, but not for a guy named Dick Martin. His full-fendered, jet black 5-window was the subject of a full feature in Car Craft, and thankfully, this car remains almost exactly as it appeared long ago. An exquisitely preserved example of a high-profile Southern California Hot Rod from 1958, save for some spot refinishing repairs done over the years, this coupe is still wearing its original black Nitrocellulose lacquer. Although he’s replaced the tires with new ones, Munz still owns the original—albeit cracked and aged—BF Goodrich wide whitewalls it wore when it was shot by Al Paloczy for Car Craft magazine. The Car Craft appearance of this car was in the June 1958 issue—when the magazine was in the ‘”little books” format—in a feature called “Olds Fire.” In that era, guys would kill to have their cars in a national magazine, and this wasn’t even the first time for Martin, who’d owned several cars previously. The white tuck-and-roll Naugahyde interior and the fully chromed undercarriage are also untouched and unchanged. Don Orosco, of Pebble Beach, California, who owned the car for a while, called this coupe “... a ‘time warp’ that typifies the highest-quality cars from the ‘glory years of Hot Rodding.’” The heavy 3.25-inch chop was expertly accomplished—not an easy feat, neither then nor now. The Martin coupe’s rear-quarter window proportions were maintained through the chopping process. Orosco said that “the modified 324 CI Oldsmobile ‘Rocket’ V-8 engine (bored to 3.94 for 338 CI), equipped with four Stromberg carburetors, is rumored to have been built by Lloyd Scott, and it was supposedly originally used as one of two V-8s (the Oldsmobile V-8 in front, a Cadillac in the rear) that powered the historically significant twin-engine dragster known as the ‘Bustle Bomb’—the first historic digger to top 150 MPH in the quarter mile.” Car Craft reported that besides the overbore, the hot Olds V-8 ran a Weiand dual 4-barrel manifold with a quartet of Stromberg 48 carburetors mounted on a pair of 2x2-to-4 adaptors, along with a hot Howard F5 camshaft, Howard slipper-skirt pistons, lightweight tubular pushrods, a W&H DuCoil distributor and W-Type exhaust headers. That was a pretty stout motor back in the day, and it still is. Following popular practice at the time, the chassis hardware was updated to be virtually all 1940 Ford, including the rear end, drum brakes, the dropped front axle, the driveshaft and the radius rods. The original ‘32 grille shell is filled, and the stock padded roof insert was retained and sealed with an aluminum extrusion. One of this coupe’s unique features is its solid 1932 Ford running boards enhanced by thin chrome and rubber decorative strips like those commonly used on early MGs. The original tuck-and-roll interior by Jack McNeil of Los Angeles is still “very nice,” along with complimentary black loop carpeting with white piping. The pleated panel that covers the firewall above the floorboards still sports the original “M” monogram to denote its first owner. Door handles and window regulators from a 1949 Ford were used to dress up the interior, along with a chromed 1940 Ford steering column with its standard column shift. For another touch of class, a pressure- actuated light switch located in the door pillar automatically illuminates the interior when either door is opened. A dropped headlight bar with small accessory lights accentuates this coupe’s low silhouette, and a small light skillfully hidden in the coupe’s rear bumper illuminates the license plate. As was popular on coupes, for a reason now lost to Hot Rod history, this handsome 5-window features round 1950 Pontiac tail lights. A complement of original, highly desirable, curved- glass, convex-lens Stewart-Warner instruments runs straight across the filled dash panel. For those who want a lesson in “the way we were,” look no further. “I have displayed this period-perfect, unrestored survivor on a couple of occasions locally,” Orosco said proudly, “and have observed the crowd pass right by the Pebble Beach-prepared cars (of which he would know, having done three class-winning Hot Rods and one third-place winner) to look at the Dick Martin Coupe. This coupe epitomizes the words ‘barn find,’ ‘survivor’ and ‘time warp.’ “Its previous owners and I have respected and maintained its originality during our stewardships,” Orosco added. “I hope
