Randy's '32 Ford Coupe
The killer ’32 3-window that you see pictured here is going to be in the Speedway Motors booth at the 2023 NSRA Street Rod Nationals. Like many of the cars that will be displayed on one of the biggest stages in hot rodding, it’s a pro-built car. You may have already guessed that after noticing the outstanding fit, finish, and profile. But this one also has a lot of soul and personal significance for owner and builder Randy Lofquist.
Randy owns Dynamic Rides, a hot rod shop just up the road from us in Kearney, Nebraska. He and his talented team are known for turning out full-tilt builds, often with a high tech, contemporary twist. When a repeat customers showed up with a fiberglass Deuce body a few years ago, Randy was excited to apply his vision to a traditional hot rod. The goal was to create a nice, 60’s era “gentleman’s” hot rod. Randy and the team got to work fitting a steel firewall, cowl vent, hood, and grille shell to make it look more like a Henry steel body.
The Deuce chassis was suspended in front by a dropped and drilled Super Bell axle swinging from split wishbones. Out back, a cool, vintage Halibrand quickchange is suspended by coilovers. No 60’s hot rod is complete without finned Buick drums, and this one uses gennie Buick parts with Walden adapters up front. In the rear, Randy fitted Speedway Motors finned drums to the 9-inch axles on the quickchange. It’s a cool setup that looks great and can reliably handle the power as well as bring it all to a halt.
Car owner Jim was a drag racer back in the day, and through his dragstrip adventures, he managed to develop a knack for building killer 283 Chevys. Jim and Randy figured that this 60’s hot rod would be the perfect home for one of these warmed-over small blocks, so Jim built the engine according to his old recipe. It’s topped with Power Pack heads, an Offenhauser 3x2 intake, and three Speedway Motors 9 Super 7 carbs. An MSD distributor throws the spark through some cool braided plug wires, and a full stainless exhaust backs up the stainless lakester headers.
When it came time for paint, Jim knew he wanted a red car. Randy did some sleuthing and figured out that Jaguar Regency Red looked very similar to 1930’s Ford red. Then, shortly after the car was painted, things took a tragic turn. Jim passed away suddenly, leaving a grieving widow with an unfinished car project that she didn’t know what to do with. Once some time had passed, Randy made a deal to purchase the unfinished project and put the finishing touches on the already solid foundation that he and Jim had created.
Many of the big decisions had already been made, but Randy was able to put his own spin on several aspects of the car. This included the interior, where Randy was able to mix some of his trademark metal shaping in with the 60’s-era specific upholstery, finned gauge panel, and Stewart Warner gauges. Check out those door panels; the pleated inserts add a finished, “gentlemanly” vibe to the racy beaded and belled aluminum. We’d like to award bonus points for the brass knuckle door pulls. As a final flourish, Randy added his own pinstriping throughout the car.
With the car finished and on the road, Randy was ready to debut it at the Gathering at the Roc in Tulsa. For those in the know, this is one of the coolest and most prestigious traditional hot rod events in the country, and Randy’s coupe fit right in. It even racked up its first 200 miles on the reliability run through the scenic Oklahoma landscape. We also spotted Randy at the Wheel Hub Live show and reliability run at our home base in Lincoln a couple months ago. We’re sure Jim would be happy to see his vision completed and out on the road with Randy at the wheel.
