Forgotten movie cars: The Ford V-8 Roadster from "Hot Rod Gang"
At first glance, this '32 Ford looks like any other used car from the thirties with a fifties-style makeover. Strictly speaking, that's not entirely wrong – but it doesn't do it justice either. Because this hot rod is not just any hot rod. It is the hot rod. The style-defining original that ensured that hot-rodded pre-war Fords look the way they do today.
Bob McGee had bought his Ford V-8 Roadster in 1940, but only got around to modifying it to his liking after his return from war service: hidden door hinges, three-piece hood, smoothed radiator grille. In October 1948, his red roadster was the first road-legal car to grace the cover of the young "Hot Rod Magazine" and became the role model for a whole generation of souped-up Fords.
Second owner Dick Hirschberg had the roadster painted yellow in 1955. Third owner Dick Scritchfield finally lent it to American International Pictures in 1958, a production company for cheap drive-in movies for teenagers with their first motor. In keeping with the target group, the films were often about hot cars, young love and rivalries settled with fists – or, as the German distribution title puts it, "Schnelle Jungs und kesse Mädchen" ("Fast Boys and Saucy Girls").
However, the original title of "Hot Rod Gang" is rather misleading, because instead of roaring V8 engines and wild street races, the film mainly revolves around John Ashley trying to earn the garage rent as a rock-n-roll grandpa with a glued-on beard. At least the car line-up isn't bad. The award-winning "Ala Kart" by George Barris can also be seen in one scene.
Unlike many of the young actors, this was only the beginning of a long film career for the McGee roadster. Dick Scritchfield was happy to make his famous hot rod available. A good 16 years later, it made a guest appearance in an episode of "Happy Days" – painted black and lined in gold. Why recreate a hot rod in typical 1950s style when you can have the original?
