Ken’s Dream Car

By Ken Bounds

I’m not sure when it happened, but there came a time when I decided that of all the Early Ford V-8’s, I liked the styling of the ’36 Ford the best.  And although the three-window and five-window coupes looked great and the cabriolet had the appeal of being an open car, it was the roadster body style that I wanted to have.  Just something about the chrome windshield stanchions, the curved dash, the sleek lines, and the clean look with no windows attracted me.

My purchase of a ’50 business coupe in 1984 introduced me to the Early Ford V-8 Club.    As I learned more about these great cars, I started leaning toward the ’40.  But as time went by something just made me fall in love with the ’36.  Over the years in the V-8 Club, I’m sure most people thought of me as one of those “shoebox guys”.  Who knew?  But that passion for the ’36 Roadster goes back quite a few years.  Only one problem:  when I started getting serious about finding “my dream car”, they were just too expensive.  Heck, some of them were going for $25,000 or more.  Guess what?  Over those years they didn’t get any less expensive.  What was I thinking?

As time passed I began to give up ever owning a ’36 Roadster.  There just aren’t that many of them around, prices kept climbing, the less expensive ones needed a lot of work, and prices of the nice ones were going out of sight.  But in September 2005 there was a break.  My friend Joe Kozmic knew that I was interested in this model and happened to see an ad in Old Cars Weekly.  The price was not too bad and the car was conveniently located right here in Chicago.  I called the number in the ad and learned that the Oak Park seller had the car at his business near the United Center.  I arranged a meeting and Carolyn, Joe, and I were off to see the car.  It didn’t take too much looking and discussion with the owner, Dan Lempa, before I knew I wanted this car.  After a test drive, I was convinced.  But I had a tough decision to make.  I was planning to leave early the next morning, driving my ’50 Convertible to the Western National Meet in Keystone, CO, and I just knew the Roadster would be gone when I got home a week later.  So, on September 11 (of all dates) I made a handshake deal and left earnest money with Dan.  About a week later I drove my dream car home.

I had a lot of fun trying to track down the history of the car.  Although it is about 72 years old, I only know where it has been for the last 19 years or so.  The previous owner, Dan Lempa, was a NIRG member from 1989 to 1991.  Does anyone remember him?  Dan had the engine rebuilt in December of 1998 by Antique Engine Rebuilding in Skokie.  It looks like they did a good job.  Dan purchased the Roadster March 9, 1995, from Arnold Lindall of Stillwater, MN.  I learned that Lindall is a retired doctor now living in Bayport, MN.  I tracked him down by phone at his workshop near Willow River, MN.

Dr. Lindall had purchased the Roadster on September 9, 1988, from Robert Davis in Mahtomedi, MN.  He told me that Bob Davis was a contractor and had a number of cars.  He said that he had seen the Roadster back in the 80’s when it was just a hulk and that Bob had done a meticulous restoration of the car to bring it back to life.  He recalled that Bob had accumulated a lot of NOS parts and also bought a lot of parts from Little Dearborn in Minneapolis.  After the car was restored, Bob was selling it and a ’36 Phaeton.  Dr. Lindall bought the Roadster and remembered that it was a really nice car and was one of his favorite body styles.  He told me that at one time he had owned about 16 cars.  He also cleared up a minor mystery for me.  Dr. Lindall told me that when he got the Roadster a starter switch had been installed in the dash.  He moved it back to its original location on the floor.  This explains a plugged hole in the left side of the dash.

I talked to Roger at Little Dearborn.  He remembered Bob Davis as a very nice man who did not scrimp when it came to buying parts.  He didn’t remember the Roadster specifically, but was sure he had sold a lot of parts for it to Bob.  Unfortunately, he said he lost track of Bob Davis a number of years ago.  When Roger last saw Bob his health was failing and he thought he was going into a home.  So, sadly, the trail of the Roadster’s provenance has to end there.

I’ve certainly never regretted the decision to buy the Roadster.  What a ball it is to drive!  It turns heads wherever we go and gets plenty of compliments.  The car is quite presentable, is mechanically sound, and is basically bone stock.  It still has the original mechanical brakes which really are not that bad.  There are always ideas of restoration down the road, but for now we intend to just drive the car as is and enjoy it.  I’ve been working over the past two years on correcting minor problems and replacing missing items, but will likely leave the large projects on hold.

Since buying the car I have been accumulating spare parts to take along on trips and added a trunk to the luggage rack to carry the parts, tools, and other essentials.  I’ve replaced the missing wind wings, added a rearview mirror clock which I was fortunate to obtain from a Twin Cities V-8 Club member, replaced the passenger-side taillight stand to provide the correct rumble-seat step, added a CB radio, purchased a new front bumper to replace the ’35 bumper that was on the car, added an electric fuel pump to assist with starting after the car has not been run in a while, and importantly, replaced the aging tires with Coker Classic radials and tubes.  I went with the Cokers because I believe that have the closest appearance to the original bias tire profile.  They sure make a difference in the ride and handling!  Finally, I added my favorite accessory – an original cast aluminum Early Ford V-8 Club medallion.  I will always be grateful to long-time NIRG member Chester Lawrence for providing this rare item.

Although most have never seen our Roadster in person, V-8 Club members from all over the world have seen the dash!  For the past two years, the Early Ford V-8 Foundation has featured the dash of our ’36 in advertising brochures for their building fund raising efforts.  Thanks to then-trustee Tom O’Donnell for giving us that exposure.

As I mentioned before, the car is just plain fun to drive.  Carolyn and I take the car out frequently during the driving months, even if it is just a short drive to downtown Glen Ellyn to mail the Road Chatter.  The goal is to put the top down in the spring and leave it down.  (If you have spent a few hours installing side curtains, you understand why!)  In addition to local driving, going to cruise nights, driving to V-8 club meetings, etc., we have taken the car to some interesting events.

In July 2006 a number of NIRG members had planned to attend the Algonquin Hill Climb.  A severe morning storm basically washed out the event, but for some reason Carolyn and I decided to go anyway to see if anyone showed up.  We initially thought we would drive a modern car, but with the rain diminishing, we put the side curtains on the Roadster and headed out.  Although the “official” hill climb with timing lights was cancelled, enough cars and media showed up that the organizers decided to let the antique cars make a couple of runs.  We had fun doing so and are happy that someone snapped this picture to document our first run.  On our second run we even had a couple of Model A guys in the rumble seat – they were impressed with the power of 8 cylinders!

While at the hill climb, we were honored that one of the organizers of the Highland Park Auto Historica VII asked us to display our Roadster at the 2006 event, which featured the work of designer Brooks Stevens.  The Roadster seemed to fit right in.  Here’s a coincidence for you. Our assigned parking space was adjacent to a ’42 Buick woody driven by none other than Dan Lempa, the prior owner of our Roadster.

Before 2007, those two events were the farthest we had driven the Roadster from home.  We really wanted to show it at a National V-8 Club meet and were lucky that Winona, MN, was the location chosen for the 2007 Central National Meet, being only about 300 miles away.  So on July 15, off we went to Winona.  Since I was going to be the leader of a long line of 15 V-8’s from the Chicago area to Winona in the first long road trip for the Roadster, I have to tell you I was sweating bullets.  But the ’36 performed flawlessly, as did all the other V-8’s on the trip.  Since the Roadster is a driver, we entered it in Touring Class at the National meet.  We were thrilled that our fellow participants awarded the Roadster a first place trophy in its first time out.

Even though the Roadster has a 4.11 rear gear, the little stock 221 V-8 scoots down the road nicely.  It will run 60 on the highway with no apparent effort.  Nevertheless I have a winter project planned to replace the gear with a 3.78.  Other winter projects include re-chroming the worn grill and replacing the radiator, which just doesn’t fit correctly.  I was fortunate to obtain a restored ’36 radiator that should be an improvement.  Also, we are expecting new running boards from Bob Drake in November.  These are newly manufactured and we are anxious to see if the quality is there.  (Should we check them for lead paint?)  Finally there is the very tough decision to make of whether to convert to hydraulic brakes.  I’ve purchased a set of “brake floaters” from Flathead Ted in New Zealand and want to give them a try before making a more drastic change.

What is down the road for “Ken’s Dream Car”?  Who knows?  There is the possibility of full or partial restoration.  Maybe a repaint?  Replace the top?  Replace the interior?  At least for right now, the decision is easy.  It has wheels, it has a smooth-running V-8, it looks great; so, as Barney Fife might have said:  Drive it, Drive it, Drive it.