The Jun. ’89 issue of Rod & Custom magazine contained coverage of the Grand National Roadster Show. To commemorate the 40th birthday of the Oakland Roadster Show (as the GNRS was originally known), the magazine paired two photos on its cover. One was a 40-year-old photo of a T-bucket from the first show in 1949. The other was a photo of the R&C Best In Show winner from 1989: Gary Matranga’s blown and injected Hemi-powered Deuce. Gary’s roadster got such an enthusiastic response from R&C readers that editor Pat Ganahl put it back on the cover again two issues later. The Oct. ’89 issue (Rod & Custom was published bimonthly in those days) included a feature article on the amazing high-tech highboy. Ganahl titled the story “White Lightnin’.”
The groundbreaking roadster from Sacramento was built by Dennis King at Kings Fabrication in Turlock, California. King handbuilt the car, adding hundreds of one-off parts and custom details. Like the other 23 Deuces in Gary’s collection, the white highboy’s body is Henry Ford steel. Of course Henry wouldn’t recognize all the modifications to the body, such as the shaved body panels, handbuilt hood and grille (with frenched turn lights), hoodside scoops (necessary to fit the Hemi), hidden rectangular flip-out headlights, molded-in mirrors, molded windshield frame, reversed doors with hidden hinges, and slotted taillights. The proportions were modified too. Those doors have been stretched 2-1/2 inches, the cowl was shortened 2 inches, and the hood was extended. The wheelbase was stretched 4 inches from the stock 106 inches.
In Oakland in 1989, Gary’s ’32 was in competition for the America’s Best Roadster award. As radical as it was, it was edged out by Ermie Immerso’s ’25 Model T track nose roadster. Disappointed, Gary decided to change the car and take it back to the GNRS for another try two years later. In 1991, the roadster was back in Oakland, this time wearing pale turquoise paint. Immerso was back, too, and for the second time the Model T went home with the AMBR trophy. Gary’s Deuce won many other shows throughout the year. After driving it for a while, Gary put the roadster away and started collecting other ’32s.
In late 2015, Gary was invited by John Buck, owner of the Grand National Roadster Show, to bring back the Deuce for the 2016 event. That invitation gave Gary the push he needed to redo the roadster. Tim Lohrey at Tim’s Hot Rods in Rio Linda, California, rebuilt the roadster for its third GNRS showing. The roadster hadn’t received much attention in the 25 years that had passed since its last public appearance. Rather than keeping the 1991 look of the car or redesigning it once again, Gary and Tim restored it to its ’89 style. Comparing these new photos with the old Rod & Custom photos, it’s remarkable to see how successful the restoration has been.
Lohrey went through the entire car, redoing whatever was necessary to recreate the look of the ’89 version. The chassis, built on a handmade frame, retains the Kugel rearend with a 3.50:1-geared Culbert Automotive Engineering independent quick-change rearend (now wearing a new custom cover). A Panhard bar and quadruple QA1 coilovers. The frontend features a 4-inch tubular dropped axle with four-bars, sway bar, and two more QA1 coilovers. A Vega box handles steering and Wilwood 14-inch front and rear brakes handle stopping.
Massive rear meats have always helped define the look of the car. The new Hoosier Pro Street meats measure a massive 330×15, riding on painted 15×14 Americans with chrome knock-off-style caps. The front skinnies are 185×15 Hoosiers on 15×6 wheels.
The ’57 Hemi engine was originally transplanted from Gary’s front-engine Top Fuel dragster. It’s fed by a fabricated air cleaner on a Bowers supercharger and Weiand manifold, with Hilborn injection feeding fuel. Brian Barnet did the rebuild, using a roller cam, 5/8 stroker crank, and Keith Black geardrive. A Vertex magneto ignition fires the Hemi to life, and custom stainless steel headers send exhaust to custom pipes and ed mufflers. A 727 Torqueflite transmission delivers torque to the CAE quick-change.
The roadster’s interior is both sophisticated and simple. The design is low-key, but the individual elements aren’t. Dave Putnam from Orangevale, California, built the seats and door panels on the original build as well as on the new recreation. The buckets are upholstered in black Italian leather. A custom console between the seats holds the ignition switch and toggles for the headlights, fuel pump, tank, and trunk. The upper console opened to reveal an audio head unit in the early days and now hides the battery studs and shut-off switch. The three-spoke steering wheel and the column are both custom pieces.
Gary has said that he never liked the turquoise paint that the roadster wore for its second GNRS appearance in 1991. It was a happy day when the car rolled out of the paint booth at Tim’s Hot Rods refinished in eye-catching white paint, just when it was first built. The paint is contrasted by lots of chrome, done at Sherm’s Custom Plating, Gary’s company.
By 2016, the Grand National Roadster Show had been out of Oakland for almost 20 years and Gary’s roadster hadn’t been at the event for 25. But when Gary Matranga drove his restored high-tech hot rod into the L.A. County Fairplex for its third GNRS, it was like a homecoming. Nowadays, the car is on display in Gary’s collection and, like every car he owns, it gets driven.
For photos of Gary Matranga’s roadster from its early days, and being restored at Tim’s Hot Rods in Sacramento for its third GNRS appearance, visit www.hotrod.com.
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