Model A or Deuce Coupe ?

[Greg Myers]

[larry ray]

Model A Just my 2cents worth.

[stitchdup]

From that pair i had to go with the A, might be different with another pair though

[Rodent]

I don't recall The Beach Boys song, "L'il Model A".......

Esthetics aside, I think that the Deuce was probably a better platform to build one from. 

[Paul Payne]

I think the deuce rules. Plenty of A and T hot rods got deuce grilles. Looking at the old hot rod photos in Don Montgomery's books, most were deuces, especially if they were both raced and street driven. The A-V8 hot rod was built on a deuce frame with an A body.

[larman]

IMO, the '32 roadster is the prototypical hot rod. Next would be '32 coupes and Model A roadsters on '32 chassis with Deuce grilles.

[Vic Florie]

To me it would be the '32 roadster followed by the '32 coupe

[Danno]

Hi, Vic!!  Welcome to this forum.  You'll enjoy it here.

It was great to see you at Goodguys . . . don't be a stranger around these parts, pardner!

??

[slusher]

Gentlemen you guys have way more car knowledge them l do. I have built both but I have more model A’s then Duece coupes.

[espo]

Either model will look great. I think one has to remember that the '32 has always seemed to have more value and cost more to purchase in any state compared to the same body style in a model A. I think this is part of the reason for so many A's running around with a '32 Grill Shell. Many many years ago a guy I knew traded a '32 Grill Shell that was complete and cherry in everyway straight across for a rough but complete and running Flat Head V8 powered Model A. That was an extreme example even then  but it shows just how far some people would go. 

[Jon Haigwood]

I would have to go with the "32". It has it's own nickname "The Deuce" . The Model A, just gets called "The A"

 

(Maybe)

[bobthehobbyguy]

The 32 for certain despite the fact that the A spanned several years. 

[Draggon]

John is right on the McMullen roadster!

[Greg Myers]

two others 

[Deuces ll]

I believe that ^^^^^ picture was taken at Ford Woods Park here in Dearborn, Michigan..... About a minute away from my house... ?

[TarheelRick]

I will admit the Deuce is very well represented in the hot rod world, but IMHO the Model A makes a much better looking rod, especially with it straighter vertical lines.  And the '27 Roadster has far more pleasing lines than the "corn picker/combine" rump of the 32.

[Jon Haigwood]

First there are "Deuce's" and then there is Model A's that want to be "Deuce's"  

[Muncie]

Neither,

The definition of a hot rod has evolved and expanded over the years  - Even John Force and many others call his funny car one fast hot rod  - and I agree it's one fast hot rod.   

Adding the adjective quintessential  means something - (def. representing the most perfect or typical example of a quality or class)  (def.  of the pure and essential essence of something)  There are a couple of possible origins of "hot rod" after WW II - one is the the contraction of "hot roadster"  used to describe a modified Ford Roadster, T, A, 1932, and sometimes a 1933-1934.   '32 Fords had a strong appeal with the flathead V-8 and light weight. If you want a quintessential hot rod, you have to go back to hot rodding in the late 1940's.  Everything since is not the most perfect or purest form.  The quintessential hot rod is a roadster.

I've been going back to that since I talked to my dad about an early 1940's picture in the family album of his Model A coupe, chopped top, Kelsey wheels, dropped axle, deuce shell, dropped front axle, three piece hood.  I exclaimed "that's a hot rod" - he said it couldn't be a hot rod because it wasn't a roadster and  it was before people started calling cars hot rods anyway. 

here's more - History - "Hot Rod". What is the origin of the Term?? | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com)

History - quintessential hot rods & customs | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com)

 

[Jon Haigwood]

On 12/4/2020 at 8:51 AM, Muncie said:

Neither,

The definition of a hot rod has evolved and expanded over the years  - Even John Force and many others call his funny car one fast hot rod  - and I agree it's one fast hot rod.   

Adding the adjective quintessential  means something - (def. representing the most perfect or typical example of a quality or class)  (def.  of the pure and essential essence of something)  There are a couple of possible origins of "hot rod" after WW II - one is the the contraction of "hot roadster"  used to describe a modified Ford Roadster, T, A, 1932, and sometimes a 1933-1934.   '32 Fords had a strong appeal with the flathead V-8 and light weight. If you want a quintessential hot rod, you have to go back to hot rodding in the late 1940's.  Everything since is not the most perfect or purest form.  The quintessential hot rod is a roadster.

I've been going back to that since I talked to my dad about an early 1940's picture in the family album of his Model A coupe, chopped top, Kelsey wheels, dropped axle, deuce shell, dropped front axle, three piece hood.  I exclaimed "that's a hot rod" - he said it couldn't be a hot rod because it wasn't a roadster and  it was before people started calling cars hot rods anyway. 

here's more - History - "Hot Rod". What is the origin of the Term?? | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com)

History - quintessential hot rods & customs | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com)

 

If we are going to bring the meaning of the term "Hot Rod" into this (which wasn't the OP's question). We have to include a comment on the origin of the term.

So this brings us the part where it was originated from the term "Gow Job" 

The following letter appeared in the December, 2001 Street Rodder magazine:

Gow Jobs and Other Stuff

Here are the answers to your questions about the origin of terms like hop-up, gow job, soup-up, etc. The origin of these terms seems to puzzle everyone but I believe I know where they came from and what they mean.

In California in the '40s and early '50s hot rodders despised the term "hot rod" and never used it. They considered it I black eye. To the general public a hot rod was beat-up jalopy with no muffler, careening through a school zone with a juvenile delinquent at the wheel. To the newspapers they were a menace on par with Communism and ought to be stamped out by the police. To the serious .student of speed who had a lot of brains, sweat, and money tied up in a sophisticated performance car, this was nothing but an insult.

They used the terms hop-up or gow job. So where did these come from? Well, "hop" and "gow" were names for opium which were in use as far back as the late 1800s and probably came from the Chinese. In the old days they improved the performance of race horses with drugs including opium and cocaine. This was not even illegal until the early '20s and continued surreptitiously after that. Even today the performance enhancement of human athletes and horses is nor unknown.

A horse that went faster than it had any right to, was said to be 'hopped-up" or "gowed-up". From there it was a short step to apply the same names to a souped-up car. By the way, human drug users got the same names. If you read a few hard-boiled detective stories from the '30s and '40s you will soon find reference to "hopped-up punks" and "gowed-up hoodlums."

As far as "soup" goes, in the '20s, nitroglycerine was called "soup" in the under-world. It was not easy to get -- safe crackers had to extract it from dynamite. It was all illegal substance and possession was evidence of criminal intent, like burglar tools. Hence the code name. "souped-up" probably referred to a race car running on exotic fuel. I know that in the '20s it was possible to buy special racing fuel from the big oil companies. An old-time motorcycle mechanic told me of taking a can of such fuel to the races where his employer had bikes competing, then pouring the leftover fuel into the tank of his hopped-up Ford, and how fast it went on the way home.

In the '50s they began to use nitromethane, which is a close relative of nitroglycerine. Small world. By that time "souped-up" had acquired the general meaning it has today and hot fuel users coined new terms like "pop" and "nitro."

Now on "hot rod." It is important to remember that until 1955, people used "hot" the way they use "cool" today. A hot date, a hot swing band with a hot trumpet player, a hot time. The reverse -- something inferior -- was not so hot. This was appropriate for hot rods because they actually did run hotter than normal cars, literally as well as figuratively. I have heard the story of the race promoter who abbreviated "hot roadster" to "hot rod" on his posters, but this does not ring quite true. I'm withholding judgment on this one until I see more evidence.
 

Edited December 5, 2020 by Jon Haigwood

[Muncie]

There are a lot of definitions and several origins out there for 'hot rod" - the adjective "quintessential" in the original post's poll question narrows it down to a more specific car or group.   

There are going to be a lot of different correct opinions...  it's like asking what is the world's best painting.

[Greg Myers]

I find it interesting how terms change, come and go. How old terms are brought back so the user looks hip. How's that for a term ? Hip, from the term "Hipster"'.

I've always had a problem with the term "Gow job", and consequently doing a little studying on the subject.

 I have a Hot Rod Magazine collection going back to the early fifties, a rather extensive hot rod ( if I may use the term) library again going back to the fifties. Two collections come to mind broadening my search, "Throttle, the complete collection" and "Hop Up, the first twelve issues". 

Nowhere in any of these publications could i find any use of the term "gow job".

I did see it used once in a hot rod film aptly named "Hot Rod" from the fifties.   

Edited December 4, 2020 by Greg Myers
addition

[Mike999]

"TEEN-AGE TERRORISTS BURNING UP THE STREETS!"  From 1956, "Hot Rod Girl."  Featuring Chuck "Rifleman" Connors.  I love those cheap, quickie hot rod movies from the Fifties.  Along with the cars, we get to see a lot of vintage Los Angeles scenery. 

 

Edited December 4, 2020 by Mike999
omit

[Greg Myers]

4 hours ago, Jon Haigwood said:

First there are "Deuce's" and then there is Model A's that want to be "Deuce's"  

And VW's that want to be Deuces 

[Greg Myers]

4 hours ago, Jon Haigwood said:

First there are "Deuce's" and then there is Model A's that want to be "Deuce's"  

and VW's that want to be Model As

Edited December 4, 2020 by Greg Myers
addition

[Greg Myers]

. . . and '34's that want to be Deuces'