Perry Batson's 1932 Ford 3-Window Coupe
(from Volume 23, Issue 265)

story and photos by Michael B. Kelly

 

Perry Batson got interested in cars way back in high school, and his father helped him build a ‘32 Ford Roadster when he was 17. He always liked the iconic look of a ‘32, so years later he decided to build another one. However, the second time around it was a 3-Window Coupe (the car pictured here), and that was 21 years ago. Over the last 21 years it has been redone three different times, as he continued to enjoy driving it to the various car shows and cruise-ins.

At the heart of the car is a Pete & Jake’s frame, upon which is mounted a Gibbon’s fiberglass body. Perry handled all of the mechanical aspects involved with the car, including the installation of a 350 Chevy engine, which in this latest reincarnation is dressed up to the max with everything either polished or plated. The car is run without hood sides, so all of that flash is easy to see. Shifting is handled by a 350 automatic, which passes the power back thru a 9-inch Ford rear end fitted with 3.73:1 gears. Coil over shocks ensure a smooth ride, while disc brakes making stopping a breeze.

The exterior of the car was treated to a two-tone paint scheme consisting of PPG brown gold over sandalwood with gold pearl, done by Jack Harrington out of Winter Haven, Florida. To that some orange stripes were added by The Montana Pinstriper, along with a set of chrome Rocket 5-spoke wheels, ‘32 Ford commercial headlights, and Lokar oval taillights.

Inside the car was transformed by Howard Krusey of Complete Auto Upholstery in Altamonte Springs, Florida. That included a sculpted interior done up in moon rock colored leather, with a matching wool carpet. Other interior items include a set of white faced classic style gauges, Lokar shifter, polished tilt steering column, half-wrap billet steering wheel, billet gas and brake pedals, and various other billet accessories. A Vintage Air system keeps the cabin cool, while a hidden Custom Auto Sound system fills it with the rockin’ tunes for traveling down the road.

Perry has been building and showing cars for the past 30 years, and currently has one classic, six street rods, plus a drag car for those weekends when he needs a little extra excitement. In order to keep this same car he obviously loves it. They say the “third times a charm”, and from the looks of the completed car his third time around, it will be a very long time before Perry gets the itch to redo it again. CN

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