1932 Ford Hi-Boy Roadster

This incredible Deuce traces its roots to the very beginnings of the West Coast hot rod movement in the years immediately following WWII. It was acquired by Brian Brunkhorst in 2000 from his friend and noted hot rodder Mitchell Rasansky, having disappeared from the hot rod scene following a long period of storage after its active career. Fascinated by the provenance of his automobiles, Mr. Brunkhorst began researching his latest acquisition in the Don Montgomery books, when he noticed a striking resemblance between his new roadster and a car campaigned by William Benson during the 1940s. Ultimately, this discovery led him to track down Benson, with the most remarkable result. Benson not only confirmed that this was indeed his car, but he also had many photographs of his exploits and could recount its extraordinary history. Incredibly, he still even had original receipts for parts he had purchased.

From this research, it is known that the car was built by Elwood Rehkop of Ontario, California, and originally powered by an Edelbrock engine, enabling its creator to achieve 106.25 mph at El Mirage Dry Lake on June 2, 1946. Less than a year later, Rehkop traded it to William Benson for a 1946 Ford Coupe. In this next chapter of the roadster’s history, Benson beat Rehkop’s time, recording 108.04 mph in July 1948 – and later pushing that to a remarkable 121.93 mph.

Benson subsequently made several modifications to the roadster: fitting a louvered hood, adding “Lakes Pipes,” and switching its Auburn instrument cluster for a Stewart-Warner panel, while the interior and top were redone by Bob Lee and a Mercury steering wheel was installed. In this configuration, Benson exhibited the roadster at the 1948 Hot Rod Exposition at the L.A. National Guard Armory, regarded as one of the key events in the formative years of hot rodding. Remarkably, Benson’s roadster is one of only three known survivors to have been present, the other two being the Doane Spencer and Ray Brown roadsters.

Roughly a year later, Benson sold the roadster to Ralph Cooper of the Pomona-Chino area, a decision he still regretted when Mr. Brunkhorst tracked him down 50 years later. Retired from active use, the roadster was placed into storage in 1956 and remained there until the 1980s. At that point, it passed through Frank Pittenger’s esteemed Vintage Parts store in Phoenix, before being acquired by Mitchell Rasansky and, ultimately, Brian Brunkhorst.

In 2009, Mr. Brunkhorst was able to reunite Benson with his pioneering roadster at the L.A. Roadsters Show. Since then, the car has been featured in The Rodder’s Journal and was the subject of an extended feature of the docuseries Midwest Speed and Power, during which the team marveled at its design, performance, and engineering refinement. Ultimately, the story of the Benson/Rehkop hot rod is a classic case of car karma: the right car migrating to an owner that could truly appreciate it, as Brian Brunkhorst did.

Still presented in its Benson-era configuration and retaining its 1947 Dry Lakes running gear, this Hi-Boy Roadster is a hugely important part of early American hot rod history not to be missed.