Tom Gloy’s old-school/new-school ’32 Ford Roadster Wins Goodguys 2012 Tank’s Hot Rod of the Year Award.
Tom Gloy has made a successful career out of sittin’ low and drivin’ fast. In a racing career that spanned more than 25 years, Gloy collected a Trans-Am World Championship as well as a Formula Atlantic title. He drove in six IndyCar races, including finishing 14th in the 1984 Indy 500. Last weekend, he returned to Indianapolis Motor Speedway and, unlike his 1984 trip, found himself all alone in the winner’s circle. His Brizio Street Rods-built ‘32 Ford roadster won the Goodguys 2012 Tank’s Hot Rod of the Year award at the Goodguys 2ndWIX Filters Speedway Nationals.
Gloy’s low-flying roadster was born during a conversation with Roy Brizio a few years back as the two drove to the Bonneville Salt Flats. Gloy wanted a channeled ’32 Ford roadster but Brizio cautioned, “channeled ’32 Fords aren’t very comfortable and they can look too wide.” He also told Gloy how the driver often “sat up too high” in channeled cars he’d seen over the years. So that was the challenge: Build a channeled, traditionally styled roadster in which Tom could sit low and drive fast!
To redesign the car’s front end, Brizio and his build team narrowed the cowl, grille and windshield and sectioned the radiator shell 3 ½ inches. To get Tom down low in the seat, the floorboards were radically lowered – more so than any other hot rod to roll out of Brizio’s South San Francisco stable. The roadster’s rear quarters were filled and smoothed and the rear wheels tucked tightly against the channeled body.
Bay area body & paint specialist Darryl Hollenbeck of Vintage Color
Studio spent many hours perfecting the car’s classic finish – mid 1950s
Porsche blue that perfectly contrasts the red leather interior stitched
by Sid Chavers.
The roadster’s custom Brizio chassis features torsion bar suspension from Moal Coachbuilders and a classic hot rod rake courtesy of a chromed Magnum five-inch dropped axle. Custom 16 and 18-inch ET knock-off wheels are enhanced with custom machined caliper brackets designed to fill the backside of the wheels (inspired by Bonneville-style Moon discs). The 302-inch, Hilborn EFI Ford crate motor and Tremec five-speed get the roadster up to speed in hurry then stops on a dime courtesy of Wilwood brakes.
Gloy, who lives near Lake Tahoe, got the channeled Bonneville-inspired roadster he dreamed of and a talented team of Bay Area craftsmen, led by Brizio pulled off the challenge of getting it to sit and look just right. But that’s not all. Gloy got a driver, or as the late Gray Baskerville of Hot Rod Magazine was fond of saying a “reacher.” To prove it he strapped in and drove the car over 2,000 miles from his home in Nevada to Indy, this time taking the gold!
The top five finalists for Goodguys 2012 Tank’s Hot Rod of the Year included, Keith Hill, Bixby, OK (’34 Ford), Tom Gloy, Incline Village, NV (’32 Ford), Tim Kirby, Fountain Hills, AZ (’33 Ford), Henry Richards, Mansfield, OH (’32 Ford) and Larry Christensen, Arvada, CO (’32 Ford).
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