Model B ‘built to last’

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This article was published 05/05/2023 (1225 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

He is the answer to the question: what do you get when you cross an old-school, skateboarding punk-rocker born in the 1970s with a 91-year-old vintage vehicle?

Ask Curt Stauffer why the pairing might raise some eyebrows and he said he longs for the 1950s, when “greaser-style” guys had slicked-back hair, girlfriend in the front seat at the drive-in, wearing a white T-shirt and Levi’s jeans.

“I’m not a huge fan of anything past 1990 or 1980. I like cars that don’t look like they’re much at all, kind of beat up, you know, like mine. Those ones run perfectly, are real quick and they’re unexpected, in a badass kind of way,” said Stauffer.

His truck is a 1932 Ford Model B with a flathead V8 engine, 239 cubic inches with a three-speed manual transmission, original headlights, a pop-up windshield, and a side-mounted spare wheel and tire.

The brakes have been redone, a bit bigger radiator installed, and it has been converted from six to 12 volts, enabling the switch from a generator to an alternator.

Stauffer had a local shop put some headers on that he had custom made, and a few weeks ago when he went for ride, “it still wasn’t loud enough, so I got underneath it and cut the mufflers off. So now it’s nice and raunchy sounding, just how I like it, and I’m thinking about putting straight pipes out the back,” Stauffer said.

But the paint job is something that Stauffer said he’ll never update. After 91 years, the original colour — called Brewster green medium — is long gone.

Back in 1932, the colours that Ford offered for its Model B truck were black, blue, maroon, two shades of green, brown and grey.

Today, the exterior of Stauffer’s truck is called patina, which most people think is rust, but it’s created by the passage of time. During the aging process, corrosion develops on the surface of the metal, causing discolouration or fading.

“A fancy paint job is just not something I’m interested in,” said Stauffer. “Old-timers will come up and say, ‘leave it just like it is, don’t do a thing, it’s in great shape.’ So there are a lot of people who would be really mad if I did anything more than drive this thing, and I’m one of them.”

The truck’s nickname is “Deuce” and was given because of the “2” in the model year, and when it rolled off the assembly line, Henry Ford II, who was also known as “Hank the Deuce,” hoped the V8 would be a big selling point, which it was.

Of the nearly 275,000 Fords that were made in 1932, more than 180,000 had V8 engines.

Stauffer’s Deuce came to Canada from California, where Stauffer used to live, and was sold to him by a lifelong friend from back in their skateboarding days.

“I went off to build houses, and he went off to build cars and hotrods, so he said to me, ‘I got a ’32 truck and a ’38 truck, which one do you want?’ So I had it shipped up in 2020, turned the key and drove it off the trailer,” said Stauffer.

As most car guys do, Stauffer can list his past vehicles without missing a beat, starting from his first car, a 1948 Ford with a flathead, followed by a 1951 Mercury two door, and a ’64 Galaxy station wagon with a 390, and what he said was the fastest car he ever had, a 1964 Galaxy with a police interceptor — that one, he said, “hauled butt.”

Preserving the past is important, Stauffer said, as he looked at the repair job a previous owner had done to the back fender, “it’s not perfect, and that’s the point. I have two brand-new fenders in my garage, but I’m not going to put them on because these are nostalgic.”

And while he sat on the tailgate of his ’32 Deuce, Stauffer pointed out how his truck has stood the test of time, and that one of the many reasons he likes older cars is because they represent “No glamour, just guts.”

“And the fact that I can still sit on this 91-year-old tailgate shows you how well they were built back in the day. In fact, I have a 2005 truck that already has a broken tailgate. I’ve had this truck bed loaded with two-by-fours. This work truck was built to last.”

» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com

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