Part of the excitement of owning a classic, collector or specialty car is knowing that vehicle’s provenance … where it’s been and what it’s done.
Has the car been sitting untouched in a barn somewhere in rural America for the past 50 years or has it achieved great things (e.g., winning prestigious races, claiming highly touted honors)?
When that historical background is unknown, however, you want to know and will often go to great lengths to find out. A missing chunk of a car’s past might be the difference between whether you buy the car or not, or it might affect the value. Case in point: the Ford GT40 that won the 1966 24 Hours of LeMans is a lot more valuable than a Ford GT40 that has never competed.
Knowing a car’s full provenance is important. And if you’re lucky, its backstory is cool enough that everyone will want to hear its tale.
That’s what we’re hoping for in the case of a 1932 Ford 3-Window Coupe owned by Don Tucevich of Nevada.
Don’s ’32 Ford 3-Window Coupe was professionally built in 1992 by the National Street Rod Association, which builds and gives away a car every year. The winner of the ’32 Ford 3-Window Coupe was a lady who sold it shortly afterward.
The car cost $88,715 to build in 1992. It had a power stroke motor with 32-valve heads on it with dual quads and a six-speed.
“For some reason, according to my records, they could never get the motor to run right so they took the motor and transmission out and put a new 502 stock motor in it with a 74R tranny,” Don told My Classic Garage. “I don’t know where that other motor or tranny went.”
The car is a Downs body with a TCI chassis and a chrome tubular frame that ties into the Jaguar chrome rear-end. The front of the car is chrome ARs with coilovers. In addition, it has a stainless steel exhaust and four-corner disc brakes and four-corner coilovers.
In the short time that Don has owned the car, he’s only done one thing to the car. He put chrome shocks on the front and put heavier springs on the back to get the stance just the way he wanted.
The interior is a combination of tweed and leather, indicative of the car’s old school charm. Nowadays, most cars are all leather.
The exterior’s graphics, however, is what grabs most people’s attention first. A guy named Scott Sullivan did the graphics shortly before the National Street Rod Association gave it away.
After the National Street Rod Association awarded the 3-window coupe to the winner in 1992, the car disappeared only to resurface in 2002.
“There’s a 10-year period in which I don’t know where this car was, but I know that it had less than 3,500 miles between 1992 and 2002,” said Don, who has raced everything from sprint cars to motorcycles. “I found the owner who bought the car in 2002. He had it for nine years and only drove it 500 miles.”
During those nine years, the car’s owner did only one thing to it — changed the battery. That was it. Unfortunately, the owner couldn’t remember who he had bought it from.
The owner previous to Don bought it in 2011. He put around 1,200 miles on it before selling it to Don in 2014. By far, Don has got the most use out of the car than any of its previous owners combined. In just four years, he has put between 6,000 and 7,000 cars on it.
Two years after buying it, Don had a chance encounter with someone linked to the car’s past.
“I went to a car show in Carson City, Nev., and right behind me and my car were these guys who were National Street Rod Association officials,” explained Don. “There were four of them and they were traveling around the country. One of the guys walks up to me and says, ‘I know your car. I’m the official that picked the winning number and gave it to the lady who won this car.’”
Unfortunately for Don, the official from the National Street Rod Association couldn’t provide much information about the car’s first 10 years other than the lady sold it to a friend shortly after winning the car.
Although little is known about the ’32 Ford 3-Window Coupe’s first 10 years, it hasn’t affected its ability to stand out at car shows, winning 44 awards.
In 2016, Don took his car to a car show in Lovelock, Nev., where he won his class. At the same event, he was named runner-up for Best of Show and received a five-foot trophy. He went back to the same show this year and walked away with the Best of Show and a six-foot trophy.
In Placerville, Calif., his car won Best of Paint out of 250+ cars. Over the four years Don has owned the 3-Window Coupe, the majority of the trophies it’s won were either for first or second place in its class. It’s also taken home seven or eight Best of Show awards and even more Best of Paint distinctions.
Among all these awards and trophies, however, there is one that stands out above the rest for Don.
“I went to a radio station show in Carson City and there were probably over 100 cars. They selected my car for Best of Show and gave me a little glass plaque,” said Don. “What makes it so memorable is that I got a 100-point award on my car compared to everybody else. That was a big highlight because here I am competing with with a lot of high-end cars and I couldn’t believe I got 100 points on my car.
“They look at your trunk, paint job, interior, engine, everything, and my car was the only one to get 100 points.”
Don has bought several cars in the past (’58 Impala, ’30 Model A and a ’34 3-Window Coupe to name a few) with the intention of fixing them up and selling them later for a profit. He was looking for a ’32 3-Window Coupe and was about to buy a purple one.
But a teal ’32 Ford 3-Window Coupe with cool graphics popped up on eBay a couple days later and Don liked what he saw. That day he called the seller, who sent him pictures and all the information on the car. When the seller told him how much he was looking to get for the car, Don offered to buy it right then and there over the phone. The seller also told Don that the car had been featured in Street Scene in 1992.
“I got the Street Scene magazine and I’m looking at the build and everything. I told my wife that this car was pro-built, which my other ones were too, but not like this one,” said Don. “I have all the information on it and I’m thinking from an investment standpoint I’d be crazy not to buy it.”
Don has no intention of selling the ’32 Ford 3-Window Coupe in the near future. He’s simply not done enjoying it.
The only thing he wishes was different about the car, was that he knew where it was for those 10 years between 1992 and 2002. If you, by chance, know something about its past, please let us know in the comments.
View all ’32 Fords for sale in My Classic Garage.
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