Random Article
The Bud Bryan '29 roadster hot rod was built in 1968, when Bud was an associate editor at Rod & Custom magazine. The personal project vehicles of rod-magazine staffers often ended up as the subjects of magazine how-to articles, and Bud's roadster was no exception; its construction was documented in a series of articles in R&C.
 The Bud Bryan '29 Roadster was built using Deuce frame rails and Model A crossmembers. See more hot rod pictures. |
The project started when Bud scored a basket-case body and a rough set of Deuce frame rails for a mere $18. A lot of TLC was needed to bring these components back to life; the frame rails alone had more than 100 holes that needed to be filled.
Bud used the front- and rear-frame crossmembers from a Model A, a common trick among hot rodders building Deuce chassis. The slimmer profile of a Model A front crossmember and the higher arc of a Model A rear crossmember provide an additional drop in ride height.
Bud equipped the 276-cid 1948 Mercury flathead V-8 with Weiand finned heads and a Weiand intake manifold with two Stromberg 97 carburetors. He connected the engine to a 1939 Lincoln Zephyr three-speed transmission and a Halibrand quick-change rear end.
 The Bud Bryan '29 Roadster's engine is a 276-cid 1948 Mercury flathead V-8. |
Up front, he installed a straightforward buggy-sprung Bell Auto Parts dropped I-beam axle. Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels, 1940 Ford brakes, and chromed and paint-detailed backing plates were used at all four corners.
Bud and the rest of the Rod & Custom staff practiced what they preached. Bud's '29 roadster was a groundbreaking car for the time in that it was one of the first "retro" or nostalgia-styled hot rods.
It was deliberately built from vintage components rather than the latest speed parts, and it utilized a Ford flathead for power, rather than some "new-fangled" V-8.
Bud and his colleagues at R&C were also pioneers in the concept of nationwide rod runs, and their long-distance hauls proved that if you had the gumption and the guts, a flathead-powered roadster could be successfully driven across the country.
 The Bud Bryan '29 Roadster was intentionally built using vintage components, one of the first of such hot rods. |
The Bud Bryan '29 Roadster is currently in the capable hands of Julian Alvarez of Garden Grove, California. Julian has literally had a hand in finishing many high-profile street rods, as he was responsible for rubbing out the paint jobs on many of Boyd Coddington's cars and other pro-shop cars of the 1980s and 1990s.
When it comes to his own cars, however, Julian sometimes prefers patina over perfection, and he has kept Bud's hot rod in a well-preserved but mostly unrestored state.
To learn more about custom cars and hot rods, see:
