Phil Cool's 1932 Ford

The Phil Cool '32 was shown at the 1978 Grand National Roadster Show where it won the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award. Later the same year it was featured on the cover of Hot Rod Magazine July 1978. The same magazine did also contain a featured story on the car. According to Gray Baskerville of Hot Rod Magazine, "Phil's flight rig is pure hot rod, the epitome of a fenderless Ford roadster, a mother's worry, the personification of something that's bright, hungy-looking, loud, powerful, and very, very fast."

In 1998 Shirley Meland bought the roadster from Gil Nickel. Photo courtesy of Quint Meland.

Photo courtesy of Quint Meland.

Photo courtesy of Quint Meland.

Photo courtesy of Quint Meland.

Photo courtesy of Quint Meland.

In August of 2019, The Roadster was shown at the 2019 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. The car was part of the Historic Hot Rod Cover Cars Class, a lineup consisting of a handful of historic hot rods that made history being featured on the covers of well-known hot rod and custom car magazines. Photo courtesy of Howard Miereanu.

Photo courtesy of Quint Meland.

Quint drove the 70-mile Pebble Beach Tour and received a green ribbon to show for it. He fired it up with uncapped headers, and according to rumors, you could hear the car all the way to Salinas. Photo courtesy of Quint Meland.

Kustomrama Marketplace - Historic Hot Rods for Sale

1932 Ford Roadster owned and built by Phil Cool of Cloverdale, California. Widely known as the "Phil Cool Roadster" the iconic '32 won the America's Most Beautiful Roadster Award in 1978. Since then, it has also been voted as one of the "Top 20 Trend Setting Rods of All Time," one of "The 75 Most Significant '32 Ford Hot Rods," and one of the "100 Most Influential Hot Rods of All Time."

High(boy) and Mighty

Phil's roadster was transformed into a Highboy hot rod in 1977. The 1970s was an era of creativity, but Phil decided that he wanted to look back to the roots of hot rodding when he set out to build his street rod. Phil installed a Super Bell front axle on the car along with a 1957 Oldsmobile differential with a 3:70 Posi. A massive supercharged Chevrolet 427 L-88 engine went into the little roadster along with a M-21 "Muncie" four-speed transmission. The engine ran "CC" and flowed L-88 aluminum heads, an Isky cam with roller rockers, Venolia pistons, L-88 rods, a Melling oil pump, Tilton starter, Centerforce clutch, an aluminum flywheel with Lakewood shield, and a GMC 6-71 supercharger, 25% overdriven topped with two four-barrel Holley carburetors. A powerful package that produced 650 plus horsepower. Four-wheel Wilwood disc brakes provided stopping power. The windshield was chopped 2 3/4 inches before Ken Foster fitted it with a tuck-n-roll upholstery.

AMBR 1978

Painted in an R&M Moly Orange Lacquer all bodywork was performed by Steve Archer. Once completed, the roadster was shown at the 1978 Grand National Roadster Show where it won the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award. Later the same year it was featured on the cover of Hot Rod Magazine July 1978. The same magazine did also contain a featured story on the car. According to Gray Baskerville of Hot Rod Magazine, "Phil's flight rig is pure hot rod, the epitome of a fenderless Ford roadster, a mother's worry, the personification of something that's bright, hungy-looking, loud, powerful, and very, very fast."

Street Rod of the Year 1979

In March of 1979 Phil's Highboy was voted Street Rod of the year.

Top 20 Trend Setting Rods of All Time

From 1984 to 1986 the car was on display at Harrah's Collection in Sparks, Nevada, and then in September of 1993 it was voted one of the "Top 20 Trend Setting Rods of All Time." In June of 1997 the car was a display centerpiece for Vin-Expo in Bordeaux, France.

Sold to Quint and Shirley Meland

In 1998 Shirley Meland of California bought The Roadster from Gil Nickel of the Far Niente Winery.

The 75 Most Significant '32 Ford Hot Rods

In January of 2006, it was selected as one of "The 75 Most Significant '32 Ford Hot Rods" of all time. An honor that forever placed The Roadster into hot rodding history.

100 Most Influential Hot Rods of All Time

In January of 2008, The Roadster was voted one of the 100 Most Influential Hot Rods of All Time.

Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance 2019

In August of 2019, The Roadster was shown at the 2019 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Quint showed it in memory of his late wife Shirley. The car was part of the Historic Hot Rod Cover Cars Class, a lineup consisting of eight historic hot rods that made history being featured on the covers of well-known hot rod and custom car magazines. Phil Cool showed up at the show to see his old car, and according to a story in Hot Rod DeLuxe January 2020 he said that the car "taught me to paint, weld, fabricate, and scrounge."

For Sale

Early in 2021 Quint decided that it was time to part with the iconic hot rod and advertise it for sale. The car has never been restored, it looks exactly like it did in 1978, and it even comes with the original Phil Cool paint job from 1977. According to Quint, the paint still has the same fresh look as it had when it won the AMBR. "The color of the car seems to change with the lighting indoors and outside." Quint has three separate wheelsets that follow the car: Original steel wheels, Centerline, and genuine Magnesium Halibrands with Don Garlits supplied slicks. Quint is asking $335 000 for the car. The price is negotiable. Please get in touch with Quint at qrmelandins@aol.com for more info or questions.

Magazine Features and Appearances

• Hot Rod Magazine July 1978
• Hot Rod DeLuxe January 2020