1923 Ford “T-Bucket”

Fred Steele/Ventures

With the 1953 debut of his newly built purple, channeled ’32 Ford Roadster (now in the 3 Dog Garage collection), Massachusetts native Fred Steele demonstrated that East Coast rod builders were every bit the equal of their West Coast counterparts in terms of outright coolness. In 1960, Fred and his friend Don Spinney wondered if hot rod coolness could be achieved again, but this time on a budget of about $1,000 or so. Using a Model A frame (cheap), a reproduction Model T body (also cheap) and a ’56 Chevy 265 cubic-inch V-8 (cheaper than a 283) and some parts they scavenged from junk yards, they built this car and stayed within the budget. In 1962, Fred moved to Southern California for about two years, taking the car with him. He joined the L.A. Roadsters car club. At a car show, a professional photographer saw the car and decided to use it as the subject for a record album cover he was working on. The musical group was the best-selling instrumental rock band of all time, the Ventures. For this album, “Ventures in Space” (1964), he posed the car on Mulholland Drive above a twilight vista of Los Angeles below. He picked this car because its light color would stand out against the background. Some West Coast rodders were apparently miffed that a Massachusetts-built roadster appeared on a California surf-music band’s album cover. Not sorry. Score another one for the East.