The Barbeque Stove Bolt Special. Photos by Robin Adams, courtesy RM Auctions.
The rules of hot rodding have long been this: there are no rules. Perhaps no single car in hot rod history has embraced that belief better than the Barbeque Stove Bolt Special , a 1951 custom built with parts from 16 cars, two motorcycles and an airplane. Next week, this monument to ingenuity will cross the block in Phoenix as part of RM’s Arizona sale.
While it’s not uncommon to see Deuce Coupes sporting small-block Chevy engines, the Barbeque Stove Bolt Special goes much, much farther than this. In fact, it’s hard to identify the car by a single brand, or even by two brands. The frame started life under a 1927 Chevrolet, while much of the body (excluding the hand-built pickup bed) came from a 1921 Dodge touring car, except for the grille, which was pulled from a 1932 Ford. Power comes from a 1928 Chevrolet four-cylinder block, stuffed full of a 1932 Ford crankshaft, 1936 Pontiac connecting rods, a set of Jahns pistons and capped by a Harry Miller-modified 1930 Oldsmobile three-port head fitted with Buda diesel valves and Nash rocker arms. Carburetors are SUs, liberated from an unspecified Jaguar (or SS) model, while the dry-sump oiling system was engineered by the builders.
The builders, in this case, were James H. Hill and his father, Clark Hill, originally of Vallejo, California. Knowing that such radical modifications would tax the strength of the block, the Hills built up the block using 26 pounds of welding rod and six tanks of acetylene gas; to ensure even and complete cooling (and thus reduce the chances of warping), the hot, welded block was cured for four days in a charcoal bed in the family’s barbeque, and the custom’s name was born.
Following the car’s completion in 1951, it was campaigned on dry lakes in land speed record competition. The California-Nevada Timing Association clocked the Frankenrod at a speed of 84.4 MPH, which the Hills later assured Honk magazine (the predecessor to Car Craft) was due to its unfavorable 2.54:1 gearing. There’s no record of a higher top speed with reduced gearing, but the one-of-a-kind custom also proved its worth at the 1952 National Roadster Show at Oakland, where it captured a first prize for originality.
In 1955, the Hill family moved from California to Oregon, and the Barbeque Stove Bolt Special remained in their care until acquired by its current owner in 2014. It’s being offered with trophies from the California-Nevada Timing Association Speed Run and the Oakland Roadster Show, along with negatives documenting its dry lakes history. There are boxes of spare and NOS parts, too, including piston rings, a Jahns piston and an Olds three-port head. On the cosmetic side, there are two cans of still-liquid paint (complete with a 1950 date) along with the original top and side curtains.
The car’s current owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, came across the unique rod at the Portland Spring Automotive Swap Meet, where it was displayed for the first time since being put away in 1967. A deal was struck, and the car left the ownership of the Hill family for the first time since its construction. As its new owner explained to us, “The engineering and fabrication is absolutely remarkable; no one builds cars like this today. The Barbeque Stove Bolt Special is a very significant hot rod, with documented history and truly unique construction and engineering, at a time when nearly all others were simply flathead Ford-based.”
The owner admits that he hasn’t tried to start the car, although the engine turns over and the Barbeque Stove Bolt Special appears to have ample compression. The breakup of a relationship left him without a place to turn wrenches, along with financial burdens that necessitate its sale, a story that many collectors can relate to. Given the car’s documented history and creative engineering, RM is predicting a selling price between $80,000 and $100,000 when the car crosses the stage on Friday, January 16.
For additional information on the 2015 Phoenix sale, visit RMAuctions.com.
from Hemmings Daily - News for the collector car enthusiast http://ift.tt/1xR2ind
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