After having appeared on magazine covers, album covers as well as advertisements and movies, this particular 1932 Ford Roadster, built by the legendary Tom McMullen is probably one of the most recognisable and iconic hot rods in existence. This significant example is going under the hammer on 12 January 2019 in Mecum’s Kissimmee auction.

As a dedicated hot rodder as a teenager, McMullen’s passion led him to become not just a writer on the subject, but an electrical whizz and founder of a publishing empire. After purchasing the roadster in 1958, the first very thing he did was to replace the 283 CI Chevrolet small-block OHV V-8 with a 352 CI Chevy V-8. The modifications didn’t stop there – the car was went through many stages of updates until McMullen parted ways with it, with one of the most eye-opening features being the iconic flame design by Ed “Big Daddy” Roth. The car was sold in 1970 for just US$5,000 in order to fund McMullen’s business, a price so low that he later he called “one of my biggest mistakes”. One of the subsequent owners after it left McMullen’s hands was Jorge Zaragoza, a collector from Texas, who took the car to Roy Brizio and restored it following its appearance on the cover of April 1963’s Hot Rod magazine. McMullen’s Ford Roadster and since has been named one of the “75 Most Influential ’32 Fords of All Time” and rated as third-in-class at 2007’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.