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Posted:
Monday, December 19, 2005
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HARUO
MORISHIGE
Deuce Roadster Uncovered after
40 Year Absence
By
Hui
K. Aloha
Honolulu
Streets Magazine.
Hot Rod Magazine has been a contributing source for this article.
metimes
Father-time, or the ruler of all things hot rod spew out a missing
link or two from years gone by. Case in point; Haruo Morishige, who has
since gone to that great hot rod heaven above, left his legacy, a
`32 Ford Roadster sitting in a small garage not far from Diamond
Head, patiently waiting 40 plus years for someone to come along and
once again ignite it’s dwindling spark.
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It's anyone's guess where the Merc Flathead went but that early Chevy
small block must have packed plenty of punch in its day.
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As
it turned out, only because of a class reunion and a gentle stroke
of luck that Stanley Kong, former Oahu resident now living in Garden
Grove California, became the chosen one to bring back the forgotten
Morishige Roadster from the brink of extinction.
Stanley
said that as he was talking to a classmate at his McKinley High
School reunion the conversation shifted to cars, then continued on
to more vintage automobiles. "I personally like old Ford models
having restored quite a few of them." Said Stanley,
"Including two 1939 models sitting in my garage now."
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Slight changes have been made to the interior since the Morishige roadster made its debut in 1959.
But for the most part, it remains intact and in pretty good shape considering it hadn't moved from its Panini Avenue garage for almost
a half
century. |
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Suddenly
the conversation got even more interesting when his classmate
mentioned that her cousin had an old Ford just sitting in her garage
that she’d like to get rid of. Instantly the wheels began to spin
while Stanley extracted more information from his classmate about
the roadster.
The
Morishige deuce had been built on Oahu during the 1950’s and was
featured along with a matching counterpart `32 from Fresno Ca., in
an October 1959 Hot Rod magazine. By all accounts they looked
identical and Hot Rod went as far as naming the article " Fine
Fendered Friends". "Built 2,500 miles apart, a pair O’
Deuces from Northern California and the 50th
State." – Hot Rod Magazine.
Although
it made the pages of Hot Rod as a gleaming Maroon channeled `32
roadster from Hawaii—far advanced for that time—it was only
enjoyed briefly by Morishige for few short years more before being
stored in the family’s garage on Panini Avenue for almost half a
century.
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Its obvious somewhere along the line the roadster was repainted and the
pinstriping was never replaced. Hopefully Stanley will line-art the exterior again using
the same style it once had. |
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It’s
not exactly known when the late Morishige actually purchased his
roadster but according to Hot Rod Magazine, he paid $250 for it,
(Can you imagine?) spent another $1,000 and 2 ½ years building it
into what was then also named by Hot Rod as, "the splendid,
specimen species `32".
Onward
to the present; while Stanley was looking at the roadster, making
arrangements and keeping low-key as to not stir up any outside
interest in the car, roomers and comments already began to fly
throughout Oahu’s hot rod community about his essential find.
Wishing it had been "them" who found the Morishige deuce
initially were some of the first comments uttered because finding
any former Magazine car in Hawaii from an era gone by, and in remotely good shape at
that, is a very rare and lucky occurrence, especially a 1932 Ford
roadster.
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Remnants of the Victoria Maroon paint seems to have stayed with the custom made three-piece hood. It's also clear that at some point in time a dropped head light bar was added. |
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Stanley
Kong now has the Morishige deuce sitting in his Garden Grove
California garage completely taken apart, and is in the process of
gradually rebuilding the roadster exactly how it was when it first
rumbled through downtown Honolulu for its Hot Rod Magazine photo
shoot forty-six years ago.
Perhaps,
Father time will one day spew out another piece of Hawaiian Hot Rod
history because in those musty, brittle, yellowed pages of that
October `59 Hot Rod issue was mention of another deuce featured four
months earlier from Hawaii built by Gene Uyesugi. And only the ruler
of all things hot rod will decide if its whereabouts will ever be
revealed.
Hot Rod Magazine has been a contributing source for this article.
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©2005
Honolulu Streets Magazine: All rights reserved.
This article may not be copied, published or reprinted
without the express written permission of Honolulu
Streets Magazine. |
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