By Gary Rosier
Conrad Yelvington of Port Orange, Fl owns this cool ’32 Dearborn Deuce Roadster. Married to his wife Margaret for over 68 years and residing in a private Fly-In community says something about who he is. Born into a family with 8 children, you worked hard, and fought to keep your head above water every day he says – which kept him hungry for bigger and better things. He had the Drive, Determination and work ethic to succeed! So much so that he left school after the 9th grade to make his mark on the world!
Conrad started up a stone business from scratch soon after leaving high school. Times were tough but Conrad was tougher! The war, the economy and life in general was hard and money was harder to come by. This made him work even harder and soon added sod, trucking too and grew this out to 5 states and 300 employees! After many years of doing this he sold the business and now could start affording the finer things in life.
Such it is that brings us to this beautiful 32 roadster. Acquired in September 2012 from Mecum Auctions in Dallas Texas, Conrad had followed this car on an ad from AutoBuy.com. He immediately flew down to Dallas (in his own Lear Jet!) and was the winning bidder on the car. It was added to his growing collection, which includes a 55 T-Bird (an Amos Minter Car no less), a 48 Mercury, assorted Military vehicles and aircraft (he obtained his pilots license at age 17 in a J-3 Cub and yes – that’s his P-51 Mustang!).
His 32 Deuce is powered by a Bill Mitchell Chevy 454 boasting 625hp/575ftlbs of torque, a 350 Chevy automatic with Genie floor shifter, Heidts aluminum super IRS rear end, Dual Quads, and MSD ignition. Vintage air keeps him cool. Ididit tilt wheel, steering, So-Cal front discs, chrome driveshaft and exhaust, power windows and door openers rounds out the other goodies.
Its painted a deep black with flames and red leather interior. A black German canvas top rarely sees any use in the Florida Sunshine much like the secret audio stereo that is hidden away nicely. While Conrad himself keeps the car for those special moments and cruises, he enjoys taking her out, letting her run and hanging on to those Dreams (and his hat!)
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