Words & Photos: John "Gunner" Gunnell
Twice a year, Richard V. Munz of Madison, Wis., opens the doors of his RVM Classics hot rod collection to fellow hobbyists. The event raises a few donations for “Dick’s” favorite childrens’ charity: American Family Children’s Hospital (AFCH). It also gives his fellow hobbyists the opportunity to view an outstanding hot rod collection highlighted by a group of Fords which have appeared on the covers and inside pages of hot rod magazines over the years.
Back in the 1980s, when Munz was working as a real estate developer, he had his building near downtown Madison filled with Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Maseratis. In 1995, Munz did the Americruise hot rod tour with the Brizio group.
“That’s about the time I had an epiphany and went back to my roots,” Munz explained. “Those roots were old Fords, dating back to when I unsuccessfully tried to buy a 1932 three-window coupe from one of the Roosebergs at a Shell station on Washington Ave.”
Munz said that 1932 Fords were etched in his mind after that. “1932s to 1940s were always special to me, inasmuch as my first car was a 1940 coupe,” he noted. “But in the middle, I had 1940 Mercury and 1947 Ford convertibles and a 1950 Mercury, so all that stuff was in my DNA.”
Today, such cars make up the bulk of Munz’s collection. One of his favorites is a 1936 Ford roadster.
“That is kind of a special one in the sense that I had a 1936 roadster when I was a teenager,” Munz pointed out. “I bought that first one from a serviceman who was being mustered out, and the front clip was off because he was going to put a small-block Chevy engine in it. So, I bought it for $25 and I hauled it out.” That car was a dark color called Washington Blue.
Munz said he put the 1936 Ford behind his dad’s garage on Sherman Ave. in Madison. “I got married young and my dad kept pestering me as to what I was going to do with the car,” he explained. “So, I sold it to Dave Reynolds, who owned Reynold’s Transfer & Storage. It was one of his workers who helped me move it in the first place on one of their flatbeds. Coincidentally, Dave popped in here a few weeks ago. I hadn’t seen him in years. He asked if I ever found a ’36 roadster. I told him, ‘Funny you should ask’ and took a picture of him by my roadster, which is painted Porsche Midnight Blue. When I saw that color I said it was the color I was going to paint the car; it kind of takes me back in time.”
When asked why he collects magazine cover cars, Munz said, “I’m not sure I was looking specifically for magazine cover cars. I was more interested in cars that had a story. And as it turned out, almost all the cars that had a history at one time or another were on covers or were publicized in some magazine.”
Munz thinks the first significant hot rod was the Tommy Foster roadster that’s in his collection today. “I bought that car sometime in the early 1990s,” he stated. "That kind of started the whole process. Then, in the late-‘90s, the Neal East roadster made itself available and I was able to buy it, too.”
In 2007, when the 75th anniversary of the 1932 Ford occurred, the Grand National Roadster Show celebrated the most significant 1932 Fords. The original Bill Breece coupe was one of the cars. “As you probably know, it had been significantly modified from the original design,” Munz explained. “Young Breece is the guy who channeled it and he sold it, in primered condition, to Bubba, who in turn sold it to John Stimac, who in turn restored it to the state it’s in now.”
Stimac didn’t realize that the car had some historical significance because it had been on the cover of Hot Rod magazine in 1956. When it showed up at the 2007 Grand National Roadster Show—coincidentally on the same trailer that had the Tommy Foster and Neal East cars on it—Dick Munz saw the Wisconsin plate on the car and asked the driver where he picked it up. He told him, “Milwaukee.”
Munz asked if the car was going to be in the 75th anniversary display and the driver said it was. Munz asked if the owner was there and the driver said he wasn’t because he wasn’t feeling well and might want to sell it. “So, I got a phone number, did a DMV check through my office and called “Dewey” Cherek, a Lincoln-Mercury dealer in Milwaukee, to do a deal to get the car.”
Munz subsequently bought the Chuck Price roadster from Chuck Johnson. At that point, he had four 75th anniversary cars. After that, a progression of other things that showed up, and RVM Classics he wound up with at least 11 cars that were featured in hot rod publications years ago. How many do you remember?
RVM Classics Magazine Cars
Chester Osgood’s 1926 Ford Model T roadster. Built in late the 19840s and raced until 1959. Appears in the Ken Gross/Robert Genat book Hot Rod Milestones.
Les Deline 1931 Ford roadster. Built in 1987. Ardun engine by Art Chrisman. Appeared in many magazine articles.
Tommy Foster 1932 roadster Built in 1950 - featured in several publications
Neal East 1932 Ford roadster Built by Bill Woodard in 1956. Later owned by Bill Moeller and Neal East. Cover car for Rod & Custom in 1951.
Bill Breece 1932 Ford coupe Built in the mid-1950s. Hot Rod magazine cover car in August 1956. Original car modified over the years.
Bill Breece 1932 Ford coupe re-creation Built by Bill Ganahl’s South City Rod & Custom. Re-creation of original Hot Rod magazine cover car of August 1956.
Chuck Price 1932 Ford roadster Appeared on the cover of Rod & Custom magazine in May 1953. Original car was destroyed in a 1962 wreck and Chuck Johnson re-created it for the 2007 Grand National Roadster Show celebrating the most significant 1932 Fords in history.
1932 Ford five-Window Coupe Ex-Dick Martin car. Built in 1956. Featured in Carcraft magazine June 1958.
1932 Ford five-Window Coupe Built by hot rod hall of famer Tom Pruffer. Rod & Custom cover car June 1999 issue.
1940 Mercury convertible Built in the late 1980s by Bob Johnson of Council Bluffs, Iowa. Carson top. Appeared in many magazines.
1946 Ford convertible A 1940s-1950s California custom. Restored in the late-1970s. Carson top. Appeared in many magazines.