Mike Dwight’s 32 Ford
Mike Dwight of Angels Camp has been a classic car and hot rod fan almost as far back as he can remember. Mike bought his first car, a 1946 Ford, at the ripe young age of 13. With the Dwights, cars were a family affair. Both Mike's dad and brother were hot rodders and Mike naturally followed in their footsteps. Mike restored the 46 Ford with help from his brother and the seed for a lifetime of car restoration and customization was planted.
Mike's first twenty years were not easy mind you. He quit school at 16 and got a full time job at 17 to keep a roof over his head. Mike was able to purchase his first house at 19 and got married at 20. During the next couple years Mike worked at several companies and made some extra cash painting motorcycles in his garage at night. At age 24 Mike took the plunge and opened his own paint shop - "Custom Motorcycles".
As word got around, demand for Mike's services grew and he progressively moved into larger spaces and expanded into cars, boats, and dragsters in addition to the motorcycles that he had built his business on. By age 29 Mike had a 15,000sq. ft. facility near the San Jose airport and 50 employees. He had a clientele that spanned from California to Kansas and Tennessee. His customer list included Shirley Muldowney and Dennis Baca among others. Mike's shop won over 340 body and paint awards from the National and ISCA (International Car Show Association). Mike also landed contracts with Ford, Chrysler and GM to customize limited edition new vehicles for promotional purposes.
During the 20+ years of building his business, Mike never lost his enthusiasm for building hot rods. After he sold the business and took a well deserved hiatus for a few years, Mike continued to build cars in his 50x60' shop located in Gilroy. One of those projects was a 1932 Ford Roadster appropriately named "Lil Evil". All of Mike's knowledge, resources and connections went into the build of this amazing hot rod. After closely inspecting the car during our photo shoot for this piece, I would say this ride is one of the most beautiful custom builds I have seen. Mike did a lot of the work himself but also had assistance from friends Jack Hageman Jr. and the late Mel Green. Friend Gary George applied the stunning PPG black paint.
This car was designed for both show and go. In addition to the show circuit, Mike wanted a car he could take on long Bay Area Roadster Club cruises. This Ford fits the bill with a 302 Ford motor backed by a Tremec 5 speed manual transmission. The chassis of the car includes a litany of custom features including a Roy Brizio street rods transmission cross member, Just a Hobby 32 Framerails, a Chicago four-inch dropped front axle, etc. The list goes on and on. The Ford body is a modified Brookville roadster body. Mike spent countless hours massaging the metal body to get the desired custom contours. As a finishing touch, the headlights were sourced from an Indian Scout Motorcycle with their tear drop shape mirroring the '39 tail lights on the car.
The build took seven years from start to finish. Mike's creation was acknowledged as one of the top roadster builds in the country in 2020 being one of the 12 finalists for the AMBR (America's Most Beautiful Roadster) award at the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona California. We are fortunate to have Mike Dwight up here in the Motherlode to share his knowledge and expertise as well as the periodic opportunity to enjoy his rolling piece of art known as "Lil Evil"
