The classic car world is full of dazzling hot rods, making it impossible to definitively say which is best. But, without a doubt, one of the most iconic is the McGee Roadster, with a legacy that includes wins at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the Grand National Roadster Show, its own USPS postage stamp, a ground-breaking cover of Hot Rod Magazine, and the honor of becoming the only hot rod added to the National Historic Vehicle Register.
It’s now permanently parked inside the Petersen Automotive Museum, where renowned car collector and hot rod builder Bruce Meyer donated it this year, handing the keys to Terry L. Karges, the museum’s executive director.
It was a full-circle moment. The McGee Roadster’s popularity soared after it became the first street car to appear on the Hot Rod Magazine cover — a publication founded by Robert E. Petersen in 1948, and part of the successful magazine empire that allowed Petersen to collect cars and open one of the world’s finest automotive museums in 1994.
“Hot rods are vital to the entire automotive industry, and Robert Petersen is the man who really brought hot rodding to the people,” said Meyer, who also serves as founding chairman of the Petersen. “This car is an important piece of automotive history.”
The McGee Roadster introduced an aesthetic that quickly became nearly ubiquitous in the roadster world. “The McGee Roadster is so much more than just a car. It is the symbol of an entire era and generation of innovative hot rodders,” said Karges.
The accomplished hot rod has raced on the Bonneville salt flats, served as a daily driver, and originated many of the design cues that became synonymous with hot rodding. McGee started working on the 1932 roadster in 1947, creating its signature look with tons of customization, a lowered suspension, larger Lincoln Zephyr rear wheels, a three-piece louvered hood, peaked and filled grille shell, hidden door hinges, and shaved door handles, all painted bright red with a custom interior.
Like any rising star, it went Hollywood. In 1958, McGee sold the roadster to Dick Scritchfield, an avid hot rodder with contacts in the film industry. He leased cars to movies and TV shows, securing screen time for the McGee Roadster in “Happy Days,” “Dragnet,” “Fantasy Island” and others. By this time, Scritchfield had the hot rod repainted in Candy Apple Red with silver metal flake — the first non-experimental metal-flake job in automotive industry history. Many modifications followed before Meyer bought it and restored it to its original 1948 condition in the late 1990s.
The McGee Roadster is ready for its closeup once again in the Ross & Beth Myers Gallery at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
Photos Courtesy of the Petersen Museum
