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BOB, I thought you would like to read

To: Want1937hd@aol.com
Subject: BOB, I thought you would like to read
From: "Doug Anderson" <boogiewoogie12@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 13 May 2001 19:35:06 -0000
....the "rest of the story" on "Fred the Magnificent" as he calls 
himself....
      -so here is the entire uncut article I did for Hop Up 2001......


  -hope ya' enjoy it, let me what you thought of it... fair enough?



oh and for the rest of you who do not know Fred: he deserves this; -for all 
the times he's busted on ever'body else......
                                  (which you can believe is often....)



                    *******************************

                         The Fred Steele Story-
            50 years of whacked out,  whacked on, Hot Rodding

                        by  Doug  Anderson


        Get comfortable and grab a cold one cause this is a pretty amazing 
tale 
about an unforgettable guy; a Hot Rodders Hot Rodder, -a guy whos not only 
got the same passions about cars he started with, but thats still got the 
same cars!  -just wait til you learn the rest of the story.

When our editor asked me to write something to tie in with HOP UPs Golden 
Anniversary, I immediately thought of Bostons Fred Steele.  Heres why;  I 
became acquainted with Fred and his exploits a lot later than I would have 
liked; because you see, hes been at this roddin game now for more than 
fifty years and he still doesnt show any signs of wanting to throw in the 
towel any time soon.   Fred and I first met about eight or nine years ago, 
when I was doing a big spring swap meet in Rhinebeck, N.Y.   As usual, I had 
lots of stuff out for swappin but the thing that caught Freds eye, was my 
Racing Decal collection.   Because nice old decals are fairly rare to see 
any more, Freds memory bank went into recollection mode and he stopped to 
take a look-see.   With him was sidekick Paul Aldrich, whos own record 
goes back almost as far as Freds,-but I digress.    Anyway,  both were 
interested and we ended up doin some business.  But more importantly, we 
became fast friends.   I was amazed that we had so much in common -even 
though wed only just met.  Both Paul and Fred have an affinity of all that 
is HOT ROD simply for the sheer love of it and I really appreciate that.  
I call it soul.   Because of that passion, both of these yay-hoos are on my 
short list of hot rod buddies to this day.
But let me tell you a bit of his fascinating story -and give you a little 
insight into Fred Steele, the man.

Fred tells me that he was born at a very early age, in Boston, to parents 
who, while they loved him well enough, traded him off to some nomadic 
Bedouins for an ancient Egyptian fertility bracelet while on an expedition 
in Morocco when he was eight.  As you can imagine, it had a dramatic affect 
on Fred from that time on.  Anyway, as related to me, it seems that his 
parents were completely caught up in the beauty of the gold bracelet and 
its potential value, and with Fred being a boy of somewhat unremarkable 
appearance, they knew theyd really pulled one over on the Arabs. Fred was 
getting very expensive to feed.   Knowing theyd get a fine price from an 
antique dealer in Monte Carlo, they quickly left the Desert and Fred behind 
as they sped off to their next stop gathering rare stuff around the world.   
But- they hadnt counted on Freds dislike for sand, or his natural ability 
to improvise, -to make a plan come together in a pinch.   Fred promptly 
bit the guy in charge, and from that time on the dude wanted none of Fred, 
sending him out of his sight to guard the camels and horses at night. After 
almost a year in the unbearable heat, he escaped while watering the beasts 
at an oasis by jumping a passing truck hauling figs to Casablanca.  He 
managed to stow away on a tramp steamer, finding his way back to Boston 63 
days later.  As soon as he arrived, he walked all the way home to rejoin his 
parents.  Upon finding him at her door, tanned and brown, dressed in rags, 
his mother was struck speechless.  When she regained her composure, she 
pleaded with him to understand that they had done it for Freds own good 
because they were so poor, but Fred never quite forgave her.  He told me 
though, that he does remember that one time money got so scarce around the 
house that the Butler stole the familys English silver to pawn it to get 
cash for the gardener who needed it to give to the maid who was, well, - 
shall we say,blackmailing him.  Fred remembers that right after that 
happened, his father sold his mothers baby blue supercharged Cord and took 
four plug wires off the V16 Caddy Towncar in order to save on gas -and that 
was before they took in the boarders from Chicago that caught the carriage 
house on fire down by the lake. He told me that he thinks those peoples 
name was Luciano but hes not sure.

Times were indeed tough on the young lad, but at 15, he moved out on his own 
and found a job and a place to sleep next to the air compressor at the Jenny 
gas station in nearby Boxborough, Mass.  He became friends with the local 
gearheads that hung out at the station, and many of them had hot cars -and 
the more he rode around with these guys racin and chasin-as he calls it, 
the more he wanted a rod of his own.  Besides,It was a good way to pick up 
chicks.  Though it was tough on a pump jockeys pay, he began building the 
Deuce roadster that would become PURPLE PRIDE in 1951. He started it right 
after hed gone to see a gypsy fortuneteller to learn how to get more 
girls when he was 16. Lucky for us, the fortuneteller told him he would 
become a big wheel and Fred misinterpreted her (she spoke broken English) 
and he thought she said hed have lots OF wheels.   Little did he know 
what a path hed chosen for his entire life.  Or how many cars he'd have. 
Manys the night he would prowl downtown Boston in search of chrome,  girls, 
  and flathead speed parts not necessarily in that order. It was during 
this period, that he supplemented his income by selling sombrero hubcaps 
from late model Caddys to local customizers.  Theyre still a hot item in 
some circles.

After three or four years building the Deuce, doing car shows, and moonlight 
street races, his pride and joy was featured in the July 56 issue of ROD & 
CUSTOM beginning an illustrious career in hot rodding spanning over fifty 
years.  While building the roadster in the summer of 52, Fred became one of 
the founding members of the Boston area TY-RODS,  -a rowdy bunch if there 
ever was one.   Theres been an incredible trail of projects, wacky 
adventures, and magazine articles ever since

I dont believe Fred ever sold a car hes been intimate with; choosing 
instead to stash them away in cubbyholes in and around the greater Boston 
area.  A veritable black hole of hot rodding, its no wonder the rest of 
us have such a hard time finding Deuce grille shells, -his motto being; 
What sell a car? -wash your mouth out with soap.  Most of his rides are in 
prime shape and ready at a moments notice for another midnight cruise to 
Marrakech or some such.   According to Fred, his collection is part of the 
secret of eternal life -that, and what he found buried in a pyramid in Gaza 
while visiting his daughter in the Foreign Service a couple years ago.   It 
seems that his prior knowledge of camels got him in good with the locals, 
and they showed him a few things that only a camel jockey could know.  Fred 
says the general public and the tourists havent got a clue.   He may well 
be right.

Because theres so many cool cars in Freds varied collection, well let the 
photos tell most of the story, but heres a  highlight of some of his more 
memorable; After finishing the purple Deuce in 1955, the next car he tackled 
was a 28 A sedan, built in 1957 from the ground up and painted to match the 
Deuce.  For the sedan he chose a 265 Chevy mill, as by that time he could 
see they were a general terror on the streets.   A 39 Lincoln Zephyr lost 
its tranny, and it was hooked to a Columbia two speed rear.  The wheels 
were hand made from A centers cut down and mated to 14 and 15 inch rims.  No 
wheel companies or credit cards back then boys you either do it yourself 
or it dont get done.  In the summer of 61 Fred and friend Tommy Dawes 
drove the car cross country to Tijuana for a white tuck n roll job -which 
it still has.  The tequilas all gone.   On the way, they attended the 
National Drags in Indianapolis, and saw the awesome Bonneville Salt Flats 
for the first time. The  A sedans a great car -even now, unrestored as it 
is.    Cool man.  It's still got the participant's stickers on the driver's 
side rear window to prove it.

        Next on Freds build list ( after watching one too many 77 Sunset 
Strips on TV ) was a cute little 20 T roadster that Fred and Don Spinney 
built in 1961.   Fred bought out Dons interest in the car in 62 and flat 
towed it all the way to California, where it was photographed overlooking 
L.A. for a Ventures record Album in 1964. While living there, Fred joined 
the LA Roadsters, and remains an associate member to this day.

After returning from California, Fred and Don Spinney again collaborated 
this time on a butter yellow full fendered Deuce roadster,installing a 283 
Chev mated to an early Ford driveline.   Again, Fred bought out Don in 1966. 
The car still sits in the same condition, in the same garage, and ready to 
hit the road. A very simple, very nice, Hot Rod.

        As part of his ongoing saga Fred, and wife Pat went on a round the 
world 
trip to Australia in July 1970.   I just recently read of their trip in an 
old issue of the Auzzie Rod magazine, CUSTOM RODDER  that I got in a care 
parcel from downunder pal Peter Carpenter of Victoria who I met at 
Bonneville In 1998.  Anyway, this guy Steele gets around.   In this thirty 
year old article, Fred was immediately referred to as The Living Legend of 
Hot Rodding and the article went on to describe the people and places he 
and Pat visited.  They toured Australia far and wide, visiting rodders and 
seeing the sights in a borrowed 60 Falcon ( whooo-eee!)  -all the while 
driving on the wrong side of the road as Fred puts it.  In Brisbane he 
found a twin spinner (a 51 Ford to us) Hearse that he thought was too 
cool and tried to swap it for a Gila monster he had in his suitcase.  But it 
was too big.  The article went on to mention the 22 cars that Fred owned 
that included a 27 T center door sedan, a 40 Ford coupe, a 39 sedan, an 
EDSEL Ranchero, an Olds ragtop, and the cars mentioned here. Fred told me 
that they had a great time on the trip and that he liked the animals best of 
all.  But I found out that upon departure from Australia, the authorities 
had all they could handle with Fred because they caught him trying to 
smuggle a tiny joey  back to America in the vest pocket of his sports jacket 
in the Melbourne airport. It seems that its national crime over there to 
steal Kangaroos so they threatened deportation.  Lucky for him, he was on 
his way home anyway.

        The next year, back in Boston, Fred bought a nice original Deuce 
phaeton 
and drove to the Street Rod Nationals in Columbus Ohio hauling along a crate 
full of chickens. Its not known what became of the chickens, but I think 
Fred may have traded the phaeton for his WW II US Army Half-track.-perhaps 
because of the odor ?  -or stains on the paint ?

        A couple years later, he found and rescued an old orphaned 50  Merc 
Custom 
that had had a hard life and proceeded to save it by re-doing the entire car 
to suit. This is the car alongside the 72 boattail Riviera, his latest, 
-which lost four inches of its factory defective roof pillars in 1993.  
Fred must like the Merc best though because thats what we usually see him 
drivin lately.  He says its like driving his living room sofa.  Go figure.

I could go on and on, because Freds been at this game fora long, long 
time, but you get the idea. Hes got ALL the T-shirts and theres just no 
catching up to him. Hes had way too much of a head start on all of us so 
dont even try  but check out the photos and see for yourself how nice his 
cars are and if you happen to see a bright yella Merc sneakin up in your 
rearview some day, wait and see who it is. It just might be nice guy Fred. 
Talk with him a while, and see if what Ive written about him isnt true.  
Like I said, Hes an amazing guy.


                                   Finis



      Original text for HOP UP Magazine Fall, 2000 ) Doug Anderson

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