Berardini Brothers' 1932 Ford

SALINA — Roger and Sissy Morrison’s black and white 404 Jr. has come home to Kansas after a celebrity tour of auto shows and photo studios, mostly in California, after its stunning restoration by Dave Crouse of Custom Auto in Loveland, Colo.

 The Morrisons have an extremely diverse collection of cars, ranging from an elegant 1912 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost to a nearly original 1940 Ford coupe. Their rejuvenated hot rods are a wonderful counterpoint to the stately presence of their Bentleys and Rolls-Royces.

 Roger Morrison delights in locating historically significant hot rods and having Crouse put them back in their original form. It seems redundant to say that automotive history is about the cars, but so often, historically significant cars get modified, trashed or destroyed, and that’s especially true with hot rods. Because of the foresight of collectors such as Morrison, many classic hot rods are being rescued and restored.

 The Berardini Brothers’ ’32 Ford is a perfect example. According to an article in the most recent edition of The Rodder’s Journal, the Berardini Brothers’ 1932 Ford highboy roadster is one of the more famous Southern California racers. Pat and Tony Berardini raced their roadster on drag strips near Los Angeles, and it won 80 percent of its races in six years. Pat and Tony Berardini were champions from 1950 to 1955.

 It had a 314-cubic-inch Ford flathead with Harrell finned aluminum heads, four carburetors and an Iskenderian 404 camshaft. The Berardini Brothers’ success with the Isky 404 cam is why the car is called 404 Jr. 

 The brothers sold the car in 1955, and, according to Rodder’s Journal, it passed through two more owners before Morrison saw it in 2004 at the Grand National Roadster Show. By then, the car had been changed considerably.  Morrison bought the car from Rudy Perez, its third owner, and sent it to Crouse.

 Crouse studied old photos and consulted with Pat Berardini as he restored 404 Jr. to its original configuration.  Alan Johnson replicated Von Dutch’s original pinstriping.

 Morrison’s devotion to cars of the Fifties comes from the fact that his first car was a 1952 Plymouth with lakes pipes, pin striping and Moon wheel covers. That car was an inauspicious beginning for a person who now plays a significant role in preserving hot rod history.