Everyone pretty much knows the story of why George Lucas made the movie American Graffiti.  One of the biggest stars of the movie was the little yellow deuce coupe.  If you don’t know this by now, you wouldn’t be here reading this.

As you all know, Steve Fitch was the original guy to own the Coupe after the movie was finished.  However, Steve didn’t own the coupe right after the movie, because the studio just didn’t want to sell it.  In fact, it wasn’t until 1981 that Steve was able to buy the coupe, and then it was a fluke.  Funny thing is that the only reason Steve wanted the coupe was because he already owned the ’55; he didn’t really desire the coupe. But he wanted a matching set.  It took him a long to acquire it, and then he had to bid on it.  He put in a first bid that he thought would win the car – and the only reason that he was able to bid was because he owned the ’55, which in 1979 he bought from Sam Crawford. 

Steve acquired the ’32, but actually had put in a second bid because he had gotten wind from someone in the studio that there were others at the studio interested in the coupe. He was told that if he really wanted it, he might want to up his bid.  In the end, he won by the total sum of only $200. 

 When Steve found out that he won the car, he was pretty excited, and he got a buddy to go out to California with him with a car trailer.  When he went to pick up the car, it was in disarray.  The paint was faded, and it was really rough looking – he was, in fact, wondering if he made the right choice in buying the car in the first place.  But, a deal is a deal, so he loaded up the car, and brought it back to his home in Wichita, KS.

 At this point, he decided to tear into the Coupe and get it freshened up a little, as he was already restoring the original ’55.  He learned that when he got the car home, the motor was full of water, and it was in really sad shape.  He was unsure if he would be able to save the motor and heads because of all the neglect the car had taken sitting out in the back lot of Universal.  But, he took it to a machine shop anyway.  He was under the impression that the engine was a 283; the studio told him it was, and so did every other article he had read.  He asked the machine shop if they could rebuild his 283; a few days later he got a call advising that he would be better off replacing the block and heads due to the neglect.  He decided that really wanted to save the block and heads, as it was the original set that came with the car.  The machine shop told him that it could be saved, but it would have to be bored 60 over. He consented, and was informed that the engine was not a 283, but was a 327 out of a 66 impala.

 Just for readers note:  Steve was unsure if the heads on the original car’s motor were 202’s or a 194’s. 

After Steve got the motor back, he started in on a not-so-much restoration, but more of a clean-up job, making sure the car was street worthy and clean after its neglect.  There was some polishing, painting, etc.  He had to replace the electric fuel pump, the clutch, new shifter – the original shifter used during the filming was so loose that you could never find a gear in it.  In fact, if you go back and listen to interviews with Paul, he comments that it was difficult to drive because the gear shifter was so sloppy; you just couldn’t find a gear.  Steve put in the Hurst shifter, which is still in the car today.

Steve also had to replace the valve covers, because they had been stolen off the car, along with the door handles and cranks.  He had to replace the carbs, because the originals were ruined and unusable.  He replaced them with the carbs that are on the Coupe today. 

 Special note:  the carbs that were on the car during the filming were a front inlet ’58 Chevy pickup 2G Rochester.  The carbs that Steve put on at that time - and that are still on the car today are a ’60 Chevy pickup 2G side inlet Rochester carbs.

Special note:  The difference in a 2G and a 2GC is that a 2GC carb has a provision on the right side of the carb to attach an electric choke, hence the “C” in 2GC stands for Choke.  The 2G does not have this provision, and is a manual choke carb.

Steve also changed the spark plug wire looms, both front and rear.  The original front were a set of ’57-’58 Corvette stock wire looms that had been modified by being straightened out.  These were replaced with the Mr. Gasket wire looms that are on the car to this day, and are available in my parts store.

The rear wire looms were a set of original Cal Custom wire looms, and Steve also replaced these with a set of Mr. Gasket wire looms.  These wire looms that are on the car today can be bought at any auto parts store.

Steve also changed the Cal Custom carb scoops.  He replaced these scoops because when he bought the car, it only had two of them on it, and they were in pretty bad shape.  He just put a matching set of carb scoops on, which are still on the car today.

 Please note to all of you Coupe fans:  The reason that Steve changed things on this car was because he could not find the original parts, and the parts that he took off were pretty beat up and neglected over the studio years.  Other things that he had to replace were because items were stolen from the car, also during the studio years.  He did his best to come as close a possible when putting the new items on the car, and as stated before, all of these items are still present on the coupe today.

 Steve decided to sell both movie cars in 1985, and as we all know, the Coupe went back to California with its now present owner, Rick Figari.  During this time that the coupe was for sale, yours truly tried buying the coupe (as many of you know).  Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out in my favor.  However, I believe that it was a total blessing that I did not end up with this car.  I know this may sound strange, but if I would have bought the car from Steve (who was only 100 or so miles away from me at the time), I would have driven the car on pretty much a daily basis. This would have most likely resulted in my replacing parts as they wore out. I would have used general auto store parts, and chances are I would not have kept the original parts – not knowing at the time the significance of this car.  Remember, I was still very young and in high school.

Now we will fast forward to October 4, 2008, the day of my 39^th birthday.  I had made arrangements with Mr. Steve Fitch a few weeks prior to this date to visit him and sit down and talk to him about our beloved coupe. 

 On this day, my son Jack, my best friend Trapper, and I traveled to Wichita, KS, and spent a total of 4 or 5 hours just talking to Steve.  I would just like to say first off that Steve is one of the nicest guys that anyone would ever want to meet. He was very hospitable to all of us and took the time to answer our questions – ones that he has probably been asked a million times.  He shared photos and stories, and all of us enjoyed our time there on this special occasion.  Steve has also graced us with some photos that we are now sharing with everyone – first-time-seen photos of the Coupe without the engine, and we hope that everyone enjoys these photos.  To top it all off, I was privileged enough to say goodbye with 4 parts of the original coupe.  They were as follows:  the 2 front original wire looms from the ‘50’s Corvette, and two nuts which held the grill shell onto the radiator.  These nuts are still coated with the original paint.

The VIN number on the title was wrong!  When Steve purchased the Coupe, he was given a title with a VIN number that they told him was for the car.  However, this VIN number turned out to be for a 1930 model A.  VIN number: ______.  Steve went ahead and titled it under that, but Rick Figari corrected this and has it currently titled under a ’32 VIN number in CA.

 Some things to note:  There was a package tray in the car.  Steve also indicated that he didn’t know what the gas tank was out of, but it was very small, and held about 7 gallons.  The top of the tank was painted red, and the bottom was painted white.  The box that covered the tank was just in its natural wood color – today it is painted black with the Positraction warning decal stuck on top.  I asked Steve if the car had a rear roll-down window, and he said that it did not – in fact, it didn’t have any mechanism or anything else located back there.  In fact, in the movie, there was just a piece of Plexiglass nailed to the original woodwork. 

He also noted that he did have the firewall insert replaced, because the original, which was made out of stainless, was so scratched up that it could not be polished out.  So he had a new insert made for the car; the difference is that the new one is made out of aluminum, and it has a half-moon cut in the top as opposed to the square notch, and the original firewall had two notches on the side of the insert to allow for a tight fit. The insert today does not have these notches on the side. 

Steve had replaced the front shocks because the originals were wasted and did not absorb anything.  He replaced them with a Monroe shock that had a stud top, stud bottom.  These shocks did not have the dust bell covers like the originals, and they were not chromed – he just painted them silver (look at all of the Rod and  Custom issues featuring the Coupe as a centerfold – the shocks are silver.)  You can tell this car was in pretty bad shape by all of the photos that Steve has shared with us – especially the interior shots!  You can also see in the interior shots the original shifter. This shifter is a vintage Ansen shifter. 

Just for future note to all you Coupe fanatics, Steve has told me everything possible that he can remember on this coupe, so there is really no need to contact him- you can contact me since I asked him everything. Since it’s been so long since he owned this car, and it wasn’t his original baby (his true love was the ’55), he has forgotten a lot of stuff.  It has, after all, been 24 years since he owned it. 

 Steve does not regret selling the cars, as it was time to let them go.  He did enjoy them while he had them.  In fact, he knew that the people they were going to really enjoyed them.  He sleeps very well at night, and still loves cars to this day.  Just prior to our visit, he had just purchased a new Corvette that he was detailing (and which looked very nice).

At the time Steve won the Coupe, he really didn’t have the money to spend on it, so he had to sell a couple of his cars to have the cash to finish the deal.  So, if anyone thought that he was a rich man and had the extra money laying around to do this - he didn’t.  He was just like all of us, and had to sell a couple of old cars to help finance the purchase of the original coupe.  Then, when he got it home, his house only had a one-car garage.  He kept one car at his dad’s house, and one at his house. His dad asked him if he was crazy for buying the coupe, because it really didn’t look that great when he got it home – he wondered just what he had gotten himself into. 

Steve said that the car had a very distinct smell inside the cab, and if you watch Hot Rods Across America Part 2, you will see Steve at the Dallas World of Wheels talking to Rick Figari, and Steve mentions this smell as he sits in this car again for the first time since he sold it. 

 Steve said he cleaned all of the chrome with Flitz metal polish, and it cleaned the chrome to almost new quality – he said it really looked great.  He did not paint the car, he just cleaned and buffed.  He did put in a new wood floor.  He also said that when he got the coupe from Universal that it had the white horn button on the column (which you can see in the photos), but that it was broke – and there was no horn anywhere on the car.

Needless to say, I was very giddy and my emotions were running very high, as I knew that I was holding a piece of history in my hands.  (A present update on these parts is  that I have given 1 wire loom and 1 nut to my good friend, Doug Bjorn – the Guru – for his Graffiti car.  See?  I’m not so selfish!

To end the day off on a very good note, when I got home my wife was smoking bbq ribs for my birthday, and I found out that my white trash neighbor was moving out that day! (I know!!! I should have headed out to the river boats for some gambling, as I don’t think I could have done wrong!)