Jeff Howe of Riverside has been a hot rodder all his life, in the same 1932 Ford five-window coupe he had in high school, and he isn't quitting now, even though he's 65.

Journal photo / Steve Szydlowski

Jeff Howe of Barrington has owned this 1932 five-window Ford -- a Deuce coupe -- since 1958. Slideshow

When the Beach Boys sing "you don't know what I got" in their song "Little Deuce Coupe," it's because hot rodders put all kinds of running gear under the famed Ford body that is so popular with street racers. Howe, for example, had a Chrysler Hemi in this one for a while before switching over to a 350 small block Chevrolet V8, GM automatic transmission and a 1965 Corvette rear end.

There are lots of '32 Ford hot rods out there, most probably powered by Chevy engines, and many are of the homemade variety, as is this one. "Just about every single part on the car was made or modified by me," Howe said.

His expertise is in engine building. He machined the motors and built the superchargers for cars raced by Jim King of Warren. "I had a shop within his shop," he said. And today, even though he's retired after 30 years with Spiedel in Providence, he's still a race engine machinist for Nat's Racing in North Swansea.

"My background is drag racing, but we build circle-track engines," he said. "We build engines for just about every race car at Seekonk Speedway."

He bought the Deuce in 1958 while he was still at Barrington High School, where he graduated in 1960. "The first thing I did was to remove the old four-banger," he said. "Most '32s had the new flathead V8, but mine was a four-cylinder. The car sat for a couple of years while I was in the Navy and my wife, Judy, and I married and started a family. The car never quite got done due to many overriding reasons."

In the late '60s, the Howes had a son, Christopher, who was born with a genetic disease. "It was during this time that I decided to redo the coupe and really get it running. I had to depend on swapping parts and doing everything myself, but I got it on the road for $3,700, not bad for the time.

"Late in Christopher's life [he died at age 12] he took an active interest in the build. He was quite ill by the time it finally hit the road, and we made sure he went with us whenever the car went out. Treasured memories like that keep me from ever wanting to sell it."

Howe fabricated the Nerf bar bumpers out of hand-polished aluminum hydraulic tubing, and the rear pan was done when he was 17, his first attempt at using Fiberglas. The dash is hand-carved out of walnut and has "an old eight-track player that someone gave me." The steering column is a Cadillac tilt-telescope model, and additional instruments are mounted over the windshield.

The rear window opens -- "the way Ford built it" -- and that helps on hot days. Howe started to install an air-conditioning unit, but ran out of room under the hood, so it isn't hooked up.

Jeff and Judy attended many street rodding events in New England through the years, and for a time the Ford was his daily driver. "In the '80s I built a '40 Ford convertible and that sort of displaced the coupe, but after wearing out that car I'm back to my old friend," he said. "It's timeworn now, showing its age. It never was a show queen, but it's got character and tons of memories.

"I guess I'll keep it as long as I can."

ENGINE/TRANSMISSION: 350 Chevy V8; GM 350 automatic.

COLOR: 1937 Ford Brown.

MILEAGE: Unknown.

PLATE: FORD32.

CAN BE SEEN: Around East Providence.

CONDITION: Older restoration.

Few songs have connected with the car culture like the Beach Boys' "Little Deuce Coupe," an ode to the 1932 Ford. Like the car, it's bouncy and instantly recognizable.

But the lyrics have caused much confusion through the years. People who don't know much about cars have assigned some hilarious combinations of words, most of which just don't make any sense.

According to the Web site amiright.com, the misheard lyrics -- called mondegreens -- include:

"And she purrs like a kitten to the late night store."

Or, "she purrs like a kitten till the leg pipes roar."

The real lyric: She purrs like a kitten till the Lake pipes roar.

Another misunderstood line has come out as:

"There's one more thing, she's got those big slicks, Daddy."

The original lyric: There's one more thing, I got the pink slip, Daddy.

"Little Deuce Coupe" was the title cut of the Beach Boys' fourth album, released in October 1963. The song was written by Brian Wilson and R. Christian and produced by Brian Wilson. To read the complete lyrics, go to sing365.com

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