Handsome and debonair, Tommy Lee had it all.
As the fabulously wealthy heir to the Don Lee Agency, with more than 50 Cadillac dealerships up and down the West Coast, extensive California real estate holdings, along with prominent L.A. radio and TV stations, Tommy had a craving for beautiful women and fast cars – and the checkbook to buy whatever he wanted.
Frank Kurtis, who’d later build winning Indy roadsters, midget racers and sleek customs, supervised Don Lee’s Los Angeles Coachworks. In 1934, Kurtis fabricated a stunning boattail speedster from a wrecked LaSalle for Willet Brown, whose father managed the myriad Lee enterprises. After seeing that car, Tommy Lee asked Kurtis to build a creation that was even more attractive, and much, much faster.
Kurtis began with a six-month-old 1936 Ford that he stripped down to the frame. Remember, the Cord 810 was that era’s styling sensation, so Tommy told Frank to build a car that evoked the 810, but would be lighter, sleeker, even racier. Kurtis’ elegant response resembled the marriage of a Cord Sportsman and an Auburn boattail speedster.
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