Deuce of Spades (2011) - ripper car movies

Los Angeles hot rod girl Faith (Faith Granger) is on a fuel-finding mission in a Minnesota backwater when she meets old duck Joann (Pat McNeely). Faith learns that Joann’s hubby recently passed and left her with a shed full of vintage metal that she needs to offload (we should all be so lucky).

First published in the August 2025 issue of Street Machine

While branching off from Joann’s official garage tour, Faith stumbles upon her ultimate barn-find, a hot-rodded ’32 roadster – her dream car. She immediately cuts a deal with Joann for both the ’32 and a trailer to tow it home.

Back in LA, Faith soon has the ’32 cruising the streets and doing the rounds at shows. An eagle-eyed punter spots the car’s ‘Deuce of Spades’ steering wheel emblem and tells Faith he recalls the car from its early years as a hottie streeter raced by the mysterious Johnny Callaway (Timothy Luke). Intrigued, Faith is keen to learn more, and it’s not long before she does.

While wrenching on the ’32 one night, Faith discovers an old love letter from 1955 stuffed under the dickie seat, written by Johnny to his girl, Bettie (Alexandra Holder). So begins a quest for Faith to reunite the letter with its rightful owner and hopefully learn more about her roadster’s journey in the process.

Some chance encounters fill in a number of blanks in the timeline, including the circumstances of a fatal street race that landed Johnny in a coma, as well as his later incarceration for culpable driving, but Faith’s search for more recent info has her meeting dead ends.

So, she turns to some of the who’s-who of the pioneering So-Cal hot rod and custom scene, hoping to unearth further Johnny tidbits – with cameos by the late Gene Winfield and Bill Hines adding both star power and authenticity to proceedings. Eventually, Faith learns that ol’ Johnny has been hiding out in the Mojave Desert amongst a collection of jalopies.

Can Faith help reunite Johnny and Bettie to enjoy their twilight years together, right back where it all began, nestled up close in the Deuce of Spades?

VEDICT: 3.5/5

Taking on writing, directing, producing and acting duties herself, Faith Granger managed to transcend the limitations of a tiny budget to craft a simple and enjoyable independent film in Deuce of Spades. Boasting great cinematography, cool music and plenty of car action, it could honestly give many big-dollar productions a serious run for their money. The storyline is polished, and the attention to detail when flicking between the film’s different time periods is well executed, which is enough to outweigh any acting deficiencies from the novice cast.

VEHICLES:

1932 Ford roadster
1950 Chrysler Windsor
1954 Ford Customline
1934 Ford roadster
1949 Mercury coupe
1946 Plymouth De Luxe coupe
1941 Willys coupe
1942 Willys Jeep

DIRECTOR:
Faith Granger.

ACTION:
Street racing, drag racing and dry lakes action, with the odd burnout and casual cruising adding to the eye candy.

PLOT:
A hot rod-loving woman finds a mysterious letter from the 1950s hidden inside her dream car, sparking her quest to reunite two former lovers.

AVAILABLE:
DVD, streaming (Vimeo).