Vehicle Description
With reproduction and NOS parts spilling off suppliers' shelves,
the 1937 Ford is one of the most restoration-friendly cars you'll
ever find. From reproduction body panels, bumpers and interior
pieces to chrome exterior trim items, mechanical parts, emblems and
weatherstripping, practically every part you will ever need to
build a concours-quality '37 Ford is now available. True, the 1937
grille with its horizontal slats is evocative of the lithe Lincoln
Zephyr and credited to E.T. "Bob" Gregorie, was graceful enough.
But the car seemed stubby in profile, thanks to two factors:
imperious Henry's demand that four inches be cut out of the
prototype's length, and the new steel roof that required a higher
crown. Gregorie himself sounded apologetic about the design in an
interview in the 1970s: "The '37 Ford is a transition. If you
notice the '37, compared to the '36, it has a little more of a
hungry look to it. Part of that was because they were going to put
the little V-8 60 into it, so everything was more delicate... right
down to the bumpers. But it's also more streamlined." In fact, 1937
marked the most profound changes for Ford since it changed
everything by offering V-8 power for everyman back in 1932. For the
first time, the sedan bodies were all steel, with the elimination
of the fabric roof panel. "Not an ounce of structural wood!"
shouted the ads. The hood now hinged from the back, rather than
down the center, and a Vee'd windshield replaced the flat glass of
1936. The 85hp, 221-cu.in. V-8 came in for its most significant
revisions to date. Determined to cure the flathead's overheating
problems once and for all, Dearborn's engineers relocated the water
pumps from the heads to the block, and increased their capacity.
The main bearings were no longer of babbitt, but were full inserts,
with a larger bearing area. The brakes were overhauled, too, the
archaic system of mechanical rods giving way to a cable-operated
system--hydraulics were still out of the question, as far as Henry
was concerned, even if buyers had come to expect them. That "little
V-8 60" Gregoire mentioned was Ford's other big news for the year,
a new, 136-cu.in., 60hp flathead meant to square off against the
more thrifty straight-sixes of Chevrolet and Plymouth. The new
engine, bolted to a smaller transmission, was installed in a
lighter version of the standard-size car, known as the Model 74.
The 60hp Fords weighed 250 pounds less than their 85hp siblings,
but the weight reduction wasn't enough to offset the decreased
horsepower and torque. Ford buyers soon decided that they were
better off spending the $40 it took to put the bigger car in their
driveways, and the "thrifty sixty" would disappear after 1940. When
the model year ended, Ford had been eclipsed in sales by Chevrolet,
losing the edge it had won just the year before. Even so,
production totaled 756,933 cars, making 1937 the best year Ford
would see until 1950. Among the 11 body styles was Ford's last
Roadster; just 1,250 were made, as open-car buyers rejected side
curtains for the roll-up windows of the Cabriolet. The styling of
the '37 lasted only one year; the 1938 models were utterly
different. Engine The 221-cu.in., flathead V-8 that was introduced
in 1932 made Ford the undisputed performance leader in its price
field. The engine would go on to become a legend, powering eight
million production vehicles before it finally made way for Ford's
Y-block, a modern, overhead-valve design, in 1954. The flathead
gets its name from the design of the cylinder heads, which are,
effectively, flat pieces of metal with no moving parts. The valves
and all of the valvegear are contained entirely within the block,
which is cast as a single piece for durability. The ends of the
studs that hold the blocks to the head are easily visible, with no
rocker covers in the way. The early flathead V-8 had its share of
teething problems, including excessive oil consumption and a
propensity to overheat, a chronic
