Vehicle Description
In the same owner's hands for 66 years! Two restorations, the most
recent of which was about 10 years ago. 283 Chevy power, automatic
transmission, beautiful interior. Still feels like a '40 Ford, just
a bit more performance!You read that correctly, this car has been
with the same owner for 66 years. He bought it as daily
transportation in 1955 when it was just a 15-year-old used car.
Eventually he realized that the Arizona Ford was special and
retired it to fair weather duty. Sometime in the 1960s, he
freshened it with new paint and a Chevrolet V8, and continued to
enjoy it as a fair-weather cruiser. Sometime in the mid-2000s, he
had the means and desire to give the old girl another makeover,
resulting in the beautiful red coupe you see today. The paint is
just the right shade of fire engine red, bright but deep and rich
and obviously the desert-bred bodywork is in exceptional shape
never having seen a single winter. Fit and finish are excellent
because the car has 100% of its original steel and has never needed
any tweaking, so the doors swing shut with authority and the big
clamshell hood fits nicely. There are no modifications to the stock
bodywork or trim-everything Henry Ford wanted on the car remains in
place, from the distinctive V-shaped grille to the bright stainless
side trim to the 'Ford Deluxe' script on the side of the hood. Even
the rubber running boards remain. All the glass was replaced and
there's a modern antenna on the driver's fender, but that's about
it for alterations-it still unquestionably looks like a 1940 Ford.
The interior was remade to reflect the car's western Arizona
heritage with two-tone cloth upholstery on the original split bench
seat. The dash is outfitted with modern VDO gauges but the factory
steering wheel and horn ring remain. 1940 Fords were all column
shifted, but with the swap to an automatic gearbox, there's a tall
Lokar shifter that looks right in the vintage cockpit and the
original clock is still in the glove box lid (inoperable, sadly).
You'll note there are no clumsy under-dash A/C units, no hacked-up
dash for a modern radio, and even the original opera seats in back
are still in place with original hardware so you can carry a few
passengers in a pinch. They worked hard to update the car without
removing its essential personality, and I think they succeeded.
Even the trunk is outfitted with fresh upholstery, which was very
nicely done. The engine is a mid-60s Chevrolet 283 which is about
the same weight as the original flathead but makes about twice the
horsepower. Not intended to be a tire-burner, it's merely
competent, smooth, and reliable without changing the way the car
feels going down the road. Of course, it can cruise at 75 MPH
without any issues and the Chevy V8 is as reliable as anything else
you'd find. Topped with a 4-barrel carburetor and an Edelbrock
intake manifold, it's a combination that was perfected years ago so
it should be easy to service and tune in the future. Today it fires
up easily, idles properly, and pulls the coupe around with
enthusiasm. And again, there are no extras that the car wouldn't
have had in 1940, which means the original steering and brakes are
intact for an authentic feel. The TH350 3-speed automatic
transmission offers crisp shifts and feeds a 10-bolt rear end with
tall highway gears inside, so this Ford is an easy highway cruiser.
The front suspension is stock while the rear lost its single
transverse leaf spring in favor of traditional leaf springs and
tube shocks. The dual exhaust system uses glasspack-style mufflers
that dump out just ahead of the rear wheels, so it has a suitable
hot rod soundtrack and you'll note that the undercarriage and
floors are in excellent shape, again thanks to spending most of its
life out west. There's also a fresh battery, some new wiring, and
appropriate 15-inch blackwall radials on flashy aluminum wheels.
Extras include a pair of original factory Ford wheels, a custom
spare tire cover for the trunk, and a bunch of spare parts from the
car's various iterations over the years. Long-term ownership is a
good indicator of a great car. It was loved for decades and any
bugs it might have had were worked out years ago. That means you
get a car that has been treated gently and which runs properly. And
there still aren't many better-looking pre-war cars than a 1940
Ford coupe. If that's your thing, this is your car. Call today!
Harwood Motors always recommends and welcomes personal or
professional inspections of any vehicle in our inventory prior to
purchase.
