Vehicle Description
1940 Ford Deluxe Convertible
The clean styling of Ford's 1940 offerings was one factor that
drove sales to more than five hundred thousand units, a jump of
more than fifty percent over the previous year. Part of this
popularity could no doubt be attributed to Eugene "Bob" Gregorie's
influence on the stylists who penned this design while he was chief
of Ford's design department, a post that he held from 1935 to 1943.
It was a freshening up of a styling concept first introduced in
1939 by the addition of a new front end design. Sealed beam
headlights were offered for the first time by the automaker on the
1940 model. Aside from being a major safety improvement, their
design contributed considerably to the new look.
For consignment, a Deluxe convertible hot rod if you will, but in
tasteful form. The design was so wildly popular among hot rodders,
Ford actually sold the rights to the design in later years so they
could be reproduced in fiberglass. This car is an original all
steel convertible body, retaining its beautiful bulbous design,
running boards, has a convertible top put on and all sits on a TCI
frame The interior is a sight to behold in all its parchment glory,
and an overall very nice build for sale here at Classic Auto
Mall.
Exterior
With the body finished by Worrell Auto Body and bathed in very nice
Steel Blue 2 stage paint, and adorned with a small chrome tubular
bumper on the front, near perfect badging and brite-work, we have a
rolling work of art. Very little was left unturned on this
restoration, as lines are straight, gaps are really nice, and steel
is straight. The large visored sealed beam headlamp bezels flank a
horizontal ribbed curved V grille and tall hood center. A nice
chromed spear works its way back on either side along the beltline
of the slightly curved sides. At the curved rear of this car, we
see 2 V shapes Sergeant Stripe like tail lights almost getting lost
in the deep field of blue paint. The rear bumper was omitted, and a
smoothed rear roll pan was added for clean crisp looks. Gleaming
17" American Racing wheels are noted on all 4 corners. A pristine
canvas convertible top, which is manually operated, prepares us for
a gaze into the interior.
Interior
A swing of the door, and we are in a parchment bucket seat and door
panel custom vinyl and leather heaven. With the leather buckets, we
can see not a mark on them, just some material bunching on the
upper bolsters. Moving to the back reveals a pristine parchment
bench bringing up the rear. On the dash some liberties were taken
on the original design, but it retains its beautiful form with blue
shiny paint and even shinier chrome horizontal ribbing over the
factory speaker location. A chrome steering column has a leather
wrapped polished aluminum hub center steering wheel at its end.
This fronts a bevy of Classic Instrument gauges in round form with
chrome bezels. Blue padding covers the lower parts of the dash and
a parchment and blue console flows down to the floor and holds both
the AM/FM/CD stereo and cupholders. Royal blue carpeting in mint
condition floods the floors. The trunk too has been finished to
perfection with more blue carpeting and parchment and blue side
panels.
Drivetrain
A flip of the massive hood, and we are met with an equally massive
350ci V8 in chromed and polished splendor. Our consignor states
that this mill was assembled by Lorenzo and makes a turn smoking
400hp. A QuickFuel 4-barrel feeds plenty of fossils and air to the
mill, and it is backed up by a rebuilt TH400 3-speed automatic
transmission. A Ford 9" rear axle by Currie has Positraction added
in to help the power hit both wheels. Everything looks just
stunning and clean here.
Undercarriage
This entire undercarriage is clean enough to eat off of and shows
the same attention to detail at the topside and interior, very
clean and totally redone, no rust is seen here. A base coat clear
coat painted TCI frame provides the backbone for all the
underpinnings. Independent coil spring front suspension is on along
with tubular lower control arms while leaf springs give the ride
for the rear. Stopping power is courtesy of disc brakes in the
front and drum brakes in the rear all with power assist. Headers
are on and connect to like new exhaust which snakes its way to the
rear of the car through Flowmaster mufflers before ending in highly
polished tips.
Drive-Ability
With the days growing shorter and the weather a bit colder it was a
top up drive for me. A twist of the key and all 8 lit up with a
glorious V8 symphony. Off to the patented and well hidden Classic
Auto Mall test track I went, and boy did I go! Endless acceleration
along with modern car handling was noted. Braking was more than
adequate, and all functions were operational at the time of my
drive save for the heat and ac which are not hooked up, binding of
the convertible top when in motion, a fuel gauge that doesn't read
a level and a horn that doesn't toot. Lots of thumbs up were had
that day by passers by and I enjoyed myself so much I extended my
test drive another lap just for good measure.
Take the very popular for the time design, spice it up with 2 stage
Steel Blue paint and pepper on some chrome on the exterior, stitch
a subtle parchment and blue interior and more chrome accents, and
we have a real winner. And do not forget the convertible and the
gleaming engine in 350ci 4-barrel form, all dressed up and ready to
go out, with a bang!
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 650 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display.
This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown,
Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia
on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is
www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914.
Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the
vehicle in person.
