Vehicle Description
1938 Ford 5 Window Coupe
Ford Motor Company introduced its DeLuxe Ford line in 1938 as an
upscale alternative to bridge the gap between its base model,
(usually called Standard), and luxury Lincoln offerings. The
"Deluxe" name was first used starting in 1930 to specify an upscale
trim starting with the Model 40-B and Model 45-B, then later the
DeLuxe Ford line was differentiated as a separate "marque within a
marque" with separate styling and pricing through 1940. During
1939, Ford had five lines of cars: Ford, DeLuxe Ford, Mercury,
Lincoln-Zephyr, and Lincoln. After the war, this was simplified to
Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln. The 1941 Ford line included "DeLuxe"
and "Super DeLuxe" trim, but these vehicles were not marketed as a
separate line. As Mercury Eight sales progressed, the DeLuxe
approach was cancelled.
For consignment, a 1938 5 window coupe hot rod if you will, and in
tasteful form. A design so wildly popular among hot rodders, that
about the only thing topping this body style is the 1939/1940 Ford
coupe. This car is all metal, retains its beautiful bulbous design,
running boards, and nice Art Deco charm. It has been nosed and
decked, and 350 cubes of Chevrolet iron, a custom interior and some
snappy wheels that all work to bring a breath of fresh air here in
our Hallowed Halls of Classic Auto Mall.
Exterior
All steel, bathed in very nice Black Rose Metallic
basecoat/clearcoat paint provides the backdrop for the nearly full
chrome deletion save for the small side mirrors, 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
save for a scrape on the rear fender but one must look hard to
notice it. The hood has been smoothed of all its chrome and the top
retains its stock height giving this bulbous curvy rodder just the
right look. The large teardrop shaped, sealed beam headlamp bezels
flank a horizontal ribbed curved V grille that zooms rearward
emulating a heart shape. A nice flame motif licks its way back on
either side along the beltline of the slightly curved sides. At the
gracefully curved rear of this car, we see 2 frenched in teardrop
style tail lights almost getting lost in the deep field of Black
Rose Metallic paint but managing to hold their own. Gleaming
15-inch Billet Specialties wheels are polished up and on all 4
corners and are wearing staggered width blackwall radials.
Interior
A swing of the door, and we shake hands with custom tweed
broadcloth panels playing together with a small dark maroon vinyl
insert and long sweeping armrest to make up the door panels. Billet
door handles and power window are within this field of maroon tweed
and not a mark on them. Slipping inside we come uponjust beautiful
tight tuck and roll stitched broadcloth covering the split bench
seat in the door panel matching maroon tweed. This seat is nice and
wide with neatly curved backs so they offer up plenty of room and
support along with a foldable armrest. A Billet Specialties
steering wheel fronts the dash atop an adjustable billet column and
fronts the fully custom dash, which is now all custom covered dark
maroon for the topper. This is all highlighted across its width by
a darker maroon panel holding blue LCD displays and vents for the
AC. More maroon padding covers the bottom of the dash and very nice
mauve carpeting floods the floor. Wonderfully comfy and
ergonomically laid out for the most discriminating hot rod driver!
A shout out to the rear bench that mimics the front and more maroon
tweed envelops the entirety of the cabin and I adore the overhead
console that houses the AM/FM/CD stereo.
Drivetrain
A flip of the bulbous hood, and we are met with a consignor-stated
350ci V8 power plant in chromed and polished splendor. On top of
this blinged out masterpiece is an Edelbrock intake manifold with a
4-barrel carburetor and polished air cleaner assembly atop. On the
back is a 3-speed automatic Turbo Hydramatic 350 transmission and
this pushes power rearward to a Ford 8" rear axle. Ultra clean and
highly polished, just the way I like it.
Undercarriage
Very clean and totally restored, no rust here with a black painted
frame and near flawless black paintedflooring. Power disc brakes
are on the4 corners to provide the whoa factor and a like new
stainless steel exhaust system, complete with headers and Ultraflow
mufflers, snakes its way rearward through the structurally sound
framework, and very nice undercarriage of floor pans, toe kicks and
rockers...all rust free. Suspension is Mustang II style with coil
overs in the front and leaf spring in the rear.
Drive-Ability
She fired right up with a low rumble for an idle, and off to the
test track where we made plenty of noise, experienced wonderful
acceleration, a smooth shifting transmission, and good solid
handling. All functions were working fab at the time of my test
drive save for the electric popper not opening the trunk. Sadly,
this does not have a manual override so we have no clue as to what
lies in the trunk.
Take the very popular for the time design, spice it up with 2 stage
Black Rose Metallic paint and pepper in some custom touches to the
exterior, stitch a bunch of tweed broadcloth to create a great
comfy interior, new digital dash, and we have a real winner. And do
not forget the rod mods like frenched taillights, shaved bumpers
and of course the 350ci engine all blinged out to the heavens. 1938
never looked so good!
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 850 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.
