There are certain years of prewar Ford production that attract hot rod builders like flies to a picnic.  1932, 1934, 1936, and 1940 are all banner years for Fords, and within those years, coupes and roadsters reign supreme.  For lovers of 1936 Fords, at the top of the list is the three-window coupe.  The auction for this 1936 Ford three-window coupe for sale on eBay in Dandridge, Tennessee will certainly attract a lot of attention.  For serious buyers, this coupe will present a dilemma.  In very rough condition, this coupe could be brought back from the dead with one of those pallets of cash we send to Iran occasionally.  However, this one is indeed rough enough to be a poster car for Bondo body filler.  Can a normal human bring this former hot rod to show condition without selling their soul to the bank in the process?  Can you believe that there have already been 12 bidders who have sent the bidding on this car to $8,300?  Would you be willing to take on such a Herculean task?

World-renowned guitarist and noted hot rod collector Jeff Beck called the 1936 Ford three-window coupe the most beautiful car ever produced.  He believed that Ford should have stopped right there with updates and continued to produce this car forever.  While his enthusiasm for this vehicle is a bit extreme, one look at the selling prices of these coupes shows that they have a tremendously strong following.  That following doesn’t just include those who would park one of these coupes in their living room to stare at like you would a fine piece of art.  If you look at the cars used in The Great Race every year, coupes like this are disproportionately popular with the folks who enter and, occasionally, win this time/speed/distance rally.

This fondness for these cars must be why this rolling wreck has already hit $8,300 in bidding and will likely soar higher.  Yet one would have to question what the costs would be to bring this car up to a high standard, whether that be a stock restoration or as a hot rod once again.  As it sits, someone long ago swapped out the Flathead Ford V-8, three-speed manual transmission, and Banjo rear end for a Chevrolet small block V-8, an automatic transmission, and a Chevrolet rear end of indeterminate origin.  The body is riddled with rust in the usual places.  Furthermore, there seems to have been no attempt to repair body damage properly by the previous builder.  Bondo was unceremoniously slathered over the damage, sanded to match any contours, and painted over.  Out of sight and out of mind.

What we cannot put out of our sight or mind are the few “hot rod” features that altered the body of this car.  Ignoring the smooth and beautiful lines of 1935-1936 Ford taillights, the builder grafted and Bondoed in a set of late model taillights into the bottom body panel.  The roof insert was filled in with some sheet metal, and the floors were cut out and replaced with even more sheet metal.  The use of a Chevrolet V-8 with the distributor at the rear of the block also necessitated cutting the firewall and enraging the ghost of Henry Ford himself.  Perhaps the greatest horror is the area between the rumble seat and the bottom of the body.  A gas tank has been installed below, so, naturally, the right thing to do was to cut a hole in the panel for a fuel filler neck.  Something about that whole panel doesn’t look right either.  Does anyone else see a VW Beetle decklid, or are my eyes deceiving me?  For a Ford fan, it is hard to absorb just how many sins were committed against this poor coupe.

Yet, like Frankenstein’s monster, this car can live again.  It will require the sacrifice of a few parts cars and a few trips of a Brink’s truck to places like Bob Drake Reproductions and Dennis Carpenter Ford Restoration Parts.  The thing you have to remember is that the frame, engine, transmission, rear end, and all of the rest of the mechanical parts were all the same for all 1936 Ford cars, with only the bodies being different.  The front ends are all the same for each year, but the rear fenders may be coupe, convertible coupe, and cabriolet specific.  Of course, you would also have to add seats, a dash, bumpers, a spare tire assembly and cover, and dozens of other smaller parts and pieces to your list of necessities.

Probably the best bet here is to just truss up the three-window body, unceremoniously remove it from the frame by any means necessary and toss the chassis and whatever else.  You might be able to sell a few items here and there, but would it even be worth the trouble?  Once removed, a talented fabricator could set to work on the body shell.  If it were going to be restored to stock, many of the sheet metal parts are available, or patch panels could be fabricated.  As a hot rod, I think that the leeway you would have on panels like the floor would make the job a bit easier.

The other problem would be paying by the hour to have a talented craftsman on the project.  Few home hobbyists could tackle the metal work required on this coupe.  One has to wonder if all the effort and expense would be worth it when good examples sell regularly for $30,000-40,000.  You could easily see that much money flowing like a mighty river through this project and not being enough to get it to the finish line.  While we would all like to see this car saved, it is going to take a special kind of owner to see it through.

What do you think?  Is this one restorable?  Can you see a nice hot rod rising from the ashes of this once-substandard build?  Please share your thoughts in the comments.