Update 5/13/20 – After getting some new rims and touchup paint, this sweet hot rod has been relisted here on eBay.
From 3/21/20 – It appears that time travel is beyond we mere humans, but slipping behind the wheel of this 1936 Ford DeLuxe 3-Window Coupe might be the next best thing. This old classic was transformed into a hot rod in the 1950s, but then lay forgotten in a barn for decades. It has only recently been revived, and it is now ready to hit the road once again. So, if you fancy winding the clock back to the “Happy Days” era, you will find the Coupe located in Upland, California, and listed for sale here on eBay. Sometimes cars will pop up on the market, and they really generate some interest. This appears to be one of those cars. There have been a total of 52 bids submitted on the Ford, which has pushed things along to $46,350. Not only has the reserve not been met at that price, but there are also 264 people who are currently watching the listing. Hmmm, it seems that plenty of people might really like this one.
It’s pretty impressive to think that the majority of the Black paint that graces the Coupe’s panels is said to be original. The front fenders, along with the inner wheel wells and the firewall, all received a repaint back in 1961. There are a couple of areas of primer on the right-rear of the body, but it isn’t clear when this was applied. The paint is starting to show some wear in a few spots such as the roof, but it still looks very presentable. Rust? Forget it…not an issue. This old classic is about as solid as they come. The floors have some relatively light surface corrosion on the underside, but there’s no reason why the next owner will need to break out the grinder and welder. All of the exterior chrome is present, and while the bumpers look like they might benefit from a trip to the plater, the rest of it looks nice. Interestingly, the owner actually refers to the grille as being perfect, and it doesn’t have any physical damage. It does look like it has some corrosion on it, but given the owner’s assertion, perhaps it is just the way that the light is hitting it in the photos. It would seem that the story with the glass might be very similar to that of the exterior trim. The majority of it actually looks pretty reasonable, although the rear window is very cloudy.
Take a look at that interior. Once again, there’s a lot of originality inside this Ford. The mohair upholstery on the seats, door trims, and the headliner is all claimed to be original. The armrests are showing wear, but the rest of the interior trim is surprisingly good. The cover is stretched and the padding looks a bit flat on the driver’s side of the seat, but the seat itself remains serviceable. I would be very tempted to find an upholsterer to look at the seat because I suspect that some judicious use of padding could have it looking good once again. The floor-mat is also said to be original and is in quite nice condition. The dash looks like it has survived well, while the optional factory radio and the chrome steering column are both great touches.
Now we begin to delve into the area of the Coupe where the majority of the changes have been made. The engine remains a 221ci flathead V8, but this one isn’t original. That original engine was replaced very early in the Coupe’s life. The engine was then pulled in 1961 with a view to performing an engine upgrade, which never happened. The car sat unloved and largely forgotten until 2017 when the current owner purchased it. At that point, the Ford was rewired with factory-style wiring, the brakes were replaced, and the 221 was slotted back into the engine bay. It isn’t clear whether there have been any internal modifications made to the engine, but it does wear a Thickstun intake and air cleaner, and squeezed between those two components is a pair of Stromberg 97 carburetors. That takes care of the incoming air, while the spent gases find their way out through a custom exhaust. It would be a pretty safe bet to say that this now produces more than its original 85hp. The car also features a 4″ dropped front axle, while those new brakes are all 1940 Ford hydraulic components. The owner claims that the Coupe now runs and drives really well.
I couldn’t resist including this photo for a couple of reasons. The first is that it does give you a chance to see just how solid the floors and frame of the Ford are. However, the main reason was so that you could see the custom exhaust. It isn’t sophisticated, but it looks awesome. You would have to think that the flathead sounds pretty good exhaling through that setup.
The more that I look at this Coupe the more that I like it. It harks back to a simpler time when “Ike” was in the White House and Rock and Roll was first beginning to emerge to traumatize parents. I would be tempted to call it a time machine, not because it is a perfectly preserved and original 1936 Ford Coupe, but because it perfectly embodies an era when almost anyone could build a hot rod in their own driveway or garage. I know that we can’t wind back the clock, but there are plenty of people alive today who would love to get the chance to. Maybe that explains why there is so much interest in this car. It’s as close as we can get to returning to the land of yesterday.
Just when I thought people appreciative of this era car are all but gone, the response on eBay bidding proves otherwise. Terrific icon of the flathead era, and a real survivor at that.
Agree – most likely going across the pond or way down under….
Now at just a few bucks under $47K, and I wish I could throw in a bid, even if the reserve still isn’t met. I’m guessing the owner wants well upwards of 50 large for it. If I had the dough, I’d think it was worth it….
If I could land this, I’d be sorely tempted to paint the primer spots on the right rear quarter, and polish things up as well as possible. The tires and brake rubber parts are probably pretty well used up, too. Beyond that? It looks just about ideal, but maybe some Offy, Edelbrock or Navarro heads, a third 97 and maybe a cam. It’s a hot rod, after all.
Then, nothin’ but driving. This ’36 is truly Old Skool. I’m Old Skool, too.
Very nice but the 5 window coupe is far ahead in appearance.
Maybe as a road car but not as a Hot Rod.
Tort–THIS is the one `36 lovers want; a 3-window!! Second only to a cvt., I can see why bids are at almost $50K. You don’t get much moe solid and original than this. I bet it’s gone by this Saturday 5/16.
I’ll keep y 34 roadster even in a snowstorm over a 5 window [station wagon]
With that exhaust setup – keep the windows rolled down…
That exhaust system is going to have a lot of bark to it. I’d love to take a drive in it just to hear it once. Kind of a rarity to see a ’39 generator on it. It’s actually a good idea because regulating the original 3rd-brush unit can get challenging.
Fender skirts have got to go! I hated them when I was a kid and I hate them today. The ones on my ’49 Chevy are hung up on the wall. It’s a good thing too, because I would be tempted to drive over them and crush them…
AWWWW My 41 Studebaker Champion ctudor looked so much better with after market ‘skirts”.
and decade or so later, my 50 chevroet would look partly nudse, sans it’s factory skirts…
carlo
Looks a lot like an old AMT model kit I
bought at Brown Home & Auto back in the
late ’60s. While Woolworth and K-mart
would sell you the latest and greatest
plastic kits like GTOs or Mustangs, Brown
Home & Auto sold nothing but model kits
made in the mid to late ’50s for the astoundingly low price of $1.25! Most all
my early attempts to build model cars started with kits like that. The kit I had
could be built as a roadster or a 3 window coupe like this one. You could also choose to build it stock, custom, or
drag racing configurations as well. The
kit I built was a dead wringer of this car
with exception of the engine which was. 389 V-8 with 3 deuces on top. At that price, I eventually had a coupe and 2
roadsters–one stock and the other a
drag car. And that didn’t include the ’49
and ’50 Fords I bought nor the ’49 Mercury coupe I bought at Osco Drugs
for $1.50 apiece. But I digress. Great old
Ford. Just wait til Geomechs sees this
one!
Saw it, Ken. And I like everything but the skirts. I built a lot of models too. Wish I hung onto some of them. I had one of those AMT kits for a ‘36 roadster. Could’ve built a custom but I put the flathead into it and put the Pontiac engine on display. Obviously my fetish for stockers began before I had to shave.
I’m with you on the skirts Geomechs I can’t stand them. This car if it were mine would get a repaint, single stage limousine black. As for the interior the only reason it’s not torn is it hasn’t been in use. The fabric will not last with use now. I’d use it as is until it did tear then put in a red leather interior which will look exceptional next to a black exterior.
My dad and I got into models at the same time, about ten years after the golden age of AMT four screw kits. But man did we build a TON of Dueces, 1936s, 40 coupe and 39/40 tudor, 49 and 50 Fords in every state of dress. We also had a favorite “go to” store for old, out of production kits where the prices were better. In 1969, you could buy Revell, AMT, Monogram and Lindberg kits from ten years earlier for pennies. I guess the store’s manager would rather they sit since they couldn’t be returned for credit.
There’s a hobby shop in the Twin Cities area that has a lot of old models but there aren’t any bargains. I saw a Monogram ‘Yellow Jacket’ (put one together back in ’65) for $150.00. I think I paid a buck and a quarter for mine back in the day. But the shop was still a place where you could drift back in time and dream of the day when model cars were actually affordable…
Guess I’m alone here, but I like the look of the skirts on this particular car.
And those tail lights coming off stalks on the back, unreal! I admit I like it, there’s not much I’d do to it other than fixing the little things, doing all the maintenance items that need to be done and go drive it.
You are not alone Fred. I love fender skirts on any car. I just think that they compliment the flowing lines of the roof, but to each his own hey? As for the exhaust pipes Blonde, I would love to see them sticking out under the rear bumper about 4″ They are so distinctive, why hide them?
Hi I have a 1949 Ford Custom 2 door with the skirts , just doesn’t look the same with them off
You are NOT alone! They look right at home on this amazing coupe!
I am here again. I posted that I did like the skirts. these flow well with the fender shape.
This thing really captures my imagination. I’m 63 years old and this car sat, apart, from when I started Kindergarten until just before I early-retired. It’s like stepping back in time with a direct connection to the past. I don’t care what carbs or exhaust it has or if it makes ‘more than the original 85 hp’, it’s gonna get out-run by everything from a Kia Reo on up. But that’s not the point of a car like this. Someone is going to get a really great drive-able artifact.
Wow, what a find. I am not a huge Ford fan, but I think the 36 was one of the most beautiful automobiles ever made.
50 large for this? It needs everything.
…..you aren’t familiar with `36 Fords that kids drove back in the `50s, are you. I didn’t think so.
I too built a model of this, and a 49 Ford tudor and a custom 50 Merc. I came home to find my 3 year old nephew playing demo derby with them on the living room carpet. I still don’t like that damned brat! My dream car and if I sold everything I own I still couldn’t bid on it dammit
A friend of mine has an impressive collection of die-cast models. He came home one day and to his horror found his grandson playing rather roughly with a couple of them. The boy pointed to the cabinet and started screaming like a banshee until she just gave him a couple. She mighty incensed when my friend grabbed the ‘toys’ and put them away. To her they were just—toys, and could NOT understand why my friend could be so selfish. Needless to say the DIL and FIL have had a less than stellar relationship since then…
Damn, I’ve got to either quit commenting on my cellphone or proofread better. ‘She,’ is the daughter-in-law…
I too had a 3 in 1 kit of 36 Ford in the early 60’s. I went original with mine.
To me it looks like the two exhaust pipes on the left side make a loop and are not functional. I’m in the camp of those who don’t like the skirts, so they would have to go. Lowering the front end with a drop axel seems very old school, with so many options available these days I do believe I’d have to go with a mustang II style front suspension with rack n pinion power steering. Ofcourse that does require some modifications not stock to a 36 but then that ship already sailed with the custom exhaust setup.
God bless America
I am with geomechs the skirts would be gone. The flatty would be wonderful to work on, I have no clue why but I drove a grain truck in high school that had a flathead and I have never heard a more quiet smooth engine sometime in my life I do need to own a car with that engine! I like this car a lot but it would get a repaint in a very glossy black. Beautiful car!
Hi Karl. I learned to drive in a ‘49 Ford F3, and that was taking grain away from the combine. I graduated to an F6 amongst the Binders and GM products. There’s nothing like starting out with nearly 300 bushels of grain in a soft field and trying to get enough momentum to shift from Granny-Granny to Granny-High. The designers of those old engines regardless of make knew what they were doing…
For the same reason we stripped off the fenders, chain guard etc on our Schwins we would have scrapped the skirts or any other extraneous accessories. Lighten it up and give it a racing look.
I really miss the days you could order the same car in different body styles. This car looks great with or without skirts. Those taillights are art deco, just sweeping off the tail of this car, making it look fast.
This car has style. Something today’s cars, since the 1980s don’t have.
Same style as your fridge as to today’s cars…
My present cars a bit more stylish!!! but, old enough!!
83 jaguar XJ6. quirks and all, it has style.
94 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. A box with a grill reminding of the original WWII jeep ;look..
This is not a hot rod. It is a mild custom.
The dropped axle known as a “Dago” back in the day and the suspension itself is actually not bad as a suspension
Race cars used it for decades..
The three window was more rare than the e 5 window. One of the guys that worked in a parts store that I frequented, “back in the day” had one. It got “t boned” hard on the driver side. Driver and car survived., a master body guy fixed it, as good or better than new. It had a full “tuck and roll” interior in black. His car was black. . Looked more like a ‘coffin” He took some jibs over that.
I could live with this ne just as it s. but, for the price, just a dream..
I’ve lived with a few of Henry’s flat head V8’s. Quirks and all, very impressive…
Carl
As nice as it is I’ve got 50,000 reasons why it’s not, and they’re all $. Some people must have more money than sense. Think of what you can buy for $50,000.
Adam Clark, Not to nit pic, But IKE Eisenhower was hardly know if at all around 1936. He was one of the commanding generals in WWII. I was around 6 years old when Ike became president of the USA in the early 50,s. Just saying.
James – Adam was referring to Ike’s time in the White House as the time when this car was built into a hot rod, not when the car was originally produced in 1936.
And Ike never learned to drive as he always had a driver assigned to him.
I think he means that it was hot rodded during the Ike yrs…
Give ’em a break – he’s frm 12, 13 thousand miles away~
8^0
Right Danny?
Are they way forward, of are mufflers missing?
I see no mufflers. One pipe split in to twp on each bank of four. At about that time, a dragster used something like that.
The Tucson speed sport Special. T body, rear mounted Chrysler Hemi. . Four pipes, one per cylinder. I saw and heard it at Holtville. awesome scream…
Goodness, this is beautiful! I’d give a limb for this, but admittedly there are many cars higher on my wish list, especially at $50k. I do hope it is staying in the country. Goes to show that nice desirable cars will always bring solid money and that the sky is not falling as some keep insisting.
Asking price and sale at what price? Large factors…
English teacher at my high school ’56-’59 had a totally stock one that every guy in school wanted. Fortunately he was a good sport about it and turned down all offers.
Upland is about 90 miles away.
Is this a model 48, or a model. 68?
Model 48 made: 81
Model 68 made; 15,485.
The designation for 1936 was ‘68.’ 1935 was ‘48. Ford’s numbering system was a little skewed during the 30s.
Any excuse to post a shot of the Mighty Chrysler….I love my skirts!!
Beautiful car.
If you liked building models when you were younger give them a try again. I still build them (63 years old) and have a great time doing it. They seem expensive compared to what we paid when we were kids but the hobby actually isn’t really expensive. I do still work on my old car but models are a lot easier on the old bones. And knees and shoulders, etc., etc. And you can have a lot of the cars you dream about with not much space needed. I also enjoy already assembled diecast models but there is a lot of satisfaction in building them yourselves.
My dad and I cranked out assembled kit cars by the dozens in the late 60s-70s and the collection grew to where we had to dedicate the entire ground floor of our house to it. When he passed in 1996, I logged everything we had and it totaled almost 5000 cars. This didn’t include all the fixtures and showcases full of small scale Matchbox, Corgi, Hot Wheels and the like. It moved from Virginia to Tennessee and the collection got sorted and purged to where I have a much more tidy collection of maybe 150 of the real collectibles. As far as building glue kits now…I have enough to pray over with the repairs to the stuff I moved all those years ago. And I have a one year old son who will soon discover all the “toys” in Daddy’s hobby room.. Not looking forward to adding razor wire and trained guard dogs to the entrance of the man cave! LOL
The owner cleaned this lil’ peach up real nice! I rarely see a car that I wouldn’t do anything to visually… but this one is an exception. The wheels, tires & paint touch up & buff did the trick. What a beaut!!!
Sorry guys I’m ALL IN FOR SKIRTS it say class act to me .So much style and class in the oldies .My 6 year old grandson even sees the difference a mile away.He points out every old car he sees when riding with me and says wow grandpa look at that ride its beautiful what is it. Got a love it don’t let it die teach your children what real class rides look like . He can spot an old vette everytime.
I liked it in the first offering with the 40s-50s era correct full size wheel covers skirts. Not as keen on the fresh “pandering” changes other than covering the orange primer.
I sure do hope he kept the wheels, wheel covers and skirts. It looked so much better with them. If I were the buyer, I would put them back on immediately.
I would loose the skirts and the whitewalls make it mechanically sound and drive the tires off it!! The skirts aren’t the end of the world but the tires have to go!! Just my personal preference!!! Love the straight pipe exhaust too!!! Never seen an exhaust quite like that!!!
o0OP, didn’t read below B4 typin my own entry (the “Ike” was covered).
Just poped back in to say give it the wire wheels? I like the cloth covered wires under the hood, so Y not? I can’t tell from the lift pic or the verbage of “4 yr newer brakes” but immagine workin on mechanical breaks. This would B a lill more fun wrkin on that those models mentioned but truth be told? I better go out’n buy one of those as I’ll never get the $ 49,850 this 1 just got “delisted” at…
The original wheels are of the wide 5 lug bolt variety. Found on 36 -39 Fords. Only the 39’s were “juice” brakes. So, as this car went to “juice” brakes, the 50 version was used. the wide 5’s wheels don’t fit.
Common practice, back in the day..
aye, I fought with many a mechanical brake in my day. the cable ones particularly hard to keep adjusted. the rod operated variety easier. But the wear part made some work better than others
Interesting comments re: the skirts. Doesn’t seem to be any middle ground. Put me in the group that thinks they add style and class to almost any vehicle that wears them.
What… you guys never learned how to take off a skirt???
Fabric, metal or then fiber glass???
I never did, I just lift them up
If they were Irish or Scots they’d know how…😱😆 prefer to call them kilts though-most Americans don’t know the difference but having had a girlfriend in Glasgow
“You would have to think that the flathead sounds pretty good exhaling through that setup.” and very few engines sound as sweet as a good running flathead.
Not long before I bought my ’39 I would lie in bed at my grandparents house and listen to the farm boys pulling out of the alley in their old Fords after the bars closed uptown. A distinctive sound that you can’t duplicate!