Ford’s 1939 Standard Coupe combined aerodynamic styling with affordability. Its sporty, two-door streamlined body style, with teardrop headlights and an Art Deco front grille, was accentuated by a distinctive 5-window configuration. The 5-window setup got its name from five distinct window openings: two main door windows, two smaller rear quarter windows, and one rear window. This look gave the driver and occupants more visibility. Noted as coming from an estate in the Carolinas, this Ford Coupe is now in Hermitage, Pennsylvania, and is listed on Craigslist for $15,000 OBO.
Ford offered a couple of shades of green in 1939, and this dark green exterior looks like it might be Dartmouth Green. The listing doesn’t mention whether this Ford wears the original paint or has any rust or dents, but the photos suggest the body is in excellent condition with a good shine to the paint. Likewise, the interior looks extremely clean and presentable, with a light brown and gray combination that complements the green exterior.
A plus for this 1939 Ford is its original 221 cu in flathead V8, which produced 85 hp. This particular engine was introduced in late 1938 by Ford and is commonly called the “24 stud” engine because it uses twenty-four studs to hold down each head. The seller lists some upgrades here, including a 12-volt conversion, PerTronix ignition, and a new alternator. The seller also says the rear end has been rebuilt with new bearings and a 3.23 ring and pinion, plus new transmission synchronizers for 2nd and 3rd gear.
Overall, this 1939 Ford looks extremely beautiful, and the seller says they invested $35,000 to get the car to where it is now. However, the asking price is less than half the seller’s investment at $15,000. Could this be a smoking hot deal? Perhaps, but it depends on what the seller admits: a bearing noise that starts at about 45 mph. While he says the Ford is drivable, this will obviously need to be looked into. It could be as simple as a worn wheel bearing, a common issue that gets louder with speed, but it could also be something more involved. Could this be a great deal for a collector looking to get a 5-window classic coupe?
Very nice looking car that appears well done. My gut feeling is the seller knows the sound of a rod bearing noise when he hears one and has adjusted the price accordingly. With that being said, still a pretty decent deal.
Looks very nice. “Bearing noise” could have a number of causes, but my first thought would be a wheel bearing based on it being noted at higher speed. That shouldn’t be difficult to fix.
Not especially enamored of the electrical upgrades, though they are becoming more and more common. I’d be tempted to revert to original, and live with any drawbacks. Wouldn’t be my first six-volt car, by any means.
Like yesterday’s Falcon, this is a relatively simple car that an owner can service if so inclined. Parts availability is pretty good as well. And it’s certainly stylish. Very classy.
Ray, as you know from experience the only drawback to 6v systems is the heavier and more expensive gauge wire required to carry the same amperage as 12v. The industry switch was simply one to save money (copper) and weight (copper).
On another topic, I thought the “Standard” models in ’39 had a single taillamp whereas the “Deluxe” came with doubles. Hmmm…
To Will (the really old one): I commented on the two lail-lamps above. The Standard came with one; HOWEVER, you COULD order a Standard with both tail-lamps.
One of the most beautiful frontends ever designed. This is a steal when comparing other cars and prices from the same era, plus the original drivetrain. I hope it finds a good home.
I don’t think it would be a rod bearing or anything in the engine. That would be more RPM related, say at 2,000 RPM, or 3,000 RPM. 45 MPH would have to be driveline related from the tranny back to the wheel bearings. A 1939 Standard grill, hood and headlights are the same thing as a 1938 Deluxe. A 1939 Deluxe looks more like a 1940 Standard. Now that I have totally confused everyone, it’s a beautiful car at a good price. I would drive it to church just the way it is.
I didn’t get to welcome Christopher to the group, I hope you have as much fun writing these up, as we get reading your submissions. BTW, it has since been sold.
I know it doesn’t look like much to younger readers, but rest assured, this was one heck of a hot-rod in its day. War clouds were looming, but just before that, it was party time, and no better than in a ’39 Ford coupe. This car was the 1st with hydraulic brakes, and properly equipped, could do an honest 100 mph. It left most cars in the dust, even the cops. While drag racing was just beginning, these had a lot of success on the oval tracks. It’s amazing it even survived that. The styling was without question, some of the most beautiful cars. The war seemed to put an end to that for a long time. I know, the stick, shtick, but I truly think anyone that can’t shift a manual, probably wouldn’t even look at this car. The whine is probably the rear axle, especially if it was reworked. Easy fix. No, this car was bought by a grey( or no) hair, that had a rebellious uncle with one, and a fantastic find for them.
Thank you for the welcome Howard and I am definitely enjoying writing about classic cars that I admire. Likewise, thank you for the additional background on this fascinating Ford.
Did you say it has been sold, I’ve been looking for one since I was a kid and would have bought it. My father was the Canadian Stock car champion in the 50’s with the same car.
Got to get close to the ’39s as a kid hunting for transmissions for my ’32 5 window Ford coupe. Great looking cars but the trans were weak, especially for a stop light drag kid. Ford really had some design guys before and after WW 2 that turned out good looking cars all the way into the ’70s.
It’s interesting to see how the Standard and Deluxe were so different from each other in the ‘38 and ‘39 model years. Obviously, the designers wanted the people to KNOW the difference.
This car would do well at my place. It will provide some form of pacifier to help me get through being morose over the loss of my ‘38 Std. some years ago.
I wouldn’t have converted it to 12V although ‘39 was a good year to do it. The industry standard was to drop the 3rd Brush generator/Cutout Relay to 2-Brush/3-unit Regulator. 1939 was also the last year of the fan incorporated onto the armature shaft so 2-brush generators with the long armature shaft can be hard to find.
Those old Ford rearends had a tendency to serenade you at highway speeds. My ‘47 pickup was no exception. An old school mechanic showed me how to fix that. We even got an acceptable gear profile. Toned it down considerably.
All-in-all, this is a great choice. You could park this at my place…
This posting has been deleted by its author. A deal too good to be true.
A car from my Dads generation, so I got to like these to. Of course, he was a Plymouth man, but he had to admit that flathead 8 was killer smooth. I love this car.
39-40 Ford coupe are beautiful cars. Drivetrain and suspension not so much. Still they are really nice cars to show off. Bearing noise, well I had a 74 Ford wagon that had a rod knock for over two years but just kept on running. Finally sold it to a guy for use in a crash up derby. These 5 window coupe’s will always find buyers (stick shift or not) just because they are beautiful to look at. You don’t get power steering, power brakes or air conditioning but you get plenty of conversation if that’s your thing. Some lucky buyer is going to love this car. Even if he’s a flipper, after sorting the noise problem, repairing it and selling he’ll make plenty of dough on this one.
God Bless America
I always liked the discreet chrome trim.
looking like that 15k is a deal.
Sounds like he has been chasing the noise already with the transmission and differential work. Looks like a really nice car and the price is really reasonable.
I hate this body style! But I would be all over it if it were a 1938 Deluxe Fordor sedan! Ford basically made the Standard look like last year’s Deluxe. But if it were the ’38 Deluxe, it would have a woodgrained dashboard and an even nicer grille. Interestingly, whoever first ordered this Standard, added the right-rear tail-lamp (ordinarily missing on a Standard). And the ’38 Deluxe had that beautiful banjo steering wheel.
You sound like a guy I worked with. All he likes are 55-57 Chevy four door sedans with six cylinders and three on the tree. He has three rusty turds that he has more money in patch panels than what you could buy a nice running car for. Why?
It appears to be gone already. No surprise.
It appears to be gone already. No surprise. The price was to good.
This is/was a great deal. Beautiful car. Anyone who hates this body style has a questionable sense of style.
ExCUUUSE ME, Dave??? I have always despised coupes — especially in this era. I like the 1953 Studebaker in coupe form; but in general, I intensely dislike the style. As I said above, I would like a 1938 Deluxe V-8 Fordor. I like SEDANS. And I dislike hot-rods.
Go ahead and ExCUUUSE yourself all you want. This is THE MOST desirable body style because it’s flat out beautiful, and in a hot-rod form it’s absolutely spectacular. As I said above, anyone who “hates” this body style really has no sense of style.
‘39&’40 fords were not 5 windows. Count ‘em- doors(2),opera windows(2) rear, TWO. And nobody ever referred to anything as a 6 window.
This might be the first Ford with hydraulic brakes it was not the first production car with hydraulic brakes.I have a 1937 Dodge and it has hydraulic brakes with larger wheel cylinders in the front.They had already figured out the front does most of the braking.
39 was the 1st year for Hyd. brakes.
39 maybe the first year for Ford not the first year for American made car GM and Chrysler were already using them.
This looks like a 38 Deluxe to me. Think I remember the 39 Standard having one Tail Light and 0ne Windshield Wiper.
This is a ’39 Standard, definitely. The Standard could be ordered with two wipers and two tail-lamps, and also, later owners often had them dealer-added for safety reasons. While the ’39 Standard resembles a “38 Deluxe, you can see differences in the grille, and this one has a plain (not wood-grained) dashboard, and it lacks the banjo steering wheel that the ’38 Deluxe had.
To Dave: I despise hot rods and always have.
Who cares, you have no taste and never did.
Tastes differ, Dave. You have yours, and I have mine. I imagine that our tastes in music might not be the same, either. For example, I hate “classic rock”
I think it is un-American to despise hot rods and classic rock. So sad.
No, it is not unAmerican. Classic rock is hideous noise to someone my age!!! And incidentally, I still have my hearing at age nearly ninety: how many hard-rockers can say the same? I was okay when rock-‘n’-roll first came out around 1953 and 1954, and I even enjoyed some of it, especially vocal group harmony (later termed, “doo-wop”). But once it became nothing but a jangling assault on the ears, COUNT ME OUT!!!!!!! You would not have caught me dead at Woodstock! As for me, with cars, I like them original, and as TRANSPORTATION. I always was offended by the loud noise of cars lacking mufflers or having straight pipes, and by drag-races and other parts of the “hot rod” culture. I also dislike “muscle” cars: enough power under the hood to get me where I am going whilst ably keeping up with traffic, cruising the Interstate, is plenty, in my view. There is nothing unAmerican in any of that.
Well you are 5 years older than me and sound almost exactly like my 90 year old high school educated sister.
We have nothing we can talk about. Almost everything is off limits. I think part of it is she was born and has lived in GA all of her life and I left 65 years ago and live in CA.
I am also not a “Hot Rod” guy. The term, 350 crate motor will have me walking right on by.
Also, I just retired 2 weeks ago from racing my Miata.
By the time Woodstock came along you were already too old. I was working in VN but I appreciated the music.
5 years can make a big difference.
I began hating popular music after some time in 1963, not all of it, but a lot of it. I do not believe that level of education has much to do with it. I began listening to popular music much earlier than most of my contemporaries, for one. I was raised listening to my parents’ late ‘teens and 1920s and early 1930s records, and that gentleness set a template for how I perceived music. And there isn’t a 1946 record which I would not recognise almost instantly. As we got past 1960, I tended to listen more to the “adult” stations, to escape the more rough and rowdy records coming out at the time. Everything seemed to get more coarse and raw, and I hated the trend. Most of my records are 78s: what’s that tell you? And I really resisted the 1960s counter-culture. It’s a generational thing, I believe. But I detest having my ears ASSAULTED every time I go shopping, with all of that worthless CRAP blaring out of the speakers (that’s how I react to it). I’ve never lived in California, so I have no idea whether the culture out there affected you differently to the way that Georgia influenced your sister. I find, however, that some 1960s records I tolerated at the time are intolerable to me now. The sort of 1960s records I lIked were “We’ll Sing In The Sunshine”, by Gale Garnett; “The French Song” by Lucille Starr; A Walk In The Black Forest” by Horst Jankowski; “San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your hair)” by Scott MacKenzie; “Back On The Street Again”, by The Sunshine Company ( you get the idea).
You two (Ron and Harrison) are so blessed to have lived such a long life. Have a good day.
Thank you, Double Nickel Steve! But more than that, I thank God. Nearly all of the people I knew in my youth are in their graves. I learn of something I want to share with Stephen… but Stephen is no longer here to call, and Stephen was younger than I. I resonate with what Clint Eastwood says about this. I enjoy listening to the 78 rpm records I bought in the 1940s and 1950s, but that no longer is a shared experience, because nobody remembers that music anymore. I am not complaining, only expressing the reality that there is a certain odd loneliness to getting “very old”. But the pretty young lassies treat me so sweetly and call me “Honey” and “Sweetheart”, which is nice. Little children stop to ask me how old I am. (smile)