EXCLUSIVE: 1936 Dodge Coupe Project

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I’ve always been a fan of the style and designs of the 1930s. There is just something special about the shapes and curves that designers were experimenting with during the era. This 1936 Dodge Coupe really captures the flowing lines, ornate grilles and beautiful curves of this era. Reader Dennis H has decided to part ways with this project. It still needs a lot of work, but what a great looking machine. It’s located in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania with an asking price of $4,900. If you are interested, you can ~~email Dennis here~~.

Dennis states that the engine has been rebuilt, but that it still needs to have freeze plugs installed. It shouldn’t be too hard to clean it up and get it running again, but I might be tempted to drop something with a bit more power into this Dodge. I’ve seen plenty of Dodge Coupe hot rods with 350 V8s, which would be a cheap and impressive upgrade, but I might be tempted to go a slightly different route. I think a modern Dodge powerplant would be more fitting for this coupe. I’m not sure a Hemi would fit in this engine bay, but a 360 might! You’d have more than enough power, a great exhaust note and a Mopar engine under its hood.

Given the lack of an interior and the overall condition of the car, I really do think turning it into a hot rod is going to be the best option for this one. While the Windstream design is beautiful, giving it a proper full restoration back to original will be costly. If you have the means and are up for the challenge though, I say go for it! Either way, this will be a fun machine to cruise around town in.

There are quite a few parts included with the car, most of which are currently sitting inside the car. The running boards, original wheels and hub caps, the radiator and rear lights are all present and accounted for. Personally I’d clean it up, treat any rust, get the engine running, throw some seats in it, paint it black and jut drive it as is for the time being. Then once funds and time allowed, I’d find a V8 powertrain for it and turn it into a mean little hot rod! How about you?

You can find more photos here and if you’d like to give Dennis a call about his Dodge, his number is 8143861665. If you have a classic project, barn, garage or field find that needs a new home, you can get more information here about selling it on Barn Finds!

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Comments

32 responses to “EXCLUSIVE: 1936 Dodge Coupe Project”

Feb 10, 2017 11:17am
Dabig Kahuna
Not a coupe this a trunk back sedan
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Feb 10, 2017 11:27am
nessy
The word “Coupe” is stated in the ad again and again but this is not a coupe. It is a 2 door sedan with the trunk back style or as Ford called it, a Tudor. The is a huge difference. Someone needs a refresher class, either the seller or you guys. Little mistakes are fine, we all understand that you post so many cars here each day but this was a big error.
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1. Feb 10, 2017 12:51pm
  Josh
  The seller stated it was a coupe. While we do research on every car we write-up, I really didn’t give much thought to the shape of the trunk or how many seats it has. It has 2 doors and I’m not an expert on 1936 Dodges, so I didn’t even think about what the accurate name for this body style is. Heck, I’ve had several people email to let me know that it’s something different. So what is it exactly? Is it a coach sedan, a slant back sedan, notch-back sedan or a slant back coupe? I truly want to know.
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  1. Feb 10, 2017 2:05pm
    Dave at OldSchool Restorations
    ….. You don’t know a Coupe from a Sedan, Josh ….?
    …………..stick your hand in the vise !
    . LOL, Dave
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  2. Feb 10, 2017 4:28pm
    Ernest J Zoller
    It is a 2 door sedan. Dodge, Chevy, Ford, any of the American makes the coupe is a body style unto it’s own sort of a bubble top. This car has the same appointments as a four door sedan only with two doors. Young guys just don’t understand because Japanese cars of the 60’s on up is all you know. If you got a coupe you got gold,if you got a sedan, not so much, but still cool.
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  3. May 27, 2017 8:18am
    Wayne
    
    Officially, this car is a 1936 Dodge Six Series D2 (Deluxe) 2dr. Touring Sedan
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Feb 10, 2017 11:50am
Bingo
Ouch. Spendy!
It must come with lots of parts or something I’m missing.
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Feb 10, 2017 12:34pm
Steve
These Mopar 6 cylinders are great engines, especially if its rebuilt like the narrative says. 1936 was a great year design wise for Plymouth and Dodge. This is perfect fodder for making a daily driver. You will never get back your investments (probably) but this is a great blank canvas for making a unique fun personalized hot rod. I would love to have this in my garage. And btw, its a tudor sedan like the above posters said. How about a leaning tower of power instead of a 360? Love those slant sixes, especially with the 4 barrel carb.
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Feb 10, 2017 12:37pm
Randy
I love that Notch-back Sedan. The Slant-back Sedans are more sought after. I like these because there is more room for your junk. I have enough projects and it on the wrong side of the continent for me. I think it would be a great Hot Rod with a little Hemi in it. Ya know Daimler SP250 motor would be a good fit. It is a little hemi!
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Feb 10, 2017 12:38pm
David Montanbeau
This is a coupe 1936 Ply.
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1. Feb 10, 2017 1:18pm
  86 Vette Convertible
  
  The Dodge doesn’t do a thing for me, but this one does. Growing up on the farm I did a lot of summer work and one of the neighbors had a 32 Plymouth 5 window coupe in the machine shed. I had been parked a dozen+ years before by the wife’s father who drove it religiously. I talked the father into selling it to me (I was 17 at the time) once I had a place to work on it and expected to have it once I had a place with a garage. I’d known the family and father almost all my life, in fact the wife was the nurse when I was born. Took about 5 years and got the right place. Found out the SIL sold it a year or two earlier :-( when I went back to see about getting it (I had seen them every 6-12 months so it wasn’t like I didn’t keep in contact). The daughter’s family only lived a mile from my parents and knew them well so I thought they’d hold it for me or at least let the folks know first.
  Loved that thing with the suicide doors on it but wasn’t to be. Ran when parked, just had bad U-joints in it from what the father told me.
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2. Feb 10, 2017 2:06pm
  Ed P
  David, I see the rear side window is much smaller on your coupe. Is there still a back seat? It looks tight for that.
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  1. Feb 10, 2017 3:03pm
    David Montanbeau
    Do not know why someone would give a negative on a legit question. A lot of people do not know these cars. How is the new gen going to learn if they have an interest? SAD!!
    So here it is. These are called (Business Coupes) No back seat and a large trunk used for going around selling products.
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  2. Feb 10, 2017 3:28pm
    Ed P
    Thanks for the answer. BTW I have not been part of the younger generation for a long time.
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  3. Feb 10, 2017 4:40pm
    David Montanbeau
    I am and I’m 85!! LOL
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  4. Feb 10, 2017 5:34pm
    Ed P
    I’m only 66.
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Feb 10, 2017 12:41pm
David Montanbeau
1936 Dodge coupe that we just bought.
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Feb 10, 2017 1:09pm
Jay M

What happened to the “buy it now” for $2,900 when it was on ebay last month?
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1. Feb 11, 2017 6:26pm
  George
  The most likely reason it did not sell on ebay for $2900 is that the “coupe” shown clearly is not worth that much. It would be a stretch at $1000.00 in my view.
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Feb 10, 2017 1:13pm
David Montanbeau
1936 Dodge Touring Sedan 2-door
https://www.hemmings.com/users/146472/gallery/199.html
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Feb 10, 2017 2:50pm
Doug Towsley
I have a 39 Plymouth and 39 Dodge coupes (Slight differences between them in the body work) and had a 37 Plymouth coupe I sold 2 years ago. As people have noted, this car featured is NOT a coupe, but I rather like it. Many of the sedans are too long, but this one is just about right. (Goldilocks?).
Cant tell for sure on this one but I believe MOST 36s had an open top porthole, stock they had a canvas filler piece or something. Many people make an insert and either weld it in or make it removable but if not welded they tend to leak and can be challenging to work with,
I think $4k is a little steep for the market in my area (West Coast) and think $2500-$3500 is more realistic. But on the other hand, I think a lot of this prewar material is underpriced for what it is. I think they SHOULD command higher prices. Certain ones do get the big bucks, Certain year Ford Coupes get the money. This one here is right on the cusp of restomod. Rough enough for the rat rod-restomod crowd, but ALMOST restorable but only as a labor of love.
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1. Feb 10, 2017 3:57pm
  David Montanbeau
  All 36 Dodge had the metal insert. Then starting in 37, it was all one piece. Here is the metal insert for my 36 Coupe.
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Feb 10, 2017 3:51pm
Rustytech

I know this is going to get me some thumbs down, but I think this is the perfect platform for a Mopar street rod or custom. I’d update it with a modern Hemi and drive train, update the safety equipment, then have a ball!
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Feb 10, 2017 5:34pm
Rodney
If you bought this car new in 1936 you were clearly rolling to the beat of a different drummer. It does not look like any Ford/Chevy of the period. The entire front end is unique and fantastic. The massive front grill alone is worth the price of admission. BTW, how did it manage to survive unmolested all these years without a bumper to protect it, I suspect the full time Dodge Guardian Angel has been hanging around this car. The Angels were a dealer supplied option more popular during the depression…
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1. Feb 10, 2017 5:58pm
  David Montanbeau
  The front grill alone will fitch 3000.00 plus. We get 900.00 just for the crank cover that is a reproduction. You can have 8000.00 into restoring the grill. The wheels with caps will bring 800.00 plus. I have parted out 4 dr sedans well into the 10.000. Car did not even have a grill shown and still have parts left. The parts are in high demand for the 36. The front grill insert will also work on the 36-37 Dodge trucks. I would not part this car out because it’s in great condition.
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Feb 10, 2017 6:41pm
AGD

Here’s a photo of a 1936 Dodge back in the day. I bought this photo at an antiques display.
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1. Feb 11, 2017 7:58am
  leiniedude
  
  James Bond Sr. ?
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  1. Feb 11, 2017 11:16am
    AGD
    Maybe, LOL!
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2. Feb 11, 2017 1:31pm
  Doug Towsley
  Would LOVE to have that Oregon 1936 plate, very cool!, I have a set for my rat rod 39 that are 121-666 Some people are disturbed by that, I will have a pinstripper add in a saying below the plates, “Speed on Brother! Hell Aint half full!” I am borrowing that from the local Brother Speed MC as thats their motto. Years ago, Well many Actually, growing up, and then again for 2 more years when I returned from the Military overseas I had my phone prefix was 666 (Its a common prefix in the 503 area code) Multiple times I had callers who expressed distress. Your problem, YOU called me! One person kept asking me why dont I get it changed. Why would I have a phone number with 666 in it?
  (IE: 503-666-XXXX). I just laughed at him, first of all I dont have any say in it, I am sure the phone company would have laughed as well, and I pointed out that my parents church I attended growing up has the same prefix as well and nobody worried about. Just numbers. But I have those license plates hanging in my shop and I get a lot of comments about them. 3-007 seems much less controversial. Do the passengers say….. “Shaken not stirred?”
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Feb 11, 2017 6:38am
Cebo
My grandfather bought a 1936 Dodge sedan new . Cost ? 600.00$ U.S.
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Sep 27, 2017 3:16pm
james sheeehan
As someone stated the Dodge is a two door touring sedan. It’s called touring because it has an out side trunk. A similar car without an outside trunk is just called a two door sedan. The term “notch back” was something coined decades later for much newer cars. As far as the roofs go, this was a time of transition in metallurgy. Few manufacturers could stamp out a solid roof for cars because the failure rate was too high. Improvements in metallurgy eventually allowed the solid roof design to happen around this time. GM had solid roofs (ones without canvas inserts) by ’35. In ’36 only Plymouth still had a canvas roof insert, while Dodge Desoto and Chryslers came with metal insert standard. The last thing I want to say is that most manufacturers didn’t use the term “business” to describe their low end coupes. The offered just plain coupes, Sport coupes and Deluxe coupes. Whether someone used it in their business wasn’t their concern. It’s not that term “business” wasn’t used at all, though. Buick’s cheapest model was called a “business coupe”. These days guys are in love with the term. Every coupe you ever see for sale is called a business coupe. I even see business sedans for sale now and then even though there never was such a thing as a business sedan. When new, coupes were often the choice of young men starting out. They were considered sporty and were lighter, so faster than sedans. That Dodge pictured at the beginning of this thread had a 4:10 rear end, while a Dodge coupe had a 3:90.
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1. Sep 28, 2017 5:52pm
  Wayne
  Hello, Jim!
  Just a comment on something you mentioned regarding the business series vehicles. Chrysler used the term in both advertising and in part, in the “Standard Catalog of Chrysler” in the following ways:
  All closed coupes without a rumble seat were called a business coupe whether or not they had deluxe trim. In 1935, Plymouth changed the name of their base trim models from ‘Standard’ (Too much like Ford) to the “Business Series” and marketed non-deluxe units as the “Business Six” all in keeping with their intent to appeal to the business person requiring safe, reliable transportation without all the ‘frills’. For many years after this campaign, Chrysler products out-numbered all other brands for use as taxi’s, fleet cars and even police cars complete with armor plating. The ’35 5 passenger (flat back) sedan I owned was listed on the build sheet as a “PJE 5 Passenger Business Six 4dr sedan” indicating it was trunkless. The serial number began with the numeral ‘1’ indicating it was a business (trim) series unit. Deluxe cars began with the numeral ‘2, 3, 4 or 9’ which carried over for several years for both Plymouth and Dodge.
  And just a quick point on the final drive ratio – the standard rear end was 4.125:1 with the 3.9 being optional for all models. Hope this helps.
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