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Fair Priced Barn Find: 1935 Ford Model 48 Sedan

Appearing as a proverbial Barn Find, this 1935 Ford Model 48 sedan is all original and as found. Solid overall, with some focal areas of rust, this V8 powered Ford seems like a reasonable deal for the $5,900 buy it now price. Check it out here on ebay out of Upper Sandusky, Ohio.

Complete with everything including some extra dirt and dust, this flat head hasn’t run in a very long time. The seller has not attempted to turn the engine over, so there is no word as to whether or not this engine is seized.

Inside is a very original interior that really makes you wonder what happened to this old Ford for it to have wound up parked? The steering wheel is cracked, where someone cleverly wrapped the wheel in tape. The factory seat upholstery and door panels are in place, but are heavily dirty, and likely cannot be saved. All of the interior trim, and pieces appear in place, and the dash although lightly covered with surface rust, has a nice appearance with no major damage.

The exterior has held out rather well through time but there are a few problem areas to point out. The front fenders and running boards have a fair amount of surface rust, and there is a baseball sized rot area in the passenger front fender. There is various surface rust all over this Ford, but little in the way of rot. The under body is covered with surface rust, but the surface rust is pretty thick, where the metal appears to have become thin. One problem that is not so pretty is dent in the rear section of the body near the rear window. It would appear something fell, or punched the metal, causing a small rip in the steel. This isn’t pleasant, but it certainly isn’t the end of the world for this Ford. Looking to make a great and fun project, would you jump on this fairly priced Ford?

Comments

  1. Avatar geomechs Member

    A Slope-back! I would love to have something like that. Once again, too complete not to do a full restoration. Up to me it would have that 85 hp Flathead, complete to the Stromberg 48 carburetor. I will admit that it would go a lot faster with an 8BA or an 8CM, and not tear up the driveline. But I’m a purist and if the original can be rebuilt, or a suitable replacement obtained, that’s the way I’d go. I will admit that I saw a couple of ’35 pickups that had the latest flatheads and you almost couldn’t see the difference at first; the water outlets are at the front of the heads, very similar to the ’35 model. One of the ones I saw actually was converted to a front distributor with all the modern goodies. Looked (and ran) good….

    Like 0
  2. Avatar geomechs Member

    I have to admit that they do look OK modified.

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  3. Avatar DAN

    someone should jump on that,,cheap ride

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  4. Avatar DAN

    o & ls3 FOR THE WIN

    Like 0
  5. Avatar GP Member

    I think the seller tried to turn the engine over and it would not. Look at the rest of the place in the pictures, Why would you NOT try to turn the engine?

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    • Avatar Wayne Thomas

      Ecoboost swap fixes all problems

      Like 0
      • Avatar Vintage Car Loner

        Not

        Like 0
  6. Avatar Fred W.

    Probably won’t turn after sitting so long, but some Marvel Mystery oil down the cylinders, soaking for a few days could work wonders.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Barry Klotz

      I like your idea of using Marvel Mystery Oil. I’ve been using it for years. I still it today in my 2008Dodge Grand Caravan SXT 4.0. Works for me. Thanks, Barry L. Klotz

      Like 1
  7. Avatar Bob Hess

    Don’t want to turn that engine until you pull the heads. Turning it without scraping away the surface rust/crud at the top of the pistons will scratch otherwise probably smooth bores. Neat car!

    Like 1
  8. Avatar Seth

    I’d totally buy it if I weren’t living on breadcrumbs. Restore it to “normal” as much as possible.

    Like 1
  9. HoA Howard A Member

    No bullet holes? I always think of Bonnie and Clyde when I see these.

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    • Avatar Marshall

      Bonnie and Clyde were killed in a 1934 model. Close though. Their “death car” is on display at a casino museum in Nevada.

      Like 1
  10. Avatar Jay E.

    I sure like this car. It wasn’t that long ago that a find like this was $250.00. Too far gone to just fix up and drive and the cost of even a simple refurbishment, clean up, get it running some brakes and a decent interior far exceed the value of the car. Except now someone is asking $5900, which puts it far out of the range where someone like me might do the work myself just to have an interesting old car…. And someone will likely buy it is spend 59K more to make it a Rod. I’m mystified by car (or houses or many things) pricing these days.

    Like 1
  11. Avatar Ed Williams

    I wonder how many miles are on this old ford? It’s too bad that a photo of the speedometer wasn’t included with the rest of the pics.

    Like 0
  12. Avatar Touring Fordor

    This would be a great candidate for an Early Ford V8 Club Rouge award. Just get it running; the brakes are mechanical so not hard to fix up. These mostly original cars are great resources for restorers.

    Like 0
  13. Avatar Paul

    I was lucky enough to own a 1935 Cabriolet. Beautiful car, sorry I had to sell. Car was a RHD from Argentina, origional with few upgrades – 1939 hydraulic brakes and a 1939 gearbox ( 1935 box has straight teeth). Complete restauration, even managed to get it through technical inspection and registered in Germany – if any of you know the German TUV, you know that was an achievement. Would like this car but have sworn not to take on more projects until I finish at least one of my existing projects. Hate to pass.

    Like 2
  14. Avatar Rickey

    Would be great for a do it your selfer… Everything is easy to work on, on these old cars, I’D love to do it, just don’t have the money and time…

    Like 0
  15. Avatar Bill Wilkman

    To be able to start a restoration with an original, unmolested car is huge. Every car I’ve ever restored has been mucked over by a P.O. That always leaves me with the task of figuring out how the car was originally built. The restorer of this car will have everything needed to assure it is restored correctly. Hopefully, this car will be restored or preserved as an original survivor.

    Like 0
  16. Avatar Lion

    I had a 2door slantback in high school back in the 60s. Ran good but did that shimmy walk at over 45 MPH so I stayed off the highways. Got caught in a safety check and got a ticket for no horns, and a warning for no windshield wipers, no high beams, and an exhaust leak. Had a week to fix it and drove to the Cop shop to show the guy in their fleet garage. I turned on the wipers and they went up and stayed, punched the new dimmer switch I put in and it went through the floorboards, I told him the exhaust leak was a manifold gasket but the horns works, want to hear them? He said no, its not on the warning list and get this wreck out of here before I impound it. I traded it straight up for a ’51 Merc sedan and heard later the ’35 became a hot rod, but I never saw it again.

    Like 1
  17. Avatar Dave

    Bought this car for less than asking price. Title states just under 70,000 original miles.
    It is now stored in a clean building waiting to be put back on the road!

    Like 1
    • Avatar Lion

      Good on you, Dave. A member of our club has a fully restored one just like this. its beautiful and a great driver. He wouldn’t tell me what he paid.

      Like 0

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