This 1947 Ford sedan was stored in an Oklahoma barn for an unspecified length of time. It has been pulled out and cleaned up and can be found for sale here on Facebook. With an asking price of only $6,000, it seems like this car might be a diamond in the rough. It also may be a former hot rod. Take a look at the clues and decide for yourself.
Even if the ad doesn’t have a lot of information, some investigating can begin to paint a clearer picture of the car’s history. The flathead engine doesn’t look like much now, but if you look closely you can tell there used to be some shiny chrome bits under the hood. Chrome won’t get you home, but it might indicate some aftermarket performance goodies. There is also a performance sticker in the rear window indicating this car may have had a bit of a hot rod past.
The dash design of these cars is stunning. With almost an art deco influence, the symmetry, lines, gauge placement, and overall design is very appealing. You can tell this car hasn’t been touched for years. It will take some elbow grease and upholstery work to get the interior back into shape, but it appears to be a good starting point. You might have noticed what appears to be aftermarket gauges under the dash. Another clue to a hot rod past?
Here she is all cleaned up. It’s pretty amazing how vibrant the paint is. Overall, this looks like a great project that isn’t a big up-front investment. While it isn’t as desirable as its pre-war cousins, this car certainly deserves another lease on life. What do you think?
The twin carbs might help you sell the hot rod thoughts. Nice car, decent price. Second round in a couple weeks of seeing portawalls.
Bob, I didn’t even know what these were called (portawalls) when I was a kid, but I remember thinking the idea of add-on whitewalls was cheezy back then. And still do.
I love this thing. Question – would this cruise at or near highway speeds?
If you had a 2 speed Columbia rear end, it would certainly cruise at hiway speeds. My Woodie does. In third gear without an overdrive it wili run at pretty high rpms and sound like its lugging at 60.
You can fiind a Columbia 2 speed rear end for around three grand give or take.
I’m trying to figure out what the cylinder shaped thing bolted to the drivers side head behind the radiator is. With all the pil pressure gauges under the dash I wonde.
The (coffee can sized) cylinder most like likely is a remote canister type oil filter. Remove the center bolt from the top to remove the lid and then cartridge filter from the center.
Thanks, Mountainwoodie, good information.
Hey MW, how you been? I think it’s an electric fuel pump.
Canister oil filter
It’s an add on oil filter. A lot of the flatheads had them.
The only one I ever drove was road tested on an interstate and we rolled at 70mph with no effort. As for hot rod, also notice the bumper guards aren’t there and bolts in their place. More evidence of this being a mild street rod.
Only had one spring in the rear going from one side to the other. Not very good for cornering!
This car so the same age as me, but looks to be in much better shape. The price seems fair and I love the color. Green is my favorite color, it reminds me of my dads 48 Dodge from the early 50’s.
God bless America
@C.Jay: I was inarticulate. The cylinder by the firewall is indeed the oil filter. Up by the radiator on the same side is a smaller 4? sided piece with what looks like a hose coming out of it. It is directly under the driver side radiator hose. Almost looks hydraulic but for what?
It’s the ignition coil. The “hose” coming out of the bottom is the high tension lead.
This might be a stretch but with hoses going down the left front and coming back up toward the rear it could be an oil heater that plugs into a 110 outlet. It does get cold in the winter in Oklahoma. Tough to say with the fuzzy picture. Had an oil heater that looked like an electric stove piece bolted to the bottom of my VW panel van in Labrador. Without it the oil turned to a rubbery substance that wouldn’t lubricate anything.
Well, well, an actual BarnFind. I think the staff probably said, “oh, oh, people are becoming leery of our intent, better get a real Barn Find in here”,,,just kidding, but you have to admit, Aston Martins and 308 Ferraris are a bit out of our realm. This car was all the rage for returning GI’s, and wouldn’t it be fun to hear the stories?
This is a car Id be happier in than the DB5 or 308. I could go to the feedstore for a cup of coffee in this and it would get respect, as it should because its still a cool car. Id know everyone there too. I wouldnt know anyone at Pebble Beach even if I owned those others. Besides, their coffee wouldnt be better and they’d probably frown if I spit tobacco juice on the floor there.
“Oh, oh, people are becoming leery of our intent, better get a real barn to put this in.”
What a beauty this is more like it.
Richard Sr. are you from TN?
I have had several of these fat fendered Fords 42 to 48, I have always liked them. I had a 46 2-door , several years ago ,about the same as this one, maybe a little nicer and a paid $5,000 for it, so I would say this car is certainly priced right. The comment about highway speeds is somewhat correct the came with 2 different ratios, one 3:78 and the other 4:11, the 4:11 is way too low for 70 mph, the 3:78 much better , but with a Columbia you had the best of both worlds, but they aren’t that common. Under the hood the oil filter is definitely an add on and the piece on the head is part of it, I have seen it before, but that’s all I remember. It is also interesting that they put a heater in the back seat, must get cold in Kansas. I certainly wouldn’t call this car a hot rod ,it is just a sign of the times ,2-2’s, add on gauges and ad on oil filter. Nice old Ford for the money and with some modifications,big or small, they can be great drivers.
370zzp. In total agreement.
fat-fender whale…..cool car!
The one leaf transverse leaf spring did allow for considerable sway in corners, but I remember there was a overload coil spring kit that could be mounted to each side that restricted the amount of roll and also allowed for less body drop when hauling extra weight, as in moonshine or more legal cargo.
God bless America
The rear leaf spring on this one had at least five leaves. The factory shackles were about two inches long. You didn’t get a lot of sway, but there were many after-market anti-sway bar parts available to tighten up movement.
Looking again at that strange little box ahead of the radiator hose; do you think it might somehow connect with the after-market heater shown in the interior view?
My dad had a ’46 Merc tudor (I’ve only seen two more like it since then – a rare model) with a Columbia – sweet!!! (and LOUD Smittty mufflers) We drove from San Diego to central Nebraska in late 1948 with no problems except the dreaded vapor locks in the Rockies (always a flat motor problem…)
When part of the family moved to the Midwest the neighbor lady next door to us had this car in Black, and would wash and Simoniz it every week, it
seemed. The car was always immaculate.
To all Barn Finders Happy Holidays and stay well.
That can on the firewall is the oil filter. It used a thread waste filter similar to the packing in a RR car journal box. Those lines on the intake may be the fuel line for the gasoline heater. I think the grey blob under the center of the dash is the gasoline heater.
I’d take it if it was free shipping to Maine. Had 48. Had to push it to get it started a lot…lol
The heater under the dash is a radiator feed hot water heater as is the one in the back seat. You can easily see the heater hoses connected to the rear one. The South Wind gas heater looked much different. The “square thing” at the front of the engine is the ignition coil with what appears to be an ignition resister attached to it
When we couldn’t afford a filter to put in the aftermarket canister a roll of toilet paper was used instead. Perfect fit.
Referencing Ken’s note; the finned aluminum filter on that red ’32 pick-up truck a few viewings ago used the toilet paper oil filtering method instead of a conventional oil filter. I remember JC Whitney carried that item (a Stillco oil filter?) – about $20 IIRC.