We have all been through this before.  You spot a car that interests you behind a house, or in a field, or in some other place where the elements and vermin are taking their toll on it.  Upon making contact with the owner, who is almost always some combination of unique, eccentric, smelly, angry, insane, and/or delusional, your heart sinks.  They tell you that the car is not for sale, and that they are going to “fix it up someday.”  No amount of bribery, coercion, logic, reason, or pleading changes their position, and you are left to watch the car slowly return to the Earth each time you drive by.  While the owner of this 1936 Ford coupe may not fall into any of the above categories of reluctant owner, the fact that this car was last registered in 1951 is a good lesson in how far away that mythical “someday” can be.  Thankfully, this 1936 Ford coupe has found itself for sale on Craigslist in Roseville, California for the not so low price of $18,000.  Our gratitude goes out to reader Paul Connor for this yard find.

As far as antique cars go, it is hard to find a more suitable driver than a 1935-1936 Ford coupe.  Available with or without a quarter window (called, respectively,  five windows or three windows), these cars had a good power to weight ratio, handled well for having a solid front axle, and provided a smooth ride for a low priced car.  Passengers could also enjoy flow through ventilation, as the rear window could be rolled down on all coupes with a rumble seat, but the feature was optional on those cars that came with a trunk (like this one).  More than a few participants in the Great Race, a cross country rally for vintage cars, choose early Ford coupes for those very reasons.  In addition to their driving attributes, these coupes are some of the most aesthetically pleasing Fords of the prewar era.  Parts for them are no problem, and club support is excellent due to the efforts of the Early Ford V-8 Club of America.

As for this 1936 Ford coupe, I have been poring over the 1935-1936 Ford Book, which is a restoration guide for these cars put out by the Early Ford V-8 Club, to determine whether or not it is a Standard model or a Deluxe.  As you would imagine, standard cars are more spartan, with such limitations as a single sun visor on open cars and far less ornate trim and upholstery.  This matters to restorers because everyone wants a fancier car to drive.  The only concrete clues I can find to determine the trim level is that the steering wheel on this car is a black two spoke version and the shape of the door handles.  Deluxe cars had a beautiful steering wheel called a “banjo” type, that was supported in three areas by a set of thin rods.  While the ad claims that the upholstery is original, the stitching pattern does not match up with any of the ones mentioned in the restoration book.  It may seem I am picking nits here, but details matter when you are trying to justify an asking price.

On the exterior, it seems that all of the chrome pieces are still there.  The blue is not a 1936 color, but the black on the rear is.  The painted grille would also match up with this being a standard car, but it could also be painted over.  The top parts of the hood seem to hang over far forward of where they should for some reason.  This doesn’t make a lot of sense, as the hood sides seem to kind of match up with the grille and cowl.  Obviously, the headlight assemblies are missing and it appears that masking tape hadn’t been invented when this car got its new blue finish.  The running boards look to be in decent shape, other than the overspray, and the top insert must have been protected in some way by whatever is resting on the roof.  The door handles are correct if this is a standard car, as 1936 Deluxe models had curved handles.

The interior is a train wreck.  The bumpers look to have been rusting away in there for some time, and whatever that is on the front seat isn’t doing the seat springs any good.  The instruments are missing, and, hopefully, have been put in the house in a protected place.  The rear view mirror is supposed to be oval, but this one appears to be round.  Remarkably, the aforementioned steering wheel looks to be in good shape from what we can discern from the unusually low quality photograph.  Usually they crack in many places, but can be restored with a little effort.  What alarms me most is the accumulation of leaves and branches resting against the seat on the passenger side.  The door must have been cracked open for an extended period of time to allow the debris to accumulate like this.  If debris got in , then surely water made its way in as well.  Having water soaked carpets and door panels is a good way to put a coating of rust on everything inside the cockpit, at least until the floor stops becoming a barrier for the water’s exit.

It would have been nice to see if the original engine was still there, but I guess the seller didn’t think that was needed.  His ad claims that there is no rust, no dents, and you won’t find a better car to rebuild.  I want to believe him, but there are a lot of reasons why I don’t think this is the case.  If he really wants to sell this car, then he needs to drag it out of his cluttered back yard, put some tires on those non-original rims (this makes me think the mechanical brakes have been converted over to later model hydraulic ones), clean it out thoroughly, and take some better pictures.  Putting the ad on something other than the local Craigslist would help too.  There are buyers for this car, but only the lucky coincidence of seeing it on Barn Finds will get it any extra attention from the people who will open their wallets for it.  Even then, the price will scare a lot of them off.  Without a look at the engine, the floors, and the currently almost resting in the dirt frame, it is doubtful that anyone is going to buy a plane ticket to come see it.

All of this hinges on whether or not the owner really wants to sell it.  In his eyes, it may be perfect, or he may feel that the price is justified by the asking prices he sees on the internet for 1936 Ford coupes.  I am currently working on a 1935 Ford and I can tell you that parts aren’t cheap.  Even buying the little things like clips, bolts, fender welting, and the hundreds of other little things you need to bring one back to showroom condition is nickel and diming me to death.  The difference is that I started out with a solid car, and this one has a lot of question marks.  Then again, if my wife was on my case to sell my car, I’d take some crappy pictures, post it on a local website, and set an unrealistic price for it to get her off my case.

Sad to say, but I think this one is going to be in the same place next year.  I hope I am wrong.