What an incredible hot rod! It’s a bit of a mix of old and new school, but the final product is purely cool. The 1934 Ford 5 window body is said to have been chopped back in the day. It was parked in 1959 and sat until recently. The original frame has been boxed, with some modern chassis upgrades and a few parts from the ’40s to round things out underneath. The mechanical systems are all new with a freshly built 327 V8! It’s listed here on eBay in Huntington Station, New York with a current high bid of $40k.
Given the mixture of old and new, I’m not sure what you would call this hot rod. It isn’t a period build, but it also isn’t a completely modern creation. I really love the mix though, it just works on so many levels. It’s a bit surprising to find Bugeye Sprite seats in this interior, but they are comfortable and good looking buckets that keep you from sliding around too much.
This thing has to get up and go with this 327 under its hood. It’s been bored .30 over with a roller cam and double hump heads. While Vortec heads offer a little better performance over the double hump heads, there is still a lot of power potential with this setup. Given how light this car likely is, you really don’t need a lot of power for it to be fun or scary.
We have talked many times about building a period style hot rod here at Barn Finds HQ, but we would want to build something like this. We’ve thought about buying a reproduction body, but it just wouldn’t be nearly as cool as finding a period modified body to start with. Sadly, it’s rather difficult to find ones like this, especially ones that we can afford. They are either rusty or expensive. I’m going to guess that’s one of the reasons this one is bid up so high, you just don’t find cars like this very often. Add in all the work that has already been done and it’s easy to see the value. It has the period look, because the body is period, but it’s also a turn key car that is ready for the street. You really can’t get much better than that!
That didn’t last long.
The auctions has ended.
The car would present a bit better without the chrome alternator, coated headers or current production Mallory dual point distributor. There are plenty of period looking parts that will perform flawlessly that would compliment the cars retro theme.
It’s an impressive looking car with a great stance and patina, it would turn heads anywhere, and rightfully so.
Steve R
that would be cool for 10k.
can anyone tell me why this is called a 5 window coupe? specifically the window portion.
thanks in advance.
The answer is surprisingly simple. It’s the count of Windows behind the windshield. Two door windows two side windows one rear window. The three window coupe just has the two door windows and the rear window..
It has 5 windows. Windshield doesn’t count.
Two windows on each side, one in rear. Five windows.
anyone else notice the weird adapter on the dual plane intake so you can run what I think are strombergs? nice looking ride as a whole!
Can we please call them CAMEL BACK heads? You’re killin me smalls.
or “fuelie” heads
http://gph.is/1uxLOwi
Humps
double hump
Now that is the way to do Patina. Really nice!
This is true art. It’s got all the right look. Bargain.
silly me, the windshield doesn’t count! thanks guys.
Perfect. Looks like a lot of fun!
Nicely done, although a hopped-up flathead would look much better than that bellybutton SBC under the hood. I have to admit that SBC’s are adaptable, relatively cheap, reliable and parts are readily available. But they are a ‘bellybutton;’ everybody has one….
Could not agree more! At car shows all you see in the early Ford hot rods is the dreaded 350/350 combo. When I see that I will walk away shaking my head thinking what a place for a flat head. It fits better and you don’t have to butcher the fire wall to fit the distributor.
Unfortunately, a flat head makes half the power for twice the money.
You’re right Steve. But what a ride it would be! Nothing sounds like the bark of a flathead; nothing sounds more ‘Everybody’s got one’ than an SBC….
For 40 large i would never pay for that cheap 327. what a disappointing bore. such a let down.
100,000 thumbs up.
Should be a ford inna Ford. Just sayin
Having owned my 34 Ford 5-window, for 54 years, I kind of like these cars, and know a little about them. Usually the 3-window takes the chopped top much better than the 5-window, and of course the 5-window is more difficult to cut. The secret on the 5-widow is don’t take too much off the top. This car looks right and as a high-boy, I think makes it look better than if it was a full fender-ed car. You would expect a period correct car to have a flathead, but a 327 is the next best thing. ” Its a cool HOT ROD”.
Speaking of flatheads, I had an elderly neighbor who must have been quite a hotrodder in his time. There was a nice looking Falcon station wagon in his garage that I never saw on the street. After he passed, there was a pile of stuff put out for the garbage collectors. I recognized a Falcon front bumper and to my surprise a cast aluminum, Eddie Edmunds dual-carb manifold. I had heard of Edmunds but I did not realize his importance to the L.A. hot-rod scene. I took both pieces home. Both sold pretty quickly.
My father was doing a frame up restoration of his ’34 5-window coupe when he passed away, He had swapped out the 21 bolt flathead for a 24 bolt and had changed out the original braking system for something a little more dependable.
My brothers and I were trying to decide how we were going to share the cost of finishing the restoration, when our mother sold the car (without telling us) because she wanted to park her car in the garage!! We weren’t happy!
Best looking hot rod I’ve seen on barn finds. Don’t care that’s it’s not a flatty, you’ve got to think when this car was parked a sbc was the new big ticket item that everyone wanted.
There might be a 327 in it now, but in 1959 when it went into storage, the 327 wasn’t even being produced(1962). I wonder if powder coating was done back then? Maybe someone found this in a barn, and upgraded it in the last year or so. It looks awfully fresh. Just $.02 here.
Well, I just read the e-bay ad, and it says fresh build. OK, I jumped the gun. It is very cool.
With ya Rocco……….
Suicide doors are so kool.
See “Pierson Brothers Coupe” for another early classic hot rod. Such a cool car. This one could come close.
Looked at the pictures before i read the text. Thought that they were aircraft seats. Love the distressed leather. It begs for a “Salt Flats racer” look. I like fenders also but not here. Perfect!
Duel “97s” really odd choice for carbs … never seen a dual intake manifold for a SBC. 10-4 on “fuellie heads”
It looks like he made an adapter for an aluminum 4 barrel intake.
How do you think the crowds would react if you changed that induction system to a “Smokey Ram” manifold and carbs? I’m into that Salt Flats/Trans Am vibe!
Love this! I don’t know how long it’d last in the UK climate though, that’s IF I managed to get it through an MOT test in the first place! Would have to cover the wheels for a start to be legal in UK
Awesome. This is a real hot rod. Not some fibreglass body with all the parts bought over the counter, then it is only a kit car, like Cobras etc. This is what a hot rod was when I was in my teens.
Love it.
Dang! I went to eBay and found that the auction ended with a high bid of 10K…. missed the 40K bid? Am I missing something??