With any project car, the level of work has to be weighed against the cost of buying the same vehicle with all the work done. That’s of particular relevance with this 1931 Ford coupe here on Facebook Marketplace in Quapaw, Oklahoma. I’m seeing nicely restored ’31 coupes in the $20,000 to $25,000 range. Project examples in much better shape than this one are in the $12,000 range.
So does this $6,000 example needing total restoration—virtually everything—make sense? On the other hand, the owner is open to a trade for a early 1960s Chevy pickup or a 1962-’65 Chevy II coupe (no hardtops). So if you have one or the other of those lying around…
It appears the coupe was last registered in 1955, and probably at some point around then had a flathead V8 of indeterminate origins installed. The owner tells a sad story. “It had been in one family since before 1955, when I bought it. Lost my wife and lost interest in it. I don’t know anything about the drivetrain other than I pulled the plugs and [the cylinders have] been soaking in AeroKroil penetrating oil.”
There is a title and a carcass that looks like it’s been sitting outside for decades, in northeast Oklahoma. Just about everything is seriously rusty, though despite a huge hole in the cowl not a lot of other actual rust-through is visible. But what isn’t rusty is moss-covered and gross. Good interior shots are absent, other than a few snaps of the marginally intact interior roof. The flathead and trans combo obviously need a complete rebuild. The radiator is missing, and one of the hood sides is lying on the ground.
The best thing that can be said of this car is that it’s reasonably complete, though the interior is of unknown quality—and probably beyond saving. The headliner can be seen hanging down. Oddly enough the wheels look fairly decent, and have wide whitewalls with plenty of tread and even some remaining air. Was this a stab at restoration at some point?
If this was a 1932 Ford roadster, hot rod guys would be all over it, and for more than the asking price of this ’31 coupe. But it is what it is, a huge undertaking probably not justified without a huge adjustment in the price. And even then you’d be taking on a mammoth job that causes me to shiver just thinking about it. There are lots of Model A projects around. Do you want to get involved in this one?
This car is going to have to be restored one square inch at a time… but, with the exception of the radiator and some small parts it looks like every single part of the car is there. Being a long time fan of the ’28 through ’34 Fords it’s not hard to get excited about the prospect of fixing this old bird up.
Is that eczema, seborrhea, or psoriasis?
No, that would be “Rustecema,” “Rotborrea,” and or, “Corrosionoriasis.”
Thank you for showing this fantastic old beauty, I get chills when I see the photos of old cars and trucks that were built long before most of the people that view them were born, I bless all those that take on these pre WWII vehicles, I would love to bid on this, but,, I’m getting to the age where most people have gone thru there bucket list, I’m still looking for that bucket !!
Good Luck to the person that has time to take on this special gem, I only wish it was me.
It’s all 3!
actually, that’s not a bad price for early iron that is mostly complete
But you have to love your project to get one this rough
If you bought this car it would be a totally emotional decision, it can not be based on money. “It is For love not money”.
It would take 3x the ask to redo it. Plus, $1500.0 in diesel and lodging there and back to ‘Hometown’ Calufirni. Plus, state import tax and title transfer. Not a good prospect for “Out of Town Gearheads.” If you are daring and local, this one could be a great project.
The decision to buy a nicely restored Model A coupe for around 25k or like this Model A depends if a person wants to drive and enjoy it now or possibly doesn’t have the mechanical skills or one that not only enjoys driving it but the enjoyment of building or restoring one and the satisfaction it brings doing it and completing it on your own. If I was younger and not working on an old pickup I would go for this one.
Rust never sleeps. This is a parts car at best, having undergone a complete rustoration.
There is potential to come out the other end with a very nice restored car, but to make it worth your while the seller needs to drop the asking price down to about $4000.00 There are enough pieces and parts out there to get that Humpty Dumpty back in shape. A good sheet metal guy can repair any problems with the body. Toss an English wheel into the mix and you can be off and running. The glass is flat, so replacement is well within the realm of possibility. Or taking another route to hot rodding this car would run about $20-27K, chop the roof and put a small block V-8 in it with a 400 series transmission, drop front axle and put a mustang rear end, disc brakes on all 4 corners and Zingo you have a $40K + marketable set of wheels. Yes, either route would take time, but the end result would be impressive.
Please, NO MORE CHOPPING!
There are ENOUGH destroyed bodies out there!
If you want a “Chop Job” buy a fiberglass body already complete.
Chopping a car is for someone who knows how to strengthen it.
Most are just ruined “Hack-Jobs.”
Agree with Phlathead Phil. Do it for love and spend the big bucks.
What a nice case of “old iron” returning back to the earth it has originated from!
But, is this how DESPERATE our classic car hobby has become for “projects”?
Is this how DESPERATE our classic car hobby has become that someone out there that somebody is asking $6k for this scrap heap and more so that someone will shell out $6k for it with the hope and dream to resurrect it?
By all means I understand there is a need to “save the survivors” but at what point does sensibility and practicality bring about realistic and rational decision making even when it comes to the various cars and car parts that make up our beloved classic car hobby?
The growing prevalence of over-pricing and increasing amount of “fool’s gold” of late is a “side” of our beloved classic car hobby that has been slowly poisoning the classic car hobby via “reality shows” but now accelerated by pent-up boredom-induced impulse spending during a global pandemic fueled by “stimulus” checks that is clouding personal financial decision making and ultimately money being spent foolishly.
So, in the meantime, folks like myself will await the coming credit defaults, financial crisis, job losses, and overall economic downturn that will in turn “market-correct” our beloved classic car hobby and allow our hobby to return to days of right-pricing and the shunning of “fool’s gold” from the marketplace. History allows us to know this has happened before and history allows us to predict that it will happen again.
And many of us will be hard pressed to find “financial sympathy” for those who made poor financial decisions that will result in other’s losses when the coming credit defaults, financial crisis, job losses, and overall economic downturn forces others to sell off their cars, projects, and parts to those of us who sensibly waited until sensible times returned.
If youre looking for something to do…………and no doubt someday there will be a crash…..as Tiny Tim said: Tiptoe through the tulips….:)
Erik,
I couldn’t have said it better. Bravo!
I bought a 1930 Model A Tudor Sedan a year a go had been stored the last 50 years of its life in side. No rust or dents. Had not been started for the last 25 years. In one week I was driving down the road. Fun and cool that it is not restored not sure I will do much more than enjoy driving. Paid less than the guy is asking for this rusty thing.
At half the asking someone might not be hurt too badly.
A viable project. Just overpriced.
Let’s not EVER forget that ALL Model A cars from 1928-31 have WOODEN internal innards. The bodies are clad with steel. So there is no such thing as an “All Original All Steel Car.” If it’s this rusty then most of the internal wood is ROTTEN! And the huge hole is in the gas tank!