This cool old hot rod has been parked since 1973! The seller claims that it was painted and pinstriped sometime in the sixties or seventies. The engine and suspension were worked over at some point too. Although the car is now showing its age now, this could be a fun one to clean up and cruise around in. Find it here on eBay where bidding is at $5k with the auction ending later today!
The pleated vinyl and chrome three spoke steering wheel found in here aren’t anything to get excited about. The exhaust header that can been seen through the hole in the floor tells us there might be something under the hood worth getting excited about though!
Sure enough, this one was built for show and go! Someone added more oomph to go along with that flashy exterior. That’s a rebuilt Ford 302 V8 in there and it has never even been started. It’s sitting right over a Heidt’s Mustang II independent front suspension, complete with front disc brakes too!
Sounds like a sweet setup. There’s one little problem though – Heidt’s didn’t go into business until 1985. That means these mods weren’t performed until at least 10 years after this car went into storage. I suppose it still could have been painted in the seventies and then stashed away before being upgraded.
This custom may be a mix of different time periods, but it could still be a very cool project. Just look at the back of this thing! The split back window and rear taillights are perfect. That rust along the trunk lid, on the other had, is not. It sounds like the rest of the car is pretty solid though so hopefully the period paint job can be saved!
The paint and striping do look period to me. Looks like some more recent upgrades but, whatever it is, it’s got the bones and potential to be a really neat car. I like it.
Cool car but Better off buying one finished like this:
https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/cto/d/1940-ford/6617206061.html
Too slick. I don’t like any car that looks better than I do.
I would love to see this car restored to it’s original stock look, painted a dark blue or black. The car has a great iconic 40s look, and with that V8 hiding under the hood, would be a sleeper.
I have had two 40 sedans a standard and a deluxe, both with small block chev’s. I loved them and drove them everywhere, and like I stole them. One was all late running gear and had A/C, the other a 265 with early Ford running gear. The were essentially the same car with different build ideas. Even being different in running gear they were both really fun cars. A forty sedan can just be a great car, and are reasonably priced and get high marks for having a street driven Hot Rod. A nice driver quality car (like the black one above) seems to be 25 to 30 K. The project car should be a good buy in the $5,000 range.
Yeah, for 32k you’d probably have less invested in the long run, but then you’ve got that G.M setup and someone else’s build. If I could make a reasonable buy on this rusty turtle back then build it my way, sure I’d have more than 32k in it but it would be my creation that I could drive with pride.
I agree with you johnmlghry your talking about what the hobby used to be, building cars for the love of the hobby. We live in a differant world now which has made DIY guys few and far between. There are good bones here and this would be a fun build for someone that can. The old school paint might be savable with carefull spot repair and a good polishing.
Bingo! Why drive some one else’s dream.
You do it every day. No matter what you ride and drive, unless you designed and built your very own DD.
I’m not too bothered by the “Heidt’s” tag and the fact they’re only 33 year old company. I’ve bought older modified cars and made some upgrades that were clearly done much later than the original work. It would appear all they did was supply a updated front suspension system for a car that was started and never completed. It’s seems to be one of those projects that’s had many start dates and no end date.
I’m in the purist camp buy I must admit this car could change my thinking.
If that engine was rebuilt in the 70s and never started, I would be pretty wary. I would be surprised if it isn’t stuck.
MSD distributor, AOD came out in 1980 so probably mid to late 1980’s. Wouldn’t hurt to go it and maybe make up side mounts, the engine plate is a bell housing breaker IMO.
oirg steering wheel in this AND
the linked would B nice
(sm point in great scheem)
I want to know more about that green Ranchero