The seller of this 1938 Ford coupe listed for sale here on eBay tells us that it was running when it was left in a barn in 1960. After recently being pulled out of the barn, it’s now located in Van Nuys, California and the seller is looking for $18,000 for the car (although you are welcome to make a lower offer).
Although the seller describes the car as being “rust free,” after looking the pictures over I can only assume they are thinking of “rust hole free” as there is plenty of surface rust. The panels do look very solid, though, and certainly much better than most cars we come across that are this old.
Not only is there not a tremendous amount of rust, I don’t see a lot of dents either. I’m sure there are many old Ford restorers that wish their car’s doors looked like this one when they started projects.
You can see from the first two pictures the car was in a shop, and the seller was kind enough to elevate the car and take several pictures of the underside. The choice of a transverse leaf spring and two long trailing arms must have made for interesting handling at the limit. I’m impressed with the condition of the chassis!
Is that rust on the dash near the windshield? I couldn’t really tell, nor do I know if that’s the original upholstery pattern or not (I saw some similar but not identical examples during my research). I do know the lack of wear on the pedal pads may mean the 40,148 miles showing might just be original.
Here’s a close up of the odometer.
Based on this picture and the 17 stud cylinder head this car is equipped with the smaller “60 horsepower” flathead V8 that displaced 136 cubic inches. That makes this car a Model 82A and means it’s one of 13,712 82A coupes produced in 1938. I’m not sure how many have survived, but I’d be surprised if it were more than 1 out of 100–meaning this might be one of less than 1,500 left. What do you think about this long-rested barn find?
Great find. About all the money I’d say. Definitely not the original upholstery. Looks like roll & pleat from the 1950s which would be dated before it was parked. The rear suspension is stock and many over the last century have debated whether ol’ Henry Ford should have abandoned his outdated ideas for front and rear springs for something we would call, these days, “conventional.”
Looks a lot like the car Moe and Larry “borrowed” from their fire chief in “False Alarms.”
Hard to believe any car would’ve been stored for as long as I’ve been alive, but I guess it happens. A very solid `38, which obviously got the sealed-beam headlamp update that came out in 1940, I’d be tempted to return it to the original teardrop headlamps. I always thought those looked best. $18K? Uh, no. Not even remotely realistic. More like $10-$12K. The one thing this car has going for it is the number of replacement parts available for `37-`38 models; nearly as many as Model A’s. And this is my favorite bodystyle of this vintage. Must be a DeLuxe, since I see two taillights.
It’s a Standard; the Deluxe has a curved pattern on the grill. I had a Standard 2-door Slopeback and it had 2 taillights. I’m sure it was an option. I might add that I don’t think that you could get a Deluxe with that washing machine engine. Or who would want one.
‘always preferred the 1938 standard styling over the deluxe.
Looks like a banjo steering wheel has been substituted for the standard.
Also looks like some accessory chrome on the grill (“Pines” offered a trim kit for ‘36 Fords that I’m familiar with).
Driver’s front fender is a bit rumpled…
That’s not a little bit of rust on the inner windshield frames, it’s actually a little bit of windshield frame left on the rust. Stored since 1960, yet it has a radial tyre on the RHR of the car. There were no radial tyres in 1960.
Probably stuck on there to move it out of the barn.
Ran in 1960 .
Love it !
This car is going to need everything. So you better have a lot of tools and skills to go with them or the resto is going to be in the stratosphere. I’ve said this before there are only so many 80 year olds that connect to these pre war cars and interest in them is waining. It stands to reason that 30 year old connect to the cars of there childhood / time. The likelihood of this being restomoded is pretty high. I know that I’d be tempted. For me I don’t want a car that sits in the garage being trailered to shows I want a car that can be driven and not leave you stranded every time you take it out. JMO.
Don’t depend on winning a lot of races with that “60” engine until you rebuild it and then only in soap box cars. My dad had one of these and when they get worn you don’t have much power. It got so weak before final rebuildat times if the hill was too much an incline if we didn’t run at at at enough speed, heto get over it, he would turn around and back it to the top and turn around. I guess reverse was lower and stronger than low first forward!!. He took it down to rebuild it and the pistons are barely larger than snuff cans. But restored it would be a beaut
@canadainmarkseh – Yes and no. People have been saying that for decades about each era as its demographic ages out. But there will always be interest in the prewar cars, albeit at a lower level than it was at its peak. You need look no farther than the auctions of brass-era cars and of motorcycles from the teens and twenties. Anyone remotely associated with those models when they were current is a couple of generations dead by now, yet the interest and value remains. Now, is, say, a nice stock Model A Ford cheaper now than 20 years ago? Yes, but not by as much as you might guess based on demographics, and they aren’t going down any more, even though guys with any conceivable contemporary connections to the car have been generally out of the market for many years now.
And it’s the same for this old Ford. What will hold this particular car back is the V8-60 and the fact that the ’38 has never been as collectible a year as some of the previous and following years. So it may indeed wind up “resto-modded” but not necessarily just for the reason you state.
…”You need look no farther than the auctions of brass-era cars ” …so the value might be steady or on the rise based on the closing gavel at auctions. But I see nobody hanging around the brass/19 teen cars at regional shows like I used to. Maybe Hershey, Amelia or Pebble Beach but those are not my venue any more.
LS swap!!!!
LMAO!
Probably worth $15 – 20k after a $30k restoration.
Sorry Jamie, it’s not a V8-60, it’s a 21 stud rated at 85 hp. For those who may fantasize about flathead Fords, but not be as intimate as some of us who lack sufficient brain cells to know better, a 60 only has one head bolt directly below the upper water neck, the 21 stud has a vertical row of three (see attached pic for a 60). For those not asleep yet, the 24 stud has a vertical row of two. Yes, knowing that makes me a flathead geek……………………it’s a disease.
A nifty accessory on this one are the vent windows which attach externally to the window opening independent of the door glass. Not particularly common.
Those who recognize this as a Standard model are correct.
Yes, this is significantly overpriced for condition and desirability, but hey, he’s gotta take his shot.
Thanks, Uncle Bob! Always willing to learn, I am–but I believe the 82A is the standard, not the deluxe? I guess the 85 hp vs 60 is a good thing, right?
Yes, to most old Ford enthusiasts the V8-60 is a pig and will cause the price to drop 10% or more in comparison to a comparable car with the 85 horse. As additional info the 60 did enjoy some favor in Midget car racing and in some small boats. It’s comparative light weight to hp ratio was more favorable in those apps. In a passenger car they were just too low on torque and hp. One of the solutions Ford adopted was to put a 4.44 rear gear in them to make it easier to get the mass moving………….bandaid at best.