It is sometimes challenging to choose the greatest strength of some classics, which initially appears to be the case with this 1939 Ford Deluxe Coupe. It presents nicely, is in sound mechanical health, and is an unmolested driver. However, its spotless interior is the star of the show, looking as nice today as it would have when the original owner took delivery. It has no apparent needs and is a turnkey proposition that is set to head to a new home. The seller has listed the Ford here on eBay in Oceanside, California. Bidding has raced beyond the reserve to sit at $29,500 at the time of writing.
Ford introduced its Deluxe range in 1938, with ten body styles that bridged the gap between its base models and Lincoln offerings. This Coupe rolled off the line in 1939, with its original owner selecting Black from Ford’s color chart. The seller states it has received a cosmetic refresh, but the suggestion is this happened many years ago. This rust-free car still presents impressively for its age, with any paint or panel imperfections acceptable if potential bidders consider it a driver-grade classic. A close inspection will undoubtedly reveal marks and chips, but preservation is a viable option for an enthusiast who cannot tackle a restoration project. Some trim pieces show bubbles and deterioration but are also acceptable in their current form. It is a similar story with the original glass, but the artillery wheels and whitewalls look excellent.
The star of the show with this Ford is undoubtedly its interior. The seller claims it is original. If that is the case, the condition is genuinely astounding. There are no signs of the wear or marks you might typically expect on cloth upholstery with eighty-four years under its belt. The seat is perfect, the headliner is spotless, and there are no aftermarket additions. The dash has a couple of tiny marks, and there is a crack in the wheel, but they appear to be the only visible faults. The gauges are crystal clear, and there are no broken control knobs or buttons. It may not be a genuine luxury car, but the winning bidder will welcome the factory clock and optional heater.
After spending decades producing passenger cars with four-cylinder powerplants, Ford hit a sweet spot in the 1930s with its new flathead V8. This car’s 221ci motor should feed 90hp and 155 ft/lbs of torque to the rear wheels via a three-speed manual transmission. Performance was impressive for the period, and this classic should still cruise contentedly on the open road at 60mph. The seller indicates it is in excellent mechanical health and that they include receipts for any work performed during their stewardship. The engine bay presentation probably doesn’t meet the same standard as the rest of the vehicle, and detailing this area would significantly affect its appearance. However, the motor is strong, and potential buyers should consider it a turnkey proposition.
Judging whether a classic hits a sweet spot with potential buyers can be challenging, but this 1939 Ford Deluxe Coupe leaves little doubt. The seller opened the auction at $20,000, and it took under two days for eleven bids to push it to the current level. The seller appears approachable and willing to supply additional photos and videos to interested parties. Accepting that offer would be an excellent first step in parking this Ford in your garage. With the reserve met, a new home is inevitable. Why shouldn’t it be yours?
If, in fact, this `39 is ‘original’ it’s spent it’s life beyond pampered! I suspect the interior is re-done, as kits are available for these.NO WAY that fabric could retain that quality for 84 years. No fault to the seller, just stating an pinion. Overall, I couldn’t fault this gem at all. What a gorgeous XMas present THIS would make!
Back in 1944 my parents had one of these. They drove it from Pittsburgh PA to San Antonio TX. My Father was in the Army Air Corp during WWII and stationed at Kelly Field.
10 body styles for 1939! I could think of 6 styles; does the 10 include trucks?
Just a guess…Standard and Deluxe models?
I think the 40 is a better looking car
Reminds me of the car John Payne
was driving in Miracle On 34th Street
when Natalie Wood shouted “Stop
Uncle Fred stop!” In fact, if you looked past Miss Wood, you can see
the garnish moldings on the door and
window frames. It also had the same
interior too.
I love it, one of my all time favorites.
I would say the interior has been refurbished. It was probably done when the seats belts were added. Paint looks very good.
Very nice. 6 Volt character. Thumbs up.
I did not see seat belts in the included photographs here, but I’ll take your word for it. But seat belts added would be one turn-off for me. However, the biggest problem I would have is, this is a COUPE. I did not like these coupes when they were new — cramped, ungainly proportioned — not for me. Nice car, though — really fine condition. Now, if this were a 1938 Ford DeLuxe black four-door sedan, in this turn-key condition, I would ache at not being able to afford it!
You will see them in the ebay listing
You pick up more chicks in a coupe that a four-door
So you had an opinion on these when they came out new? You must be at minimum somewhere in your mid 90’s, congratulations on your longevity! The coupes are iconic and are excellently proportioned IMO as well as many, many others opinion. I think the engine compartment could use a little clean-up. Just a few hours with cleaners and small towels would do it.
Has someone put sealed beam headlamps inside the original outer shells? I prefer the original type, thank you!
Why would you wanna make them better/safer??
Wow, reminds me of a good friends dad’s project car in 1969.
Only thing changed was everything.
These cars are the “hot-rodders” dream.
Wish I had the space.
Good luck with the prospective owners bid.
Maybe Ford should build cars like this today? It would be cheap to mass produce and would be affordable. Ford’s future could be in the past. There is a new 1934 Packard Victoria with a twin six available again. It looks great too.
Yeah let’s go back to the days of drum brakes and metal dashboards and no seat belts. Your head will thank you for it.
Billy, I posted a long message on this very point — but it vanished right after I posted it. Perhaps I was too pointed about the governmental quest for power at the expense of liberties we were raised to take for granted, about small-but-loud aggitation-groups having their way with us — this isn’t 1939, when Americans were free to speak their minds, at liberty to design things and make certain that they were safe, then manufacture them and bring them to market. Now it’s all about fossil-fuels and carbon credits, CAFE standards and “esg” scores. So we pay a small fortune to drive cramped choppy-riding vehicles that are uncomfortable on long trips, and deathtraps in an accident. That new 1933-’34 Packard Victoria will get a pass, because it is a tiny-quantity, hand-built pampering luxury for folks like Jay Leno, and not a high-quantity new vehicle for everyday Americans. Would that we could be ALLOWED to copy a 1939 Ford, built of STEEL, but with the beautifully useful technological advancements made in the decades since. And, if we could, I’d KEEP those King pins and transverse leaf-springs! — a bit “bouncy”, but, soooo comfortable for riding — and utterly stable in deepening snow and on ice! Build it as a coupe for you; but give it the 1938 DeLuxe four-door version in black with rear fender-skirts for me! But not those ’38 mechanical brakes. And KEEP those 1938 dashboard-guages, the mechanical battery-operated clock, that great AM radio with huge round dial, all with those fancy art-deco faces on a woodgrained steel dashboard. And mohair seats. But sneak efficient heating and modern COLD air-conditioning in there somewhere! And make sure, along with that three-on-the-floor, that we get Columbia overdrive. To quote the 1950 Andrew’s Sisters hit from my younger years: “I Can Dream; Can’t I?”
Look at the news…………we are
I completely shudder when I see nice vehicles like this with the engine and compartment looking nasty.
It doesn’t look exactly “nasty”, William: this is just what 84 years LOOKS like. But what it DOES suggest is that, what we have here is an older partial amateur cosmetic restoration of an above-average survivor which inevitably had been showing its age. So, you do the LeBaron Bonney interior and a careful re-paint maybe 20-to-30 years ago, put in sealed-beam headlights behind the original lenses, make sure the original mechanicals work reliably, keep it for 20-30 years, don’t use it much, let your restoration age-in comfortably in a garage, then sell it as a phenomenal survivor. The engine compartment shows the true untouched originality of the car’s overall condition, I would surmise. Doesn’t mean that it’s not a perfectly good car — but don’t promote it as “unrestored”. The paint was redone some time back, and probably the chrome, and plainly the interior: under the hood was not restored, only taken care of for mechanical reliability. Does that make sense? For an all-original car to show a cleanly-preserved engine-compartment, the vehicle would practically have had to live in a dealer’s showroom or a climate-controlled storage since 1939; otherwise, just what you see here: dust and film and surface rust under the hood. We are so used to seeing restored engine-compartments, that we might mistakenly expect a low-mileage original to look almost as “fresh” as that. Your garage is an enclosed OUTDOOR space — and air-moisture HAPPENS: this car is 84+ years old!
Beautiful car for being 84+ yrs old for sure . Not a hope in hell of any of todays vehicles going this distance ! (not that I will be around to find out)
Not that there are many of to-day’s cars that most of us would care about!