This 1932 Ford Model 18 Victoria used to be a cool custom, but it has fallen on hard times. The owner has decided to part with it and states that he is selling it as “yard art.” That seems a sad end for a car that someone has slaved over, so let’s take a look and see if there is some hope for this old Ford. Located in Saint Louis, Missouri, you will find the Model 18 listed for sale here on eBay. The owner has set the BIN at $3,500. Interestingly, an incredible 154 people are watching the listing.
In its heyday, this Ford must have been something pretty special. It was a 1950s hot rod that has been chopped and channeled, and the seller can remember seeing it finished in Washington Blue. It was parked in its current location in the 1960s, which is long enough for a sizeable tree to grow right through the vehicle. I could use that fact to make a few “small block/big block” jokes, but I think that the car deserves better than that. The body has some rot and rust, but it hasn’t deteriorated beyond the point of no return. The frame itself also looks pretty promising and is another item that could potentially be salvaged. However, there is one pressing issue here. It will be the buyer’s responsibility to remove the Ford from its current location, which means that it will also be their responsibility to deal with the tree. The seller has no issues with the buyer dismantling the car to get around the tree, but that will entail cutting the body and frame. The other option would be to remove the tree. The seller has received a quote for this, and I would be querying him on that before I committed to buying this Ford.
There’s no interior to consider with the Ford, and not many mechanical components either. It isn’t clear what drivetrain the builder slotted into the Victoria, but all that is left now is a rear end. It is fitted with juice brakes, but I hardly see that as a selling point in this case. It is a near certainty that the engine bay would have housed a modified flathead V8 with a manual transmission bolted behind it. Those days are a long way behind it, but if someone does decide to tackle this as a viable project they may choose to repeat history.
We see some pretty sad classics here at Barn Finds, and seeing one that appears to have potentially deteriorated to the point of no return is never easy to take. However, this 1932 Ford takes that to a new level for me. This isn’t some mass-produced car that has fallen on hard times. Someone has loved this Ford. They have slaved away, pouring their time, their sweat, and their soul into producing something extraordinary. To see it reduced to its current state is something that makes my heart hurt in a strange way. In an ideal world, someone will buy this car and return it to its former glory. I know that we don’t live in an ideal world, but a man can still hope. The thought that someone’s pride and joy could be reduced to yard art seems wrong, so I hope that someone out there will find a more appropriate use for this classic.
The best way to move this treasure , would be to use a helicopter and lift it straight up, smashing it through the branches, fly as high as you can and then release it.
After the dust and rust settles, put it back on Ebay.
Someone will buy it
Why am I seeing crap that people think it’s worth cash? You might have issues with a scrap metal recycler to give you money for this rust bucket!
Car’s already broken in the middle and with the heavy rust on both sides of the sheet metal a dip in the stripper might just get you a pile of metal shavings. I might pay to take down the tree if the car came free.
I’d say she’s too far gone to treet it to a restoration 😁
Need an arborists to move car.
Sitting out to decay is maddening.
This could be saved if one is a welder.
I say source an old 90’s S10 pickup and repurpose frame with brakes…keep T5 trans ..,
Buy a summit crate motor.
Start assembling… and welding …
It would take a treemendous amount of work to free that old girl…
No one would ever want a ’32 built on a S-10 chassis. You would be throwing your money away! Its already sitting on a good frame if it isn’t rusted away. A bare ’32 Ford frame sells for about $3000 to $4000 these days. A rolling chassis goes for $6000 to $8000. You could buy this Vicky and part it out and make money on it. An S-10 frame is only good for one thing – an S-10!
Here’s a hot rod one ready to go for $10,000
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1932-ford-complete-chassis.1219880/
An original for $8000
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1932-ford-chassis.1213435/
Another one for $6500
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1932-ford-original-chassis-sold.1209340/
But it’s a 1932 – a Vicky at that and there will be a buyer at that price.
It is too bad and it is sad, but this 32 Vicky ,can’t be saved. You could pretend your saving it , by digging it out taking it to your shop and replacing 98.9 percent of all the body panels and putting them on a brand new frame, but it will not be this car. If you want it ,up grade it to garage art.
I saw a 32-3 window one time that was nearly crushed to death and very un-saveable. But someone in England bought the car which was delivered in a box. The car was horribly disfigured and to a normal person, it would have been tossed in the sea. This person rebuilt the car to amazing quality. Ever since I saw that I learned that man has the power to do anything if he wants it bad enough. I’ve restored and built many rides that were pretty rough but this impossible project got me good.
I’ve seen a lot of ’32 Fords as bad as this one that have been saved. The main thing is how pitted the sheet metal is and how deep the pits are. Henry used a high quality 19 gauge steel so you have a lot to work with if the rust worms haven’t eaten too deep. With a Vicky it’s tougher because with ’32 roadsters, 5W and 3W coupes, Brookville and United Pacific make a perfect reproduction body and you can buy any piece of one you need.
This is one of the best (worst) ones I’ve seen by a craftsman in Milano, Italy. He had it shipped there in pieces in a crate. If you think it’s hard to do this in the US, try doing it in Italy. Here’s an 18 page thread on the HAMB that shows it from start (2011) to finish (2017).
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/sold.1065667/
Here’s what it looked like when he sold it a few years ago. Pretty amazing talent!
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/sold.1065667/
A friend of mine, Gary, saves stuff like this all the time. Here’s a 5W coupe he brought back from the dead.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/what-was-i-thinkn-32-5w.760691/
Here’s another one that’s crazy! The thread is 45 pages long and it shows how it all was done step by step. This is the last page and it shows what he started with and the finished car. Unbelievable save!
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/saving-a-32-ford-body.651878/page-45
I think that 5 window piece was mine I sold about 11 or 12 years ago. I posted it on HAMB on a thread about rough projects. I did not post it for sale but like 20 people starting bidding on it.
You’re right Mike, that where I found your thread. You really have my respect for your skills saving your 5W. Most people here don’t have any idea what guys like you can do and have done to save ’32 Fords over the years.
Vintage Hotrods,
Both links are of the finished car when it was for sale.
Jon, here is the correct link to the build thread for the 3W coupe. It’s an amazing story! Sorry about that!
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/saving-a-32-ford-body.651878/
Here is another great save he did on a ’48 Ford Convertible.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/48-ford-conv-from-swiss-junkyard.411168/
I love seeing how it’s done and thanks to the guys like the Adventurer and Mike for documenting it, because in addition to the work, it takes a lot of time to take the pictures and post it. That’s why I call talented guys like Mike that perform this work “Metal Magicians!” I’ve done a little of it and its a lot of hard work.
So $3500 get you a rotting carcass and then you have to remove a tree to retrieve it. Did I miss something? I have a bridge……………
You missed something alright, you would be out $3500 cash and would need to pray it will go good from pickup to drop off!
Funny
I have to wonder how many times someone must have gotten wind of this and tried to buy it while it was on it’s way to a slow demise.
There isn’t a 1932 Ford out there that can’t be saved! I’ve seen them pieced together from three or four cars. They were put together expertly by “metal magicians”, as I call them, and they turned out very well. I’ve seen ’32 Ford bodies created from a flat piece of sheet steel from numerous craftsmen around the country. Like any high end restoration, anything can be saved and ’32 Fords enjoy a cult following and immense popularity, so they are never destroyed completely. At worst, they live on as a donor to another ’32 Ford.
As far as that tree, that’s a smaller tree than the one that had my ’32 Cabriolet captured for over 40 years in Cherry Hills, CO. Here’s the pics of it as it was found, what it looks like today and what I would like it to be someday, a recreation of another well known hot rod Cabriolet. Click on any picture to enlarge to full size.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/4K1cnnsvAT7Yv4K58
These are pics of it as it is today waiting to be finished.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/69C3SYRfSLp3sujy6
This is a thread that is on the HAMB that tells the whole story behind it, how it got there, how it was saved, when I bought it, repaired it and my plans for it someday.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-tree-car-lives.87027/
Here’s my ’32 Victoria, but without a crazy story. It came from one of the biggest ’32 Ford collectors of the Northwest, Bill Steil’s estate sale.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/U2KF4av6xcB5syAF9
Here’s a Vicky I found and looked at in 2019 in South Dakota that had been sitting for over 50 years. It was sold at auction in September, 2020 to a friend of mine for $19,500!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/U2KF4av6xcB5syAF9
As you can see, ’32 Fords have been my passion for the last 25 years!
Here’s the correct link for the pic of my ’32 Victoria.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/5Vog3DLRoqrHPaGL9
Good luck to the seller.
Oh. My Goodness…
And the wood from that tree stays with the seller
After reading the negative posts about getting the tree out of the deuce Vik, I was only 16 when me and my school buds walked 2 miles way the heck out in the middle of nowhere to find 36 Dodge coupe. We found it and it had a huge tree growing thru the middle of the engine bay. Went home and got Dad’s Stihl and we cut that tree outta there and drug that car back to my friend’s house. It can be done if you want it bad enuff. Like the links we’ve given to people on here so that can see that 32-3 and how it was worse than this and turned into a nice car when done. People told us that we could not retrieve that old Dodge but we did. For some reason, normal people refuse to see the potential of what is possible.
Not everyone can afford a ’32 Ford in nice condition as their prices are way up there. They have always been a special car from the day they were made and people have always wanted to own one. If you look back into the 50’s Hot Rod and Hemmings magazines classified ads, you will see 32’s, 33’s and 34’s were often double the price of any other brand of car there for sale. The young guys (like you and your friends saving the ’36 Dodge) who did’t have much money and aren’t afraid of a challenge and lot of work to get one, are the best people in this hobby because their boundless passion to save these old cars. I was lucky I bought most of mine 15 to 20 years ago when I could afford them.
I pulled the trigger and it’s coming to California. The frame and suspension alone is almost worth the price. I’ll post some updates as it gets torn down and put back together.
Update?
Have you made any progress since the post was made?