Much to the delight of hot rodders and classic car collectors, Ford announced they are going to reproduce the 1940 Ford Coupe body shell. This is obviously a job for Ford Restoration Parts, who also makes fully assembled classic Mustang car bodies.
Just the Mustangs, the Ford Coupe body is also constructed of modern, high-strength steel and put together using high-tech welding methods. Ford only makes the body shell though, the engine and the rest of bits and pieces is up to you.
This makes the job of restoring an original Coupe much easier. What’s more, this body can be the base for a perfect hot rod. To that end, Ford offers a modified firewall which makes room for larger, modern powertrains.
Prices start at $11,900 plus shipping.Ford will be showing a fully restored Coupe using a new body shell at the upcoming SEMA show.
Ford Coupe Story:
The ’40 Ford: Part of American culture
The 1940 Ford has had a major influence on post-World War II America, said Detroit automotive historian Joe Cabadas, author of “’40 Ford: Evolution * Design * Racing * Hot Rodding.”“Bootleggers down south always wanted to know who had the fastest car,” said Cabadas. “Because of its lightweight V8 engine, they started racing them on Sundays, and that is the beginning of stock car racing.”
After World War II, the 1940 Ford was at the forefront of another major cultural movement – hot rodding. The ’40 Ford got noticed by World War II veterans, who began buying up the cars and turning them into hot rods by adding performance equipment to the car’s flathead V8 engine.
The 1940 Ford has been a fixture in Hollywood, appearing in countless TV shows and movies such as “American Graffiti,” “Bugsy” and “Mulholland Drive.”
“With their big fenders and integrated headlights, the 1937-40 Ford was one of the first streamlined cars from Ford Motor Company,” Cabadas said. “Edsel Ford had a hand in its style. He wanted a family look for Ford and Lincoln vehicles, and so you can see some Lincoln Zephyr in it. The 1940 was also one of the few cars in its price class with a V8.”
This is a hard item to have made a business case for, and even harder to have gotten past the corporate liability colander, so if it is true then there is really some gasoline in the veins of that Corporation. The provenance of one is not there no matter how perfect the ingredients. Having driven a real one, actually Jack Roush’s today, I must say that, the agility and sport of such a complete car is never going to be there, and if somehow the end product got engineered to have the right road dynamics it would have long since become some sort of megabuck Foose special project. And finally, those who find it the epitome of automotive beauty have probably entered the age of dementia. Even in the ranks of, say, Healey (or Cobra) buffs, they fans are all graybeards now, and those cars have the advantage of motorsport creds. But, as with the Timmis cars, good parts are a great start.