I'm sure many of these cars are still around....but what happened to the rest of 'em?!? Time? Rust? Accidents? Neglect? 40's are WAY before my time, but these sure are beauties - thanks for this thread!!
Some 40's '36 Fords... (from ebay) Fantastic late 40's 1936 Ford 5-window coupe... I wish I had a better scan of this one.. would love to see the background cars a bit better, as well as the 36 Ford. Stamp on the bottom indicates an east coast car show... Mild Cabriolet With wild Zebra pattern interior Same car.. now with updated 1949 Plymouth bumpers 39-40 Ford chopped coupe with Olds grille and 49 Mercury front bumper.
They have been bought up and tucked away waiting for the right time to be rebuilt and put back on the road. Well thats my plan
This thread is absolutely amazing. Does anyone know where I could see a pictorial of the process of channeling a 40 Ford, or similar car? I'm entertaining the idea for my build, and would love to do a little research. Thanks!
Could anyone tell me about the lights at the bumper of this car? What are they called/ what is their function? They look cool as shit. Does anyone know who makes or made bullet shaped spolights like this? Thanks again!
I think its interesting how most of them sit dead level: no rake at all on most of the cars pictured. Is rake a 50's invention?
Blackie those pics(paintings?)are pure sex.Do you sell them? buddy you got some skills.Oh yeah this thread is by far one of the best on the HAMB
The lights on the bumper are amber colored and called Fog-Lights. The Spotlights where manufactured by Appleton - Appleton Spotlights are mandatory for early style custom cars. There are a few other brands, but the real stuff was made by Appleton, which made several different models. The S-112 and S-552 are the best looking and most popular models in their series. They are highly sought after parts these days. But at a price you can still ind them at local swap meets or ebay. The fog lights are a little less desirable, and easier to find.
OMG you guys are amazing. Thank you. I was busy this week with 2 new skateboard releases and a pinstriping gig so was unable to check the HAMB. Thank you for all the info. I figured it was something amazing but never knew it would be so rich. Thank you again.
Well more like a late 40's "invention". The early customs from the late 30's and early 40's where only lowered a minimal amount - there area always exceptions to the rules of coarse. Due toe poor roads a certain amount of suspension travel space was needed. So the cars where lowered just a minimal amount.. and yes most of them where lowered equal amounts front and rear. But in the later part of the 40's more and more guys where dropping the back of the car a bit more than the front to get that wonderful speedboat look. I have a photo of a nice chopped 1942 Ford with four (at least) people inside, and this car has just the perfect ride hight in that photo. But in another photo the car appears to be level, and at a higher stance as well. So I guess, it was because of people saw the low stance on cars when more than one person would sit in the car and decided that was the desired look, and started to lower the cars more and especially more in the back. More lowered in the back 1936 Ford in the 40's... Jesse Lopez Ford built by Jesse and Sam Barris had a tail dragging stance in 1948 when this photo was taken. This photo was taken in 1948 Here is a nice sample of a taildragging stance on a mild 1940 Ford custom owned by Al Beckman. The photo was taken in 1949
Dude this is not just one of the BEST threads on the hamb but its almost the ONLY thread on the hamb these days.
Here is another nice photo of a 36 Ford.. a Cabriolet this time. The lack of fender skirts on this car makes it look a bit more like a Rod than others... but my guess is the skirts where just removed temporarily. The rest of the styling is so much Custom car with the wonderful mild chopped windshield and Padded top. The 1937 DeSoto bumpers and Appletons spots, that I think this car usually ran with skirts. Typical high stance for the 40's.. and it also still had the door handles.
Nice!! Except for the bumper, that is exactly what I am working towards. (with skirts of course). Complete with the stock caps even.
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