Projects A tale of 3 chops and the revival of the 41 to 48 fords

Well you would'ent think of the 41 to 48 fords as hot rods, but they have played an important role in racing.
In 1942 , the mercury's came out with 15" wheels, and ford's improved and lower suspension, a large engine bay, and a large trunk,this gave you the perfect formula for the moon shine runner, even police started to purchase the fords just to keep up with these guys, In the south, most the roads were plagued with dangerous curves and the fords and mercs were the best to deal with this. most other cars were still usesing 16" wheels and tall suspensions , and would wipe out on the first curve.
These boot leggers gave birth to what we now know as stock car racing.
Drag racing also saw a few of these fords out there, with their large engine bays, guys would stuff old rockets , hemis and caddys and nail heads in them, you could call them the first gassers, Me and my fellow club member Allen, found the old Drag-gon coupe, it was a 47 ford coupe and had an olds rockett motor with six two's, a la salle tranny and a converted locker banjo rear end, Buck had an old 46 gasser from back in the day, it sported a poncho motor and was set up like an afx car, with the engine set back farther into the cab.
In the late 80's my friend Fat Jack Robbinson brought back the popularity of the 41 to 48 fords as street rods and pro street cars, he made the cover of hot rod magazine with his "Fat Attack" orange 46 coupe, along side of Pete Chapporis's 39 convertible. it was a full race pro street car that you could drive on the street, he campained and race the car alot untill he rolled it racing. If any one has some pictures, please post them.

 

You are makeing me want to keep my 47's and chop one. There are some cool looking rides here. all I can say is Damn it man...

 

My 41 business cpe with 3 1/2" chop

 

Thanks fellas glad you like it, here's a few more pics..

 

What a beautiful car!

 

agreed, very nice!!

 

Here's a couple pics of mine, someone placed a pic earlier when I was in Santa Maria 2010. I've been think'n about selling my '41? I know I would regret it.

 

That must be the one that was in bare metal ? are you taking it to Santa Maria?

 

In the fortys , customs did'nt have the bad boy image they aquired later, they were more a way for the rich and famous to personalize their cars.
Cars were driven right off the showroom floor and taken to Barris or Valley Custom. and the designers at Ford Motor Company were listening, I feel that , The 41 to 48 fords that were chopped and had fadeaways, in a way gave birth to the design of the 49 to 51 mercs, but I would love to hear Rikster's opinion on that subject, however I do have some proof of fords interest in custom cars. A few months back I was visiting my friend Dan Krabel, I saw him working on a car that just blew my socks off, It was a 1947 ford convertible that had a plexiglass carson top, the whole top was see through and was made from a material that was similar to the bubble canopys on the old bombmers or the very early fighter jets, it was painted a kind of zest green and had oxblood and cream tuck and roll upholstery. what a bitchen car, I asked Dan who customized the car and who made the top, he replipied" why ford did Miguel, you could order them from the dealership" I screamed I WANT ONE! how come I have never seen one? Dan answered " this is a very rare car, this is one of three that survived, and this is probable the nices't one" man what a sick ass car, I bet even Rikster doe'sent have a picture of one, I have seen prototypes that ford built in fifties but I never one in the fortys and that you could buy at the dealer.

 

The Bare Metal one is Paul Braggs car, he is an excellent craftsman and a heck of a nice guy. He caught up with me the first time I took mine to Santa Maria. I'm not sure if I am going to take the 41 Custom, or my 51 Ford truck "Sanford&Son"?

 

I have a few photos....

My guess it they get HOT inside...

 

Haha. Rikster is the man! What a cool thread..

 

Where do you find these pictures? thanks Rickster, I love the one with the four people sitting in the car.

 

another car ford made and you don't see alot of is the 42 to 48 ford sedan delivery, I remember Fat Jack Robinson had a green one.

 

My long door that I built in the late 80's - still have it..... Has been driven all over the country - from Colorado to North Carolina...

 

Like I said before, there are so many way to customize a 41 to 48 ford coupe, their are diferent chops , grills, fade aways, no other car lends itself to be personalized like this, keep them coming guys, I am really enjoying this.

 

It's not a Ford, but the Merc is almost the same in my book. That is my friend Goran's Merc through the stages.

 

I've lived a long life full of '46-'48 Fords & Mercs:

First one was a '46 Tudor, rust free and cherry. A gift from friend's Dad for work on friend's '38 Coupe.

Next was a '46 Coupe, bought it for $12, a bud used the engine & tranny in his roadster.

Third one was a '48 Merc convert, had chromed reversed wheels (only the outer rims were chromed, centers black, '50 Merc caps) Bought it for $50 from a pal.

My present one is a '47 Fordor, a gift last year from my friend Marc.

 

At that time I lived in a studio apartment in Pacific Beach San Diego and my neighbors thought I was going insane. They went surfing and I bought cars. The 47 was my all time favored car! Good times...

 

since mercs are ok, . Long Beach Cavaliers car, pic from 1950

 

I loved that car, I remeber Joe got drunk at the aces show, so I had to drive it back from Santa Ana, the seat sat a little too high because of the chop, but other than that, the car was a dream to drive, I loved looking out the chopped winshield as I drove.

 

I never realized they were dead! I've always loved them - especially the '48s with the parking lights below the headlamps.

After the ragtops, the Tudor sedans are my favorites.

 

This one is looking good!

 

Long door with short door roof chopped 3 inches and moved forward 12 inches...very similar to Noname"s 3 window

 

I love the Ford dash...I am thinking of removing the 59 Chevy one I put in my 47 and putting in a 50 Dash I have...

 

yes!!!

 

great pics Rik! those tops are cool, any pics of your buddy's car Miguel-would be cool to see what one looks like after that many years...

 

Damn good thread.

 

George, I'm only going to say this once!! "Don't ever compare that beautiful 3 window coupe with my old turd" It just makes me look worse for having a 20 year old project sitting in the corner

I feel that mine would be a customized version of a car like yours. mine had a 354 hemi installed in 1958. I had to sell something when my wife went thru breast cancer. she came out fine but the Hemi now resides in someones Model A

my old license plate read 48 HEMI that also was my HAMB handle in 1998. this is as good of time as any to get my opinion blasted here. this is just an opinion and I do own a 48 ford

I love these cars stock. the proportions are great from any angle. but when they get chopped their ass gets huge (lot of people like big asses and there is nothing wrong with that.) I put my ass on a diet. the other thing that is bothersome (to me) is changing the 42-48 grill to a low wide grill. like th 47-8 Olds. I love the grill, hate the 18-20 inch transition to the top of the hood. alot of smoothing and blending even when done well still looks out of place.

this old photo shows two major flaws on my own build. I've fixed the door window openings. still need to redo the rear window. I did a 4 way chop on the back glass using the rear window off my parts car. The original rear open is still in place. my plan is the full width and a inch or two off the top.

I'll try to find an old photo of the first build with the 47 Olds grill and 53 Buick headlight frenched dual 59 cad tail lights and Gene winfield box skirts.

a couple things that will stay, that I wouldn't do today are the rumble seat and 912 porsche electric sun metal sunroof

 

I'll call up Dan Krabel, and see if I can get some pictures.