History Tail Dragging 1940 Ford Coupe, PIC Request

I have been throwing around the idea of doing my rusty '40 Ford Coupe as a taildragger. The car needs a full rebuild and I already have a hot rod style '47 chevy coupe so I don't "need" another hot rod. But I am not a Kustom kind of guy, the factory got it right with '40's and they don't need to be modified. However, I was taking to Dirty Old Man, who has a hot rod style '40, one day and he said that when he was a kid in southern Georgia all the '40's were skirted and dragging ass. This has me interested, stock body, lowered motorboat style, no-chop, maybee a shaved trunk (?). I have found very few images of such cars, mostly on Rikster's site. Add what you have, and ones in color would be appreciated.


I like this one a lot, yes it is a '39, lake pipes '40 deluxe headlights, Lancer caps, no belt line trim but does have handles


Very smooth, too smooth but like the stance.


Hard to tell much from this shot, but it looks just kind of plain.


This one looks very stock to me, and needs to be lower in the rear.



How about a visor?


Yes it is a convertible, but I love the stance, and a very neat picture.


This one is sectioned, so it does not count, but man does it look low in the back.

And here is my girl for reference. I have a Deluxe hood/grille and dash so a Deluxe it will be.

 

Monk Colarossi's Valley built forty was nice.
You can read about it on Kustomrama:http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Dick_Colarossi's_1940_Ford



I like the skirted version best, but the pics aren't as good.

 

Wow what a great car, I checked out their page on it and the color shot is great!

 

Same car and a great example of a early custom. Stock front height and lowered in the rear probably reverse eye spring. The hood trim has been shortened and the nose has been smoothed along with the trunk handle.

Visor car.. It looks like the same suspension setup as the top car but I could be mistaking. It appears to have a taller front tire. The bigger white really helps fill the well and raises the car a little to give it more angle. IMO no visor.

 

NO VISOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I would have to lean towards no visor as well, even though I do have a soft spot for lowriders especially bombs.

This one is chopped but sits nice. I like two spots but when I had a single one on my '47 chevy I got so tired of dip shits asking if it was an old cop car I had to get rid of it. This car later got a crazy 4 headlight treatment.

I like this one alot




I am really feeling the need to keep the trim and handles (except trunk?), real DeSoto ribbed bumpers, Stude taillights, drop the ass, white walls with flippers, exhaust out the running boards.

Anyone have a picture of some modern ones?

 

i never realized how popular this style was . Neat

 

Just realized the visor car is the same car as the 2 pics above. It's the antenna on the fender that gives it away.

 

More and better on the CCC

 

Here are a few I have saved over the last few years. Hopefully I did not put too many duplicates in here. I take no credit for any of these pictures. Some were taken by some pretty talented photographers and some beautiful renderings are also in this collection. Although I prefer a stock bodied traditional Hot Rod 40, I also appreciate the tail dragger custom approach to the 40 coupe and appreciate the amount of work it takes to make them look right.

 

Please, dear god, NO.

 

Like

 

Those are some great shots, especially this one you did at the end adding the skirts.

39 guy I followed your build and loved it, thanks for all the pics. I have the B&W Dan Greenburg one from Annapolis TRJ revival as my screen saver at work since it was first posted.

 

40 hot rod,no chop. 1940 tail dragger way better chopped and smooth deck lid.

 

Hmmm, so my '39 convert is chopped and has a smooth decklid. So it has to be a taildragger, right? Just trying to keep up with this "HAMB correct" stuff....

 

haha no,but if it was a tail dragger it would look better chopped.

 

I liked this one at the 2015 Jalopyrama:

 

^^^ awesome car but doesn't have a taildraggin stance.

 

Thanks Crusty Chevy! Glad you enjoyed the build thread of the coupe. I hope you do one on yours. We are kind of lacking for 40 coupe builds right now on the HAMB.

 

CC I am working on a 1939 Ford Deluxe Coupe that has a 2 1/2" chop and has a "tail dragger" stance.
I plan on running all the exterior trim except the "script" trim badges located on the front of the hood. The deck lid is smooth.
Hope this helps and thanks for your post.

 

There are so many "made out of gold, and can't be sold " (J. Hendrix) '40 purists out there, this is an absolutely knockout thread!

With so many wonderful interpretations, the devil is often in the details.
For instance...As absolutely perfect (and daring) as this beautiful coupe is, I was perhaps most impressed with the '49 dash (HOW many cuts?!), and clever wheel covers!










Same car, '53 Stude caps. As i said, the devil is in the details!

 

I totally love this, garage built too. I have to agree a slight chop makes a tail dragger look just plain sweet. Plans for color?

 

CC the color will be either original Jefferson Blue or 1926-1931 Ford Gunmetal Blue.
I need to make up some color samples and then make the decision. I am running an early hemi motor that is gold with chrome accents. Firewall will be white.

 

Here are a few more I dug out of some decade old threads.

 

First off...you call that rusty? Come visit us here in Maine! Looks like a great candidate for restoration.

 

I originally came from upstate NY so I do know rust. Yes the '40 is very fixable. It is a north Alabama dirt floor barn car. No floors/rockers at all from sitting on the earth which has allowed the body to spread a bit, door bottoms gone, rust in the windshield frame/cowl vent area, but very good roof, only one dent, good drip rails, decent fenders, hood and trunk lid. I have a 303 Olds with attached hydro that was pulled from a runner. Hope to get started within the next year. I made a deal with the wife to get it, I had to get my 47 Chevy going first before I could turn a single wrench on the '40. No wrenching but I have been parts collecting and dreaming. I will certainly do a full build thread though it will be a slow process. I got it last year and told myself it was a 10 year build so I am hoping to have it done by 2025.


This one was taken at the last Owners shop. He had too many cars and needs the space. So I got the '40. He has a super solid '39 tudor you can see in front of the '40.



No floors front to back


Just playing around, that is my office assistant who help me load up the car and haul it to Atlanta from Alabama.

Parts collecting, 1953 Olds 303 got from my buddy Joseph in a trade for a 429 C6 I got that would not fit the build style


.

 

That is definitely a project for a determined, motivated and talented builder. I wish you much success! The time frame is a little long for me. Hopefully I will still be able to follow along on the build if the old folks home (that I will likely be in by the end of your build schedule) allows some PC time.

 

Yeah It is a bit long for me too but I have to be realistic to avoid frustration. I am still relatively young at 42, but I have two kids under 10 and all the obligations that go with family life and work. My '47 was a running and driving stocker 5-6 years ago when I took it mostly apart after 10 years of ownership. Bolt in IFS, t-5 open drive conversion with the modified original 216 I6, new leaves and 10 bolt rear with drums, some paint/body work, wiring and fuel system is all I have been able to get done with a respectable budget and fairly consistent one night (3-4 hours) a week work plan. Over 5 years that has added up to only 180 hours of work, not much time to get a lot done. I hope to have the wiring finished and the fenders back on over this winter. That should get it running and driving again and I will call it good enough for now. I have saved money to pay for some work to be done to speed things up but I just want to do it all myself and have a hard time letting go. So look for the start of a new '40 Ford home garage built thread around March or April.

 

Looking forward to the build. I understand the limited time to work on the project. Family has to come first. Don and I get work on our projects 4-5 hours a day and still seems like it takes forever to get a car built. I have a 39 sedan convertible project that has been waiting for my full attention for 12 years now. Hopefully I can start on it within a year.

 

Badass car!!

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