Might be a dumb question, but I am looking for a shoebox and came across a 51 which is perfect. It says its a business coupe. Is there a difference between business coupe or just a regular 2 door coupe? I want to do a lead sled but It looks like the business coupe is smaller if I'm not mistaken. Much appreciated!
The club coupe (which I have) and a business coupe have the same basic body shell. The business coupe had the option of no back seat, just a platform (so a salesman could haul his samples, etc around). Also, they were made only in the "DeLuxe" trim version. "Deluxe" was the lower of two trim levels available in 1951. The upper trim level was termed the "Custom"; some might say that the "Crestliner was the top trim level, but that was really just a model option. But I digress; since all business coupes were the DeLuxe trim level, they had no side trim, no p***enger side sun visor or armrest and were much more "Plain Jane". They usually had 6.00X16 tires instead of 6.70X15 and a higher probability of a 6 cylinder engine. Since you want to do a "lead sled" which will involve a lot of changes, the overall condition of the body is much more important than the original configuration.
There were two "Coupe" configurations, both with the short roofline, the Club Coupe with back seat and pivot-to-open rear windows and the Business Coupe with fixed rear windows and no back seat. Back seats have often been added to these over the years. You may be thinking of the 2 door Sedan...................Note to self: Type faster than Tubman.
I had a 50 Business Coupe. It had the platform instead of a backseat and the fixed rear windows. Coupes are easily identified by the short roof, lack of a division bar on the quarter window and the long panel between the rear window and deck lid. This gives the look of a long trunk compared to the sedan. My 50 Business Coupe did have the Custom trim. On an interesting note due to serial number, Allstate Insurance listed it as a 1950 Ford Truck. This is because Ford listed these coupes as utility vehicles. The insurance company interpreted that as "truck".
Ford kept the Coupes until '54. The '55s and '56es were 'shorter' roofs than sedans, but longer than coupes. Hence, the 'post' models were coined 'club sedans'. I'm a '56 lover, and thought about major surgery on a 'Club sedan', to make it a coupe. Did some drawings, even built a 1/25 scale model...did the conversion. ****. Damned thing looked like a Ute!
Just curious, Did your car have a p***enger sun visor and armrest? It would be interesting to know if Ford did make a business coupe in the custom trim level or someone added it.
It"a been a long time..... It did have a p***enger sun visor. The door panels were re done and I cannot remember if it had armrests. I was missing the trim on the p***enger door but it had the holes. And the rest of the trim was on the car. I do have one pic but it's on freakin photo ****et.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/49-ford-2-door-what-is-it-called.1047705/#post-11878371 Here is the thread....it's the red car. Just remembered....I had all the trim. I never got around to putting all the trim on. The drivers side....just has the Custom spear in the photo but It had all the mounting holes.
I have a 51 business coupe and had another 51 coupe parts car..Neither had arm rests in front doors..
https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/6190344019.html Here's the link guys, thanks for the help. So from what I understand is that it's the same body shape? Just different options? The business coupe looked a little smaller to me hence the question. What do you guys think about the deal? I can get a better deal perhaps 1k or even cheaper
Haha good to know! So you think it'll be worth it to wait for a coupe to make a lead slead out of it or would a Tudor sedan be really common.
None of them are really common. Not really rare but defiantly not common. When I had my Coupe an old man chased me for years.....He said he had been looking for a good Coupe for 20 years. That was in the 90s Around here you see about 1 Coupe per 10 sedans. Now.....I'm not a Custom guy.....I would rather see a sedan Custom rather than Coupe. Part of this is I prefer the rarer Coupes, Stock, or mildly souped up....The other reason is I think the longer roof of the sedan looks better as a Custom Car. 51s lend themselves better for Custom Grilles. If you are doing a lot of body and floor work....suspension and that jazz, I think that 51sedan may be a good one for that. If you were doing a stock restoration I would wait for a better car. Price....get it as cheap as you can.
Listed 21 days ago. You sure it's still on the market? Price is good, however, no ***le may be part of why the price is low. No ***le can be a huge headache. IMHO, the seller should be the one to do the leg work on ***ling the car not the buyer.
If you're going to chop it, it can be made to work. I have seen some chopped two door sedans that looked good; they were pretty radical, however. If you're not going to chop it, wait for a coupe. (Personally, I like sectioned, unchopped coupes!)
Personally, I think the 2-door sedan looks better chopped than the coupe does. Chopped coupes tend to look out of proportion, the decklid looks way too long to me once they're chopped. Looks like it should be a good starting point. If it's still available I'd offer $1200 and see what the seller says.
I agree. Coupes have look that's just better stock or stock proportioned IMHO Sedans have a good look as well. The sedan platform is what Ford chose for it's factory custom......the Crestliner.
Great information! I have a lot to think about. You guys are right, a coupe would look a lot better stock with some upgrades under the hood. The sedan would be a good place to chop, as I want to do a drastic chop for that really lead sled look. I'll give an offer on the sedan, if it's a cheap deal I'll go for it. Otherwise I'll wait for one that's already chopped so I won't have to go through all the trouble and cost.
True, I think that's what putting people off. Also perhaps because it's listed as a "coupe" . I'll see if ***ling can be part of the negotiation. If it's cheap enough I'm all for it
..................Just remember, all chops are not created equal, quality-wise or aesthetically. Look a potential purchase over carefully. Is it proportioned, do the windows still work, there's a lot to consider.
Also, since you are in CA, do you have a plan for registering/***ling it before you dive in ? I lived there years ago, and it's a lot harder to get an un***led car in the system now. Do a search here on HAMB, lots of people from CA chime in, I think there's a ***ling agency a lot of people recommend. Would **** to buy the car and start working on it only to have the DMV say "no go" when you go to register it. The ad on CL says "***le missing". Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Most people don't know about the idea of a two-door sedan, so to them anything with two doors is a coupe. Happens quite frequently with cars like this.
Don't know what state your in.I'm in az. I bought a 50 and 51 no ***les . Filed abandoned ***le. took 3 months but I got two az. ***les in my name. What I'm saying is without a ***le I wouldn't give more than $500.oo . Car being that old chances are it won't show. Take any plates or any paper info from car. Then have the ***le agency come inspect it ( cost about 35 to 50 bucks ) take that paperwork put it with your abandoned ***le paperwork send it off to your local MVD and wait. Having a ***le add's about $500.oo to price of car. without ***le subtract $500.oo plus Looked like car was missing grill and other stuff. It all add's up. Your a young guy 500 tops 1000 good luck
I think he's in California, the Craig's List Ad is from Orange County (where Disney Land is). They are pretty ******** in CA. I'm originally from New Hampshire, very redneck hillbilly state, I love it, still says "live free or die" on the license plates, and they mean it. If I were still a resident there, which I'm not, I could literally buy a pile of rusty **** with no papers at all from some dude in the woods who wears hip waders as clothes, write a bill of sale with his "X" scratched on it, ('cause he quit school in 2nd grade to work logging), punch my own serial # with a punch set from Harbor Freight tools, (probably I would use "OU812" because I love Van Halen), walk down to the DMV and get new paperwork from a lady there with skin like a baseball glove, short hair and a perm, putting her cigarette in an old gl*** ashtray and spitting tobacco into a spittoon on the counter (as she does her math homework and puts a pacifier in her kid's mouth, writhing in a stroller nearby). Then I could take a hand written temporary license plate (written on a paper plate if I wanted), then drive "said" rusty pile of **** through the city streets, shooting oil and smoke out of the spark plug threads, back to my own deer-tick infested slice of heaven and park it on my front lawn with lots and lots of other similar rusty hulks (because there is no mandatory car insurance, income tax or sales tax in NH), instead of being told "Ya, your ***le is wrinkled in the corner, that makes it invalid, there's nothing you can do to fix it, you can't even s**** the car here in M***achusetts without a valid ***le signed by the current owner, and notarized by a justice of the peace, I can't do anything at all for you sorry, go away now, next in line!" Don't think that every day I'm not tempted to throw our house up for sale, walk away from my weird sources of metropolitan-area dependent income, take my family and go back. (Rant over, sorry for that) back to old Fords....) Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Omar....if the owner is saying the car in the photos is a 51 coupe, triple check the ***le against the car's serial numbers because the car in the photo is not only not a coupe, it's also not a 51. The car in the photo is a 1950 two door sedan. 1951 fords had hidden trunk hinges while 49 and 50 fords had external trunk hinges with the mounting holes punched in the decklid and the body...51s had no holes in either the body or the decklid. The hood on that car is a 51 hood...different than 49 and 50 hoods. Be careful.
Haha it seems like a h***le just thinking about it. If I go through it I'll for sure lower the asking price. Or I'll just p***
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