I love my Model A and '35 Pickup, and obviously Fords are the kings of early rods, Model A's and deuce roadsters everywhere, but where are all of the "outsiders"? We all know that GM products upto '36 were termite bait, but I get quite excited seeing something like a 1931 Chevrolet coupe out in the wild. Different, but close enough to fit in a line of early Fords. And the Chryslers were mainly steel cars, but you never see them around. Here is my '33 Plymouth. Look past all the jank, its a work in progress, still have to rip it apart and fix all the previous owners "repairs"
I understand what you are saying. My "32" Plymouth coupe is a good car. It even has a "340" Mopar motor. But I would trade it in a heartbeat for a Ford.
You even have a SBM in there, good going. One member has the signature "I want to be different, just like everyone else". If you enjoy the offbeat, you just have to dig a big deeper.
I like the early Mopars for a number of reasons. Minimal wood. Very stout construction. Different but not stupid. And damn good reason to have a 440/A833/D60 drivetrain. And maybe a couple other components unique to Mopar. Or just unique. My '31 Plymouth. I wouldn't trade it for a Model A. In fact, considering that as a young man I just knew I was going to have a Deuce Ford 3W someday, it makes me laugh that I ended up with this Plymouth. And that I'm actually happy about it.
Love it, I am putting together a 1959 361ci and A833 combo for my car, I love the valve covers and intake.
I think the Mopars have a lot of potential. I have always liked the wavy front axle. Helped a friend convert one to a cross spring for one of his Ford projects!
Certain early Mopar body styles (like yours) certainly have that hot rod vibe hidden inside. It’s just that some of the other attributes, like the beefy frame rails, parallel leaf front ends, and thick appearing grille shells and fenders that made them good cars in their day also make it harder to get the svelte, hot rod look that the Fords have when stripped down. In the right hands they can be very cool. Many times, at shows, I’ve admired a car and the fact that someone used a 413-426 to power their hot rod only to look up and see that it’s in an early Mopar. To me, a well dressed Poly motor is an absolute show stopper.
No formula for non-Fords. You can't just ask somebody... "Btw, what's the part# on that Timken bearing when changing to later brakes on the Model A axle?" Good thing I'm a genius penius. Seriously, I've had to do lotsa research.
Hey Bill, A kid I went to high school with had a 32 Plymouth coupe highboy ,it was blue metalflake with no clear (couldn't afford the clear) ,but it was a pretty cool hot rod for a teenager. So every time I see your coupe it takes me back to my youth. If your coupe were mine I wouldn't trade it for anything.
I don't think I would go as far as saying "ANYTHING but then a Ford", but "not a Ford" would be a good starting point for me. Fords were the easy starting point back in the early days. There were a lot of them available because they were cheap cars to begin with. They were cheap as they aged because there was a lot of them around to begin with, and they were easy to improve upon because they were cheap cars, innovation was not a highlight. Teenagers usually buy cheap cars.
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