I’m back again, this time the old man and I found an amazing find. 1942 Ford Coupe. Rust free. Still has the 221 Flattie and a 3 speed, runs and drives well. 99% original patina. Apparently it sat in a guys basement for over 30 years and the guy we bought it from had it another 15. Came out of the Salem/ Hillsboro area of Oregon. currently plans is to keep it as is. Fix what needs to be fixed and drive the wheels off it. No more ground up builds. This one can be tinkered with and driven just about anywhere we want and enjoyed.
More and more guys are seeing the light! Its a lot of fun just cruising these old rides. Don't need perfection, don't need fancy paint, don't need neck breaking performance, and don't need to rebuild everything, just to enjoy the ride.
I grew up in the back seat of a 48. Ran it a few years with the flathead before pops went hot rod and dropped a 351 under the hood. And drove it many more years. Brings back major memories. Looked in the back seat. Remember it being far bigger. But heck that was 40 years ago. lol. Looking forward to cruising around with it.
Bought one at estate sale many years ago. Made it safe and enjoyed it even if the Wife and girls called it "Ugly Car"! Sold it a few yrs. later and even made a couple bucks. Enjoy that coupe,
Many '41s & '42s got a '46-'48 nose added .... kinda like the '33 into a '34 & '35 into a '36 thing before the war.
Yes, I've read that too. Every 1942 model car and truck produced by all US manufacturers after Dec 1941, went to the military. Only trucks produced from Dec 41 through at least mid 1945 could be purchased by civilians, and those trucks had to be deemed necessary to continue the war effort.
From my knowledge this is a late 41. Has no nickel trim at all. Interior is very different than I’m used to seeing. But this was a civilian issue. According to the lay owner. The Sedans pretty much all went to war. But 13k coupes were built in total. I’m still digging around seeing if one can find a registry. I wondered as the car is kinda Air Force Blue. Be interesting what I find out. Thanks everyone it’s a neat car. Looking forward to tinkering with it and making it run even better. I’ll get some better pics up in a day or two.
Using some means to narrow this car down a bit. And I’m too lazy to grab the paperwork. This is considered a War Trim car. And it’s funny as it has one piece that’s plated. And on another forum said in February of 42 at the end of production Ford was using whatever to build them. So mixed trim. Some had painted bumpers a few super deluxe got war trim and chromed bumpers. But no guarantee the bumpers haven’t been swapped. They are pretty clean. it is a club coupe and not a business coupe. Original spare tire is in trunk. would it be wrong to polish up the hunt caps and fix them up?
I see an antenna, so apparently it's equipped with a radio? That was still a pretty unusual option at the time. Get the radio working, and there are adapters to play FM or even connect to your phone - the sound of music coming out of an old tube radio is distinctive.
My dad had a running/ driving all original 40 in the 90s that he tried turning into a street rod, but never finished. He told me he wished he never did that and if anything make it an old school hot rod
Ain't that the truth! A quick glance of just the front end would have had me guessing that it was a Mercury.
Wonder if this might have been your original color? More pics here . . . https://www.classicautomall.com/vehicles/2146/1942-ford-super-deluxe
I like it! If you found a few interesting speed parts for the engine that certainly wouldn't hurt anything but otherwise I wouldn't change a thing, a real time capsule.
Radio was added at some point. But still has delete plate. And I have a fully restored Wonderbar to go in it.
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