Technical What prewar car should I start with?

V-12 Lincoln may not be the worst designed engine in history, but it's in the top five ... get any post '37 Chevrolet or Plymouth for easy availability of stock parts, or ease of swapping to a later same family power train.

 

How long is a piece of string? What body style, open car or closed car; 20s, 30s or early 40s. Open wheeler or fendered? Are you building it yourself and/or with input from others? What is the budget, era and your skillset? Do you have access to the tools required, welder etc? Is it a daily driver or weekend car. I'm a large build at 5'10" and 275lbs and fit OK in my 35 Chevy, more room in my 46 Olds (Fat fendered).
I've sourced multiple NOS items over years for my Olds and then had them sent down under, fluctuating foreign exchange rate and international freight have added to the build cost and I'm doing most of the work myself, only farming out only certain things.
Have a plan, time frame, budget and stick to it; then factor in contingencies (Murphy's Law). As stated use the KISS principle!
Go to places and look at different cars, ask owners lot of questions, bounce a few ideas around before you commit to anything. You may be lucky to sit in a few cars to get the feel.
You'll make a few mistakes along the way and learn from your experiences, enjoy the ride.

 

Ok, so it's looking like you're leaning towards a full fendered car. What would you want from it? Kustom / Taildragger looks or a Hot Rod stance?

Not all Zephyrs are V12, no, but I think they still were in 36/37. If you even find one you can afford, chances are it won't be complete and may likely not have the engine/trans anyway. I think the retrofit for these cars was to put the 8rt in them but I really don't know for sure (someone on here does). Personally, I think if I had a V12 Flathead in a full fendered car, I'd swap it into a Modified and run a V8 in the big car.

I'd suggest looking for a 37 Ford as an alternative to the Lincoln. It's not a Lincoln, but it has similar features.

I saw a 37 Buick in your general vicinity. Cheap for a car that's supposedly running and driving. Not a Lincoln Zephyr, but would make a cool project and is a comparable car of that era. Should have a Straight Eight in it and I'm pretty sure there are hop up parts out there for them.

 

Since you are 'undecided' I suggest attending as many local shows/swap meets/ cruises as you have time for and see/feel what inspires you.
There are many folks that start on a project only to lose interest along the way because they can't see the end or don't like what they see.....

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A V12 is just a 4 stroke engine not harder to work on than any other 4 stroke engine.

You will find that 1-800 hot rod is frowned on by most of us. So being able to call someone and have the UPS truck deliver your stuff in a day or two is not what we consider hot rodding.

If you like Zephyrs then your question is already answered, get a Zephyr. Done deal. It won't be any harder to build than anything else, its just a car.

 

Volvorasmus was already taken? Rasmus is a cool name. Thanks for the compliment.

Again I think it's real important to consider what your goals are. Show and shine, 1/4 mile, around town use, touring...? Yes some cars can do it all, rarely without compromise.

 

1927 Ford Tall-T, and keep it tall. Put a 220 Offy sprint car engine in it and you will be a star in the vintage car world.

 

Ford, ford,ford, easy to find parts for, new or used, and cheaper than fixing that car in the park in cape cod !

 

Get the most complete, best car you can. Decide if you want a stocker with some hop ups (40's era build) - an older resto is perfect then modify from there.
If you want a hot rod (build frame, swap engine, etc) get a good body, or an older resto and sell what you dont need.

Not sure of your skill set or available time. Do you want to do mechanical work, paint and body, or both.

 

its twice the distance from the middle to one end...LOL

 

All you need are the rest of the parts and you can build the Buick in you yard

 

Semi correct, because if you can find a good car and you are gonna ditch most of the drive train, and swap brakes out, a Chevy/Plymouth/Dodge/Buick would be able to end up in the same neighborhood, and get almost the same respect at any car show!!

Or another way of putting it; the price of a desent Ford 32 fordor, can bring you a Driving mid 30 Chevy, 49-55 Chevy axles/brakes, steelies, very hot six shooter or a all dressed out 265/283, and be on the road in the same time.

And if you don't like the looks of a 4 springer , you can cut I down to a 3 springer and go lake-style.
Or go master craftsman and swap in a in-superior set up with a set of hairpins/split bones, dropped ford axles, just to prove you are a better welder then engineer.

I know this will get me some flack, but non the less, it doesn't have to be a ford, they got good aftermarket backing, but so does others.

 

I have a 47 Zephyr, let me tell you, there is almost no aftermarket support for these cars. 40-41 might be different, don't know. If you need patch panels, you'll have to make your own. Suspension and brakes are like a Ford of the same model, yet still different enough that parts don't interchange. Took me a while to find front brake cylinders, turned out to be a common cylinder used on a lot of Chevys and Fords, but it isn't listed in the parts catalogs as fitting. Stuff like that should be taken into consideration when buying a out of mainstream car. Fords tend to be most plentiful with great support, followed by the GM cars, with Chrysler being third. While cars like Lincolns, Packards and Nash may make great cars, you have to be a gum shoe and hunt parts and pieces, if you can even find them. One piece of trim for my 47 Lincoln I searched for over a year to find. The more complete the car to start with, the better off you will be.

 

When my wife wanted to build a car, I took her to the Louisville nats, sat her down at the front gate and told her to take a picture of the type of car she would like to own. When we developed the pics, old time film back then, she had 250 pics of 37 > 39 sedans, so we found her a 38 Chevy. So basically my suggestion would be to wait a few weeks,as I see you are in Seattle, then get down to the Good Guys show at the fairgrounds July 24,25,26 and talk to real car owners and look to see what turns your crank. Also there will be lots for sale. You would probably do well with a late 30's sedan, coupes always cost a bit more............. good luck!

 

Okay, so you want to be at $10k or less, decent shape to start with, and pre-war (or immediate post war carry overs I'd add) with a strong support system. Not an unreasonable ask if you're realistic about how tight a loop you've drawn around yourself. Convertible/roadster? Not likely. Cadillac/Buick/etc? Not likely. Other GM stuff? Maybe.......Chevrolet is easiest for parts of those. But bottom line, as has been said above, the best bet is a Ford........especially if you really want the hot rod, or maybe mild custom vibe. For at least 25 years my quick answer (though not comprehensive) to newbs that self describe as you have has been what I think is the undisputed champion of your criteria................the '46-8 Ford. You get V8 (if you avoid 6s, easy to do), really good interior space, good looks, great ride (relative to the range of hot rod choices), and terrific parts/tech assistance network....................and the most likely to be in your stated budget.

Yeah, some of the other choices offered CAN get into your criteria, but usually it takes someone with much more experience to be able to pull that off. Sure, there are plenty of Model As out there in the 5-8k range, but not ones that you'll be able to consider a usable hot rod right off. By the time you jump through all the hot rodding hoops you'll be closer to $15k (probably more because of learning curve) by the time you get to enjoyable. BTW, buying one out of state will add something like $1-3K for transportation depending......I presume that comes out of the $10k budget.

There's lots more to consider, but I only have so much attention span for this kind of exercise on here. There are a few other alternatives, but gets more complicated to explain in a short post. Most newbs I've given that advice to haven't followed it............I guess I don't know what I'm talking about after 50+ years of this.........but a couple have gotten back to me and said they wished they had. Have fun.