Because of its lightweight flathead V8 engine and the California-based aftermarket performance industry, Ford dominated the pre- and post-war performance business.
This sure beats cutting out rust, filling by welding and smoothing with Bondo: Ford Motor has licensed reproduction steel bodies of one of the all time favorite street and strip machines – the 1940 Ford Coupe. A nascent restoration or what could become a flame-painted hot rod is available now with prices starting at $11,900, plus shipping, from Dennis Carpenter Ford Restoration Parts.
Individual panels are for sale as well. Moreover, it goes without saying that some assembly is required to turn the all-steel pieces into a moving machine – flathead V8 or brand X V8-powered. The new body is available with a stock firewall that accommodates the original flathead. However, for those looking for greater performance, the new 1940 Ford body can alternatively be ordered with a recessed firewall that will allow much larger modern engines to be installed.
At the Specialty Equipment Market Association or SEMA show in Las Vegas this weekend, Ford displayed a custom 1940 Ford hot rod built using the reproduction body. The fully assembled, copper-colored show car had a new 5.0-liter V8 engine, four-speed automatic transmission and a Mustang II front suspension. The roof was chopped, or lowered, to give the coupe the classic hot rod look.
The 1937 to 1940 Ford Coupe was Ford’s first streamlined car. Even non-car enthusiast know the car because of Hollywood The Ford coupe has appeared – and in my view sometimes stole the show – in countless TV programs and movies, including American Graffiti, Bugsy and Mulholland Drive.
“The 1940 Ford Coupe has always been highly sought after and collectible. Unfortunately, good, solid restorable examples have become hard to find and expensive, so this faithful reproduction is bound to prove popular,” said Dennis Mondrach, Ford Restoration Parts licensing manager.
“The 1940 Ford has had a major influence on post-World War II America,” said Detroit automotive historian Joe Cabadas, author of ’40 Ford: Evolution * Design * Racing * Hot Rodding. “Bootleggers down south always wanted to know who had the fastest car,” said Cabadas.
Because of its lightweight flathead V8 engine and the California-based aftermarket performance industry, Ford dominated the pre- and post-war performance business. Oldsmobile started producing its Rocket V8 in 1949 and Cadillac also had a V8, but it wasn’t until Chevrolet woke up more than two decades after the introduction of the Ford V8 in 1932 with its small-block V8 in 1955 that GM had a popular rodder’s mill. The rivalry goes on to this day.
Dennis Carpenter, owner of one of the nation’s largest classic Ford restoration parts companies, owes his start in the business more than 40 years ago to the 1940 Ford. Carpenter was having trouble locating a good used set of dash knobs for a car he was restoring – and still owns – so he approached Ford and obtained permission to reproduce the knobs using original factory blueprints and designs. Today his company, Dennis Carpenter Ford Restoration Parts, produces many Ford-licensed parts for the 1940 Ford. With the body now back in production, Carpenter is gearing up to add even more trim parts for the car.
“When you see a beautifully restored 1940 Ford, it is like a piece of jewelry,” Carpenter said. “People just really love the lines of that car. It is timeless and appeals to all ages.”
