Hot Rods 1940 Ford Standard Coupe Survivor

Congats to you sir! That is one fine automobile. Good luck on finding some history of the original owner.

John

 

You are very lucky to find such an original and beautiful car.

 

Very nice indeed! I see some small items have been replaced (most likely to keep the car running over time) The hot air heather is a Ford 1940 accessory, so not all 40 Fords had one but they were installed on both the Std. and the Dlx. models. The hot water was another accessory. The split core radiator is 85 HP original standard feature. The car was shipped from the factory with one tail light on the LH side. In states where the laws permitted only two tail lights a second RH fender & tail light was included with the car and the dealers had to paint the fender and install the tail light, prior to delivery to the customer. The cloth on the door panels is most likely Very FRAGILE and it may look somewhat strange to see the door panel cleaned and not the seat. I would not knock the car one bit but if interested in some of the aftermarket items: Voltage regulator, wiring to ground for hot air heather motor, water pumps, fuel pump, the generator may have been worked on. and there appear to be many of the items that deteriorate, over time, to be replaced. SWEET RIDE! What is the color of the front floor mat? Is there anything under the front floor mat such as black tar paper sound deadener?? Is the car a 5-W Coupe (package tray) or a Business Coupe ( two small rear fold down seats)???

 

48-760:

The engine was rebuilt in 2004, and the hoses, belts etc were replaced with reproduction items from Dennis Carpenter. I'm sure there are a few items that aged and were replaced as the 3rd owner kept the car running and did what was necessary as the original parts failed. There are some hacks in the wiring (example the ignition toggle switch on the column is bypassed and a household light switch is tie-wrapped to the column). The 3rd owner included a NOS harness and I am going to assess replacing the one in the car.

The car has a package tray. It is made from a type of cardboard and is deteriorating around the edges. That, and the rubber on the passenger running board are the worst parts of the car.

The 3rd owner wanted a factory radio and at least three are in the trunk. I'll be selling those as I have no interest in adding an am radio.

I'll look under the floor mat next time I see the car. I have it stored at my Dads shop - which is 4 hours away.

 

Love it!!!

 

Very cool car, you're on the right track on what to do with it.

Cloud Mist Gray must be the most popular 'survivor car' color LOL. Although mine is a 39 deluxe it's in about the same shape. Sat in the garage for 45 years, same owner since 1952 Enjoy your car, and drive the wheels off of it. It will get more looks at the car show then the mega thousand dollar restored ones!
Mine as found


After some gentle hand rubbing

 

Truly spectacular!!!!!!!

 

Killer time-machine. Great job of keeping the old girl in tip top shape.

 

OMG....... just simply OMG....

It is just beautiful, amazing, a time capsule. There are things on that car that I've never even seen pictures of before. A great baseline for '39 and '40 coupes. Subscribing! My '40 coupe project was the same color... once upon a time...

 

awesome

 

Digging through the trunk and found the original title and bills of sale. The original owner had the car for 3 days, then sold it for $1.00 to the 2nd owner - strange.

I also found photos of the car in storage from 1963, where it had been stored since '43. Note the same plates are still on the car.




The story is that the 2nd owner (Clyde S. Schenberger) bought the car for his son, who was killed in 1943. I have found Clyde - but so far no record of his son.

Bill of sale to the 2nd owner - 3 days after she bought it:

 

Some more junk I found in the trunk:

 

amazing--love it

 

Car was sold new on May 4, 1940. This paper was in the trunk.

 

Amazing car & great story - Congratulations Man!
1940 Standard is the Most Beautiful Ford ever - we can now say it will be for all times.
Beyond that, this car is really amazing time capsule - Thank you for sharing - I enjoy every photo & every sentence.

 

Found these in the ashtray - restaurants in Houston from back in the day:

 

Done with the clean out - last cool item is this placard I found in the storage area under/behind the passenger seat. It's 8x12 and heavy paper.

 

Anyone else remember reading used car ads in the papers in the late 50s, even in the early 60s. A big selling point in the ads was radio and heater equipped. Funny.

 

Simply amazing

 

I just saw this thread and man, that 40 is incredible. I hope to God the owner preserves it, just as it is, and doesn't F*&k it up by make a "Hot Rod" out of it.

 

The car has a heat exchanger heater only - it does not have a hot water heater. It is a simple system that works off engine heat. To me - a heater seems unusual for a car bought in 1940 Houston.

 

All of my favorite HAMB '40 owners have chimed in and I have to concur, super sweet car. You should grab an AACA Preservation class award with that beauty.

 

I'm not too interested in car shows or awards. I plan on just enjoying the car and driving it.

The only mods I have planned are to slightly lower the front (dropped axle, reverse eye spring) dual exhaust, and a tire rake. I will save the original parts.

 

The bill of sale to the second owner says the price was one dollar and other valuable consideration. That means the other consideration was either chickens, love, manual labor, or more money. Just a way of hiding the actual sale price.

 

A bargain at half the price!

 

Digging around online I found that they were later married and died within a year of each other in 67/68. They married late - She was 64 when she bought the car in 1940. It's amazing that the original owner was born in 1876.

 

I love it, I wouldn't even touch the springs or axle or anything (tires are ok, they wear/dry out, it's inevitable) though, very likely they have never been disturbed. I know you said you'd keep the stock stuff and use a drop axle etc, but it just wouldn't be the same even if the factory parts we reinstalled later. That's just my opinion and I love chopped up cars, but this one is ridiculously special and people in the know will pay it attention as is.

 

Also the 300 RPM idle spec is nuts, my hopped up flatty is only happy at 3 times the factory idle speed, HA!

 

I think that was a way of carburetor tuning, not the standard idle RPM. The idea was, put the rear wheels up on jacks and adjust the idle/idle RPM to indicate 6 mph on the speedometer or somesuch.

 

To give it that classic early stance, have you considered just longer shackles and a "rubber rake"?

And to Flatblack 31, that one just wears me right out! I might ask you for some interior detail pictures within a week or 2. My original paint 39 std is getting a new custom interior but all stock panels and seats. A cloth headliner but vinyl sides and seat covers. I might need to get creative where the door and 'B' pillar meet at the top. Yours looks so nice and clean original it will answer a lot of questions.

Ya know I kinda hate both of you guys, not for reals, just that envy variety that's fun...