SOLD SOLDAfter two years I have decided to sell my 1940 Ford Deluxe sedan. I have really enjoyed owning and driving this car, and the workmanship is outstanding, but I have discovered that I am a 32 Ford guy and won’t be happy until I have another one. The car was built in the mid 80s by hot rodder Vern Williams of Orange, CA. He originally bought it in 1980 from a dentist as an early hot rod with a Merc flathead. When the stock rear end broke he decided to do a 3-year frame-off build. After stripping the rust-free body, the drip rails were molded to the body. It was painted gloss black with clear coat by Mission Viejo Collision, flamed by Sam Bivens, and later pin- striped by Jeff “Styles” Overman. Bivens also painted the stock deluxe dash orange/eggshell pearl. The chassis was blasted and painted red by Mission Viejo. At the same time the chassis was updated with a 57 Ford Ranchero 9” ford rear with a Currie center section that was sprung with TCI parallel leaf springs. Up front Vern used a 4”dropped axle by Mordrop with a reversed eye spring and stock wishbone. It was fitted with disc brakes and a stock Ford sway bar, Vega steering box from TCI and dual reservoir Mustang master cylinder with a TCI adjustable proportioning valve. Vern used a 350 Chevy motor with a 350 turbo trans. Last winter I replaced the original engine with a fresh 355 Chevy with Edelbrock aluminum heads. All the engine components, like intake, carburetor, distributor, and headers are all the same that Vern used on his original engine. The new engine has 650 miles on it. When the body and chassis were done, Vern took the car to his long-time friend Eddie Martinez (the King of tuck & roll) for an outstanding orange and eggshell pearl interior. Eddie did his magic in the trunk as well and added black carpet with orange piping. One of the features of the car is an amazing headliner that was stitched front to rear with orange piping. The hood was louvered with 118 3” louvers in a vee pattern and Sam Bivens flamed the underside of the hood to match the top. All interior garnish was sent to the chrome plate shop, and the 40 vent windows were removed before all new glass was installed. The car was in numerous magazines and calendars, and won numerous paint and build awards while Vern owned the car. In January of 1995 Rod and Custom magazine selected the sedan as one of the top 25 “Forty Fords” of all time. Vern drove the car, dragged raced the car, and even ran it on the salt flats at El Mirage in 1991 where he ran it 110.456. The SCTA tag is still under the hood! Vern sold the car to a guy in Florida around 2002. That guy owned the car for a couple years and sold it on ebay to a dentist in South Bend, Indiana who had a collection of cars in a museum. That is where I first saw the car and I bought it from the dentist in 2012. I am only the 4th owner and the guy I bought it from never drove it. I have lots of documented history on the car with pictures, magazines and even letters from Vern himself. I have tried hard to maintain the integrity of this car the way Vern built it. The updates I have made have been done without changing the style or theme of the car. Besides replacing the original engine, I completely re-wired the under dash area and installed a new fuse box, replaced the front tires with the exact make and size, re-built all the original brakes including replacing the master cylinder, replaced all the gauges, replaced the rear shocks and sway bar bushings, powder coated the front wheels to match the rears, replaced the mufflers, and a bunch of other little detail items like fixing a sagging outside door handle. The car is ready to drive anywhere. Everything works…headlights, parking lights, wipers, cowl vent, door and trunk locks, courtesy lights, radio, power antenna, everything! It drives great even as a straight axle car. It goes down the road straight, and stops great. This is really a super nice car with a historic past and I have only mentioned some of the many details about this car. I am not interested in any trades and I am not desperate to sell the car, I just know it’s time for another 32 Ford for me. The price is $35K. This weekend the car will be at the Lane Automotive show in Coloma, Michigan. I can be reached at 574-340-3686 cell. The car is located in northern Indiana.
The Jalopy Journal
