This is my 1950 Ford Custom. Last year I literally bought it from the old lady next door. She had it for sale for a couple of years, but had never advertised it or did anything to let people know it was for sale. This Ford had been sitting in her garage for the last 15 years virtually undriven. It's all original with the numbers matching flathead V8 in the engine bay, 3 on the tree manual, original tube radio, and the optional "Miracle Air" package. She even has the vintage tags and an old AAA badge! One day, she approached me and asked me if I wanted to buy it. I told her I couldn't afford it, but was willing to help her find someone to buy it from her (we both knew the value of the car). Instead, she said she wanted it gone then and there, liked that I was a car guy, had never sold or flipped any of my cars, and offered to sell it to me for the miserly sum of $1K under the condition that I take care of/restore the car. I jumped on that offer! I put some air in the tires and with the help of my Dad and a couple friends, pushed it out from her garage into mine, where I got to tinkering on it. I eventually got her running and on the road again. I christened the car "The Old Lady" in reference to the story around the car. She needs a lot of TLC though, and I intend to give it to her. Eventually, I want this car to be solid and running reliably with no issues so I can take her on cruise nights and the occasional road trip. As far as customizing, I'll likely only lower her a little bit (~2 inches) to make ride height compliment the lines of the car better. I'm open to any insights or suggestions you folks my have as well. Thanks for your time.
Don't worry about that. Most of my work will be on the drivetrain, restoring busted parts, and fixing bad bodywork that's been done in the past. I want this car to maintain it's classic elegance.
Congrats - great deal - right place at the right time - yep, a little lowering and maybe full size hub caps.
I was thinking about adding some trim rings to the wheels, but hadn't considered full size hub caps. Any suggestions there?
OEM for these cars were a really neat "smoothy" stainless trim ring which I believe is available in repro, also stainless, I think. If not repro'd, then perhaps you can find a set of originals, but worth looking for, in my opinion. Nice car and great story! Ray
...dang That is one CLEAN shoebox for an amazing price. It's great that you have it back on the road again.
Heres what I'd do. Lower it like you said, put on dual pipes with Smittys, full wheel covers (maybe 55-56 Ford) and replace the hood ornament with a bull nose. Simple, clean and no fowl, and you'd have yourself a very nice ride, oh, and replace the factory skirts with Foxcraft ones. Good Luck.
You got that beauty for a GRAND ?!?! You lucky bastard ... I hate you !! Damn , my old lady neighbor has an 80's Buick - not quite the same , lol !! Take good care of it , it looks really nice . Congrats !
Say guys...although I consider myself very lucky to have this car, maybe you can help me REALLY score big with this...I've entered the Old Lady into an online contest to win enough money to really restore her right. Would you guys be willing to help me out by voting for her? Just click on the link, then scroll down and click on the "Vote For This Entry" button. http://bit.ly/VifABF You can vote every 24 hours from each of your computers. Thanks!
killer ! IMO..change the three-rib oem skirts for foxcraft merc-style ones... Job done. Great to see another Fordor Box on the roads
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