40 ford coupes have a revered status with me. From the time of my 8th birthday, when my older brother built me a model pink (my bro had a pink desoto hemi at the time) nailhead powered coupe, to the present, the 40 ford coupe has always been my favorite of the myriad of cars I revere. And it always will be! It has always been a dream of mine to own one, and still is. If I owned the black coupe, I would probably leave it mostly stock, to contrast the mildly cusomized Deluxe 2 door sedan I am building now. The rule has always been don't fool with a forty, you cant improve on perfection. My alterations would work on a 40 deluxe coupe just as well. I have the grill side panels chromed. The hood will be louvered. Louvering is mandatory on a 40! I will swap out my deluxe hood side trim for standard, which is shorter. I have always felt the nose on a deluxe looked pinched. The shorter trim will alleviate that, I hope. The decklid, I believe is the area where a 40 needs help. The v8 powered badge has already gone under hood of my 46. Saving the factory ends of the deluxe hood trim pieces, I will haved the cut ends coved around a 49 chevy trunk handle. The pieces will come out horizontal, simulating the deck trim on my 46. A 49 Chevy front LP guard will be on the back bumper, whichever I chose. 42 Ford? 46 Chevy? Can some one please tell me what bumpers Lee Pratt used on his 40 coupe? The taillights will be dropped to sit just above the bumper and the aforementioned deck trim will aim for the top of the taillights. Linclon door buttons will finish the body mods. It will sit on an extreme rubber rack. I will use a vintage ford green to compliment the already installed light green tinted window glass. Looking through the windows you will see a moneys tach on thd dash and a 2 piece removable tonaeu cover over the back seat, to carry my slicks and jack to the local 1320ft. play ground. LOL! I'll have exhaust dumps. I want to make an impression of a 60's show and go custom. But still dreamin' about that little black standard!
Damn man.....agreed....I would take either car......but that Valley Custom car is just slick and timeless. So if I had a choice.....ship me the first one please.
What direction would I go. As campbell said, either one is OK but nose first into the garage is what comes to mind. The black '40 standard looks really good in the pic. The older build is really cool as well. Its like which model 40 would I take? Any of them. Tim
As I'm kinda stuck on 40's I like them both. The old standard coupe looks like the real deal. Know of one very similar around here that I'm kinda considering but it is too nice and orig to fool with.
I love '40's...std,deluxe, stock,mild custom,hot rod . Owning one has eluded me for decades. I would need about 10 of em for as many as I've "dream" built! I'd take both of them plus any of olscroungers beautie's as a start. I will posess one at some point!
It's kinda hard to choose,I'll take one of each.I love Valley Customs and the restraint that they showed,they were kind of the anti-Barris
the 40 for sale is soooo tempting, i want one but the timing is bad... next year i will be in the market
Well, I thought I was using restraint! LOL! The chrome side grilles have already been done as has the windows. The deck lid has already been fooled with and I don't like the liscense plate mounted on the deck on any car. A 49 LP guard and Lincoln door buttons are traditional mods I have always admired. Like I say, louvers are obligatory on a 40! The stance and dumps are traditional. Will I improve the looks of my car? That will be determined by individual opinion. But I believe my changes will be sublte and not change the classic image of a 40. Isn't pesonalization the name of the game? If my car was finished and had no body mods, painted nice, I would be very happy with what I had. Again, does any one know the bumpers Lee Pratt used on his gold forty coupe, TRJ coverage era?
Out of respect for it's "survivor" status I might have to leave it much as it is, but It would look good with dropped axle, louvered hood......Oh my, exercise restraint 'cause it's hard to improve on the looks of a '40 but easy to do too much and mess one up. My interpretation here:
That is a great looking coupe, I wouldn't change a thing on it. I have seen some of them over done to the point of being gaudy.
Street Rod Nationals in Tulsa 1973 the first event we took the 48 to (it was gold) every time my wife disappeared that weekend I knew to head to where a bright red 40 coupe was sitting in the middle of the fair grounds as she had a real thing for that car. I found this at Costco the other day in a display of model cars that also included a Shoebox Ford ragtop. I didn't realize until I got it home that it was a 39 coupe rather than a 40.
the black std above with red wheels looks similar to the stocker around here minus the louvers--may go get it for future use-maybe just an axle and that about it
If I scored that well worn '40 I would roll it just the way it is.....boring I know, but it looks just perfect the way it is.
I love a forty coupe, and the look good chopped, unchopped and sectioned or not. But if it was mine I would keep it simple and fairly stock looking. Drive it a lot, and so it one thing at a time. But the things needed doing is, drop it, give it a slight rake, steelies ( wider In the rear/reversed) painted, cheater slicks in the rear and mayby a slight upgrade on the interior. And most important engine upgrade; the factory option SBC 283 with 3x2 strombergs and ram horns abd straighten out the exhaust with glasspacks/cherrybombs. And Drive, Drive, Drive! Before, between, after and all the time! To work, to partys to shopping and to where ever Being 16 in 50s again, although I never been a kid in the 50s :wink:
There is a reason people like the 40s, they look good just about any way you run them. Two great looking cars....
Not only good looking but a good long distance driver for those of us of a certain age group. When I got out of my A pickup and into my '40, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. And yeah, Volvobrynk, you gotta drive the wheels off it. Very relatable model to a lot of people. "My dad had one", "I had one I bought used when the war ended" or the one I got the other day in the Market Basket parking lot, "oh I came home from hospital in a 1940 Ford coupe". Lady is supposed to bring me a picture to show me. Between my subvets ball cap and the '40, I meet new folks every day, sad that New England winter is approaching and time to put it in storage.
I've been driving my '40 coupe over 12 years now, lots of long trips, lots of short hops. I'll never get over the fact that I have a '40 Ford coupe. One of my dream cars since I was a kid. It just don't get much better than this.
I think I would have to leave it the way it is. I already have one with a sbc, and that original would look very nice next to it. If only I could win the lottery. Oh well It would get ugly. And to the guy with the black std with red wheels, thanks a lot, now I have get louvers.
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