I have nearly worn out the old thread on 33 / 34 Coupe bodies studying all these wonderful old rusted and rotted finds from basements, barns, corn cribs, ditchs, etc. And it got me to wondering are there still some old bodies to be found in this day and age ? I found this old pic somewhere but now cannot re-locate where it came from. It is a beauty for sure !!! Does it still survive ? I have over 350 photos of old survivor 33's and 34's but rarely see another turn up.
I know of 2. One has been sitting for probably 20-25 years, the other around 30 to 35 years. Neither are for sale and will be handed down to family.
Okay, here is my story on how I ended up with my 34 3-Window in the Spring of 1999. I made numerous phone calls, and was laughed at on more than 1 occasion when they heard what I was looking for (I did not realize then how hard it was to find one) but ended up getting a lead from a fellow in south central BC. He had gone to school in Saskatchewan, and a friend of his that he had gone to school with Dad had a 34 since the early 60's. Turns out that one of the Family of the original owner had decided to turn it into a Hay Wagon! One of the family members knew that was wrong and they phoned the fellow I bought it from. When I called Richard in Saskatchewan he was blown away that a guy in BC knew he had a 34 3 Window. Richard had never sold anything prior and had no intention on selling the 34 to some stranger on the Telephone. We talked about Cars, and my Dragster for close to an hour and I felt that if I did not make some kind of move I was going to lose this opportunity. I asked Richard if I showed up with a Certified Cheque for 10K would he talk to me. He replied that of course he would talk to me, he said I just don't know if I would sell the Car though. He told me to leave my phone number and he would talk with his family and call me back in a few days. My heart sank, I thought I had been blown off in a nice polite kind of way. I came home from work for about 2 or 3 days in a row and just stared at the phone, as if that would do anything. The phone eventually rang and Richard told me that the family had decided to "let the car go to me" it was as if I was adopting one of their children! Fedwoman and I packed the Truck and trailer and immediately hit the road for Saskatchewan. When we arrived at the Farm we were greeted by an amazingly friendly family, they treated us like we were family, and spent the day touring their farm and visiting with them. Turns out that their daughter was getting married in the summer and the money from the 34 was going to help with the Summer Wedding. I truly believe that if that Wedding was not planned when I called, that I would not have been successful in buying the Car. It really was an amazing expierence to be able to find, and then buy the car, and one that I will always be grateful for. Sorry for the long winded version, I just could not shorten it up anymore and try to explain the story.
This car was found and built by "Fordgasseri" here on the hamb, so yes it's still around. (unless I've lost my memory totally). Pretty sure it was him. His name is George, nice guy. I just bought some '34 gauges from him. Look at his media. Tim
Got mine from the classifieds on the ford barn, needs floor, patches etc, the usual stuff, seems the restorers pass on these. You got to search, here, fordbarn, Craig's list, put the leg work( or keyboard typing) in and you'll find one. Be patient.
I don't know of any 33-34 ford's, but there's all kinds of stuff around. The restorers and hot rodders that bought and stashed them away, are reaching advanced age the cars are turning up. Lot of times it takes the loss of the caretaker of the car for the past xx years for the cars to surface again. A restorer I know has a couple 32's and A's, mostly in pieces, some partially restored. Bought them all in the 70's. His wife made him choose between her or the cars. I doubt he'll be selling any cars.
Of course they are still out there. But not the ones that have been in plain sight. If they could be seen from the road, they are either gone or not for sale to anyone. So the rest take some luck and some digging. I just found a 1932 tudor at a garage sale in a back shed that had been there for 25 years. I saw some "man stuff" on the tables at the garage sale and asked if they had any old cars and parts. Turns out they did, but never would have known about them without asking. That's the "luck" and the "digging" part.
^^^^^^^^^ What he said. Although there are three or four in a 35 mile radius of me that are finished, all steel cars that have not been driven for a dozen years or more.[ NOT for sale] that's why I drove 500 miles to get one.
They are still out there - here is a pic of a 34 three window I found in a barn in the summer of 2012. Had been there for many years, but few people knew about it. When you do find your barn find, be prepared to have the cash in hand or the next guy in line gets it.
Yes!! Cash in hand is what is required AFTER you are lucky enough to find it. And by cash in hand, that means rolled up, in your pocket the FIRST time you get to see it. I have been able to purchase many "unobtainable" cars by literally laying cold hard cash on the hood.
Great inspiration guys.....keep up the stories. I have my hopes up that someday a scraped out old body will come my way.
I KNOW OF A 1934 COUPE IN PIECES IN A BARN GREAT SURVIVER BUT THE OLD MAN WILL NOT SELL IT. I GUESS THEY WILL USE IT TO PAY FOR HIS BURIAL SOME DAY. TO BAD!
Unfortunately, too many stories like this one - the "I am going to build it someday" line - and you know it will never happen. Like Dustyrelics says though, cash on hand and placed in front of the guy can sometimes turn things around in your favor.
This was a Craigslist find that was 1000 miles away in Kansas about 4 years ago. It's comprised of about 4 cars to "make up" the body but I'm not going to complain. I requested a few more pics before wiring the money to the seller. Before those pics arrived he had 2 other people come to buy the car, fortunately for me they both pissed off the seller to where he said it was no longer for sale then he then rang me up. I quickly learned there are 2 questions when finding a 32-36' 3w body.... #1 Is it still for sale? #2 what is your routing #
Dave, was the Body as straight and good as it looks in the Pics? What a great looking start to someones project.....
It needed work but nice floor etc. was a very difficult decision to sell it , but was my best option at the time
^^^^^HA! HA! Dave! I read your post and saw the car and thought you were wise to exercise your best option at the time; even if you're not happy about it. I was thinking that YOU making the decision was MUCH preferable to having the dang tax guys start taking stuff. Then, I happened to notice your quote from Will Rogers which I've heard, and used!, a number of time. I've got to ask. Did you add the Will Rogers quote before or after your "tax problems?" It really is never funny to forced into any decision but the Will Rogers quote suddenly took on new meaning to me; given what you said.
Ditto on the quote !@ And yes, what a beautiful car to start with as a project. I can always keep dreaming that one will turn up as nice as that one was.
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