History Searching 4 clues, '33 Ford coupe, USMC, El Toro, CA, Chicago...

This story was very emotional for me to read, we truly are in a small world!

My Dad always said: "you can tell a lot about a man by the way he treats his Wife and his dog,s"

Through out this thread there are several pics of the Cpl. with dogs, you can tell he loved animals.

Isn't it great that the last pic on this thread of the 33 has a dog in the front seat!

Thanks, Fred

 

Would be really cool if the family was able to step up and bring the car back home.

 

I've had some people interested who have commented that this car is cool although not a hot rod, so wanted to share my perspective (opinion) although others may disagree:

I've had lots of old cars and hot rods. Back in the day, hot rodding was about improving a car and often that came about by buying an older car, because in 1946 a 1932 Ford was cheaper than a 1946 Ford, and then going to the junkyard and getting the brakes and wheels off of a wrecked 1940 to upgrade to hydraulic brakes and solid wheels. Made it look newer getting rid of the wire wheels and also better function with hydraulic brakes. Might even get the 1940 engine for an instant 30% increase in horsepower. That would then lead to more changes like some hi compression heads and dual carbs, 1942 crab distributor, etc. My Dad in 1957 did this very thing. He bought an abandoned 1936 Cabriolet and then went to the junkyard and traded his childhood train set for the hydraulic brakes and solid wheels from a 40 Ford. From the same car, he got the entire '40 front sheetmetal and tried to improve on Ford's '40 convertible by having the cleaner, sleek top lines of a '36 Cabriolet with the really great looking front sheetmetal of a '40 Deluxe. Just wanted to be different, wanted to be more modern, better performance, etc. That's the picture in my avatar.
Now, we're all in different places in the timelines of our youth. Typically, the hot rodding journey always gets interrupted, although at different times, and for different reasons, for different people. Some people start earlier, like my Dad when he was 14 and sold his Cushman to buy the '36 Cabriolet for $75. Some don't have the money until later, like the guy I bought my '32 3W from who didn't get it until he was a senior in high school in 1958. Some never get it until their families are raised and some never at all. Inevitably, the process gets interrupted before the hot rodding journey is complete.
I guess you see where I'm going with all this. This '33 is a hot rod, it was on it's way at the pace that the owner could afford. He was obviously a car guy by the NASCAR decal. He increased the horsepower by 30% with the '40 engine. He increased the reliability with the juice brakes. He improved and modernized the look with the solid wheels. Oh yeah, it's a hot rod alright, just got interrupted, but still on it's way. Looking for the next caretaker to take it to the next step or leave it as is. In some ways, it's a time capsule, and in other ways it's a blank slate.
That being said, we don't know that it didn't have a hopped up 21 stud before it got the '40 engine, possibly for more reliability when the owners needs changed, and we don't know that it didn't have an all out 59AB at some point with all the goodies.
All we know is what it looks like right now, at this point in it's journey. Now it's ready for a new owner and some imagination.
We don't know when or why Richard's journey got interrupted, was it money, family, or the military, all common reasons. Whatever it was, it's still a piece of history and a great old HOT ROD!​

 

Looks like a good hotrod to me. It just needs a lil haircut to continue its evolution. I like it but then again I'm really biased for Model 40's.

 

WOW!!!!!

 

Great story here,on to the next chapter.

 

I missed this before!!! So neat!!

 

video of when Tom got it from me...sums it all up to me: the car, the girl, and the time to take a drive in the country!