Hot Rods Is this 1932 Ford 3w Coupe a good buy and is anyone familiar with it?

noooooo.better deals then that.

 

The floors, oil pan , exhaust and structural integrity are screaming, "STAY AWAY".

 

I too am going to say no...for not a lot different from the asking price of the blue one, I found and purchased this one...also all Henry steel. I say, keep looking.

 

Places like that buy Vaseline in fifty gallon drums and their sales personnel have masters degrees in the 'reach around'. 60k should get you a hell of a lot more car. Why should you pay for that shiney floor? Do the research(asking here was a good start), find a buddy who knows his shit to help you look, put in the leg time, keep your ears open and be ready to pull the trigger when the RIGHT one comes along. Oh. and one more thing, LEAVE THE ROSE COLORED GLASSES AT HOME.
And the answer to your original question is a "hell no".

 

After seeing more photos... 15K max. It's going to need 45K of rebuilding to match the sale price.

 

but it has a sunroof

 

Wiring laying against exhaust. Disaster for an oil pan. Crushed exhaust pipes. Wiped out front tires. Bottom front cowl damage. No front brakes. That’s just what I can see from my smart ass phone’s tiny screen. Imagine what you could find in person. Yea, keep looking. No way it has $40,000.00 in history.

 

Just an original 32 body shell in decent shape will bring more than 30K, and sometimes a lot more. Saw one restored body in bare metal a couple years ago at the SRN and I think it had a 50K price on it. NO, it wasn't a Brookville.

That said, a lot of the decision has to do with your personal tastes. Myself, I don't care for that style, and the interior isn't something I would want. However, my tastes don't matter here. A lot also depends on your cash situation. I would expect to have to put a little more money in it after the purchase.

Have you checked some of the big name auctions to see if any of them have any 32s listed for their upcoming auctions? Yes, a lot of cars go really high at the auctions, but I have also seen some pretty nice 32s sold for similar money.

 

1, Bring a refrigerator magnet. 2 look with your own eyes 3 leave your cash at home 4 bring a qualified buddy 5 bring your spouse

 

How many times can we say "Old School" in one page? We have a winnah!!

 

Kind of late to hit car shows now but cruise nights, drag races are good for still going and are good for eyeing 32's and asking questions. Other important things such as serial numbers, title are important. Have a buddy with knowledge take him along.

 

There's a lot to like about the car, original steel 3W body, the book feature, very cool drivetrain, etc. I feel like there is definitely some value there, more than some of the HAMB lowballer's club are throwing out.

But it also looks like a car that needs to be completely rebuilt. You'd really want to document this car at a certain time period and rebuild it to that style, with much better workmanship all around. I'm betting the steering/suspension geometry is terrible, along with the dangerous brakes and booger welded floor.

This car could be something great, a real old time hot rod with at least a little history, but the buyer is going to have to commit to a complete rebuild in order to get there. The value of all of the little pieces is easily $30K or more, but that's kind of all you're getting.

If the OP was an experienced rodder, maybe who had ties to the original builder, and was thinking about buying this and putting it back to it's early 60's roots, I'd be cheering them on whole-heartedly. But for someone just getting into hot rods? I think this car would be a heart breaker. And in either of those scenarios, the price is kinda high.

 

That was a lot of work to fuck up a 32.

 

This place makes me laugh sometimes if this was some car that was pulled from an old timers garage that he built in the 50's everyone would be screaming bloody murder at the suggestion of upgrading or changing anything but it's being sold at a consignment place so everything is crap and it's worth $15,000.

 

If I’m spending 60 on something I would consider to be worth it. I’d definitely love hearing you guys pointing out every fallible detail to make a rational decision.
I’d call that a high 30 low 40 car.

 

This is a public service announcement.

I realize the 3W body is the focal point of this car to the OP, hell, there was a time when I may have (naively) reacted the same way, this hobby of ours is expensive under the best conditions, even for seasoned veterans and this is the kind of car that sours first timers and sends them scrambling to unload, trade, etc into some other category, many times repeating the previous fiasco.
This car will be a never ending black hole where the money WILL go, and that is after a lot of money was already spent in the outright purchase, I call them "jack up" cars, meaning jack up the radiator cap and drive a new car under it.
It happened to a guy at work that bought a mess of a 31A coupe, ultimately, everything except the body went into the steel dumpster.

 

I agree with most of the comments of it being overpriced, but have you seen the HAMB classifieds lately? 60k is the new 20k. Overpriced yes, but pretty on par with a lot of steel 32s out there. And, it has history. Overpriced yes, but not too far off.

Didn't someone say you never pay too much for a deuce, you just buy it too early?

 

Ask'n and get'n are two different things!

 

like any car with a pedigree, paper trails help establish the value, did the car present itself in the book as it sits now?

The cars value is in keeping the car as it was built, to buy the car and start changing it to suit the current trends would be like painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa.

If that is your intent I would suggest finding another car. HRP

 

Crooked transmission tunnel and wrinkly floor pans, smashed oil pan, kinked exhaust tubes, fuel pressure regulator swinging around in the open air, no consideration for abrasion protection on the wires zip tied to the bottom of the rails, king pin retainers not fully seated, no cotter pins to be seen on any of the castle nuts, janky looking rear wish bone mounts that high center the chassis. What a great deal! Run away, my dude.

 

A car like this is not for a newby.

 

Last year there was a thread...a guy looking for his grandpa's chopped & channeled '32 3 window...purple with white accents and a chrome frame, also with some NY history. Did a bunch of searches but can't find it. Looked a lot like this one...before this poor thing got "re-rodded"

 

60K?

 

A friend had a real deal lightweight 66 427 Fairlane. About 300 miles, never titled, and bought from the original buyer with the MSO. He paid about $160K. Had it a few years and sold it thru one of the big auctions when he came down with a terminal illness. It brought about $230K in the sale and he said that was about the upper end of what he thought it would bring.

About a year later it showed up on that outfit's website, priced at $525K. At that time, the record sale price on one of those cars was $275K. So yeah, their prices are insane. No idea what it eventually sold for, but it was on their site for well over a year.

 

Their prices, asking or not, are high on all the cars I’ve looked at at their Nashville showroom.
My friend put his fresh glass 32 five window in there two years ago and they had such a high dollar on it that it set for a year. His widow pulled it and sold it for what it was actually worth when he passed.

That 3W is way high, IMHO.
Pass.

 

Any dealer is going to reach/ask for the highest amount.
Not that I’m looking for a hotrod to buy, but if I was, I’d never consider a dealer/broker/whatever they are called.
I’d follow up on private ads placed. It’s not like spending more for a used certified car at a dealership. My feeling is the places selling classics, Hotrods, etc, don’t know a thing about the vehicle.

 

I've had 3 hot rods in the last 60 years. All have been in print. How do you figure how much the print is worth? Please give me some sorta formula.

This is the one I've been using . . .

How 'bout age of print -- 10 points per year(s) ago + 1 point per 1000 certified circulation number of the publication times 1.50 for cover mention or 2.50 for cover domination. Take this figure times .10367 of the price you would take for it. Is it fucked up and rusty? Deduct 3%. Did Barris ever see it? Add 12%.

Whatdayathink?

 

I have some background of this car. This photo was taken by a friends father in 1956, just dumb luck for me I was able to find this photo. Even though the listing price was reduced, like most everyone reponding, I agree it is overpriced. I can tell you what it needs, what I did update and what was not done at the time, this was an old hot rod, the rework and updating while preserving the cars provenance is the fun part for me. I sent you a PM.

 

@Chopt 34 much appreciated and I have responded. Very informative so thank you.

 

Holy shit does that thing look cool in the period picture that Chopt 34 posted! Overpriced or not who gives a shit, I would LOVE to see the car returned to that exact state, down to every last detail. Wicked cool.