History 1936 Stainless Steel Ford

Here are a few shots of a 1936 Ford Tudor Sedan built for and owned by Allegheny Ludlum Steel. It was featured in a local parade with over 100 of our salaried, hourly and retired employees walking alongside. This is 1 of only 4 in existence and is the only one currently in running & in road worthy condition. The car is in exceptional condition, with the interior and even the frame looking great. All 4 cars each had over 200,000 miles on them before they removed them from service.

These cars were built for Allegheny as promotional and marketing projects. The top salesmen each year were given the honor of being able to drive them for one year. The v-8 engine (max 85 hp) ran like a sewing machine and WA S surprisingly smooth and quite. I thought this was a much better looking automobile than the Ford Thunderbird that visited us last year. FYI, the car was insured (we were told) for the trip to Louisville via covered trailer for 1.5 million dollars.

People were told that the dies were ruined by stamping the stainless car parts, making these the last of these cars ever produced.

More information of the history on these automobiles can be found at Allegheny Ludlum's website .. www.alleghenyludlum.com/pages/companyinfo/stainlesscars.asp

 

Thanks! I've always wondered if they stamped them or custom built the bodywork. If you go the a stainless steel fab shop today you'll see how hard it is to fab flat counter tops, curved stuff must be next to impossable.

 

Very cool post thanks.

 

I had heard there were 3, and that as you said, stamping them ruined the dies. Cool pics, thanks.

 

Back in,..... I think it was 1975 or 76 , I remember seeing all three models the Lincoln, the Thunderbird and the 36 at the Ford Mercury restorers Show/Swap Meet, at Ford field in Dearborn.

 

cool... wonder why they didn't do a roadster or pheaton instead.

 

wow...thats cool

 

Thats is something else.

 

Whenever I look through one of the metalshaping sites like metalmeet and see guys who've fabbed an entire body from scratch I wonder what it look like if done in stainless. I like it! No Bondo on that car!

 

It sure would change the hobby if all cars had been done in stainless. The only thing to worry about would be dents and tears. Of course our metal-men would have to really, really be good to do it without bondo.

 

There was an article about these cars in Rod & Custom back around 1969.

Dave
http://www.roadsters.com/

 

Thanks for the post.
As a metal stamper that specializes in draw work I can really appreciate the work that went into this. I don't think the draw tools would have been destroied but I can sure as hell see how the trim tools would have been seriously damaged!!!!!

 

wow, just wow....

 

Awesome.

 

make mine a 3 window

 

these stainless fords were just brought up the other day here. crazy! : http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=298519
I took a few pictures of the '36 sedan, and the other two cars, a '60 tbird and a 67 lincoln, at the Crawford auto museum here in Cleveland. should be the last post on there. They are really awesome cars if anyone gets the chance to see them. the '36 especially is just plain awesome.

 

As rare and beautiful as it may be, someone here would still chop it and paint it flat black.........

 

So, where is the flux-capacitor? Gary

 

Thanks for sharing this bit of history. WOW!!!

 

6 of the 36's, two of the t-birds and two of the lincolns... hows that for massive cool.

 

Here's a picture:



I'll take the Lincoln, thank you.

 

That is a beauty.

 

Ford experimented with alternate metals as early as the 20s. I've seen pictures of a couple of shiny Model Ts that were formed of (I think) aluminum. As with the stainless cars, there were only a few.

 

......and then Ford's bean counters realized what a "bad" idea making cars that don't ever rust was - 'Naa, I don't think so. Let's just keep making them out of just the plain old steel'.

 

holly shit!!!!!!!

 

a tripple holly shit!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I volunteer at the Crawford Auto-Aviation museum. These are in the Crawford Collection.


<TABLE width=424 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=336>

1936 Ford Model 68 Tudor Deluxe Sedan (stainless steel) ​

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1960 Ford Thunderbird(stainless steel)
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1966 Lincoln Continental 86 Convertible (stainless steel)​

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A local collector just found one of these 36s this summer about two miles from my house.A real barn find hes been chasing for years. Being restored now.Can only imagine what he paid for it.

 

Growing up a gearhead, in Cleveland, I too remember seeing these cars at the Crawford Museum. My elderly aunt just sent me an e-mail with this info and I just knew there would be a thread on the HAMB about these cars. There is a cool vintage stainless airplane, at the PEMA? airplane museum, near Phoenix, Arizona.
JT

 

do you know how 1936 SS ford is coming along?