I was just wondering if anyone out there has any bad ass pictures of 1937,38,39, or 40 Ford Coupes fenderless. I just got a 38 and I am thinking of running it fenderless. If anyone has pics or know were I can go to see some I really appreciate it. Thanks.
Style notes for Newbies, #1: Just about any car made after 1934 looks like a pile of crap without fenders. Exceptions to this statement are rare. Thank you for your attention. Later,
Much as I hate to do this ...I agree wholeheartedly with Phsycobilly , Kinky6 and especially Chilli Phil, there is one "]here..13th pic down on page two.... warning lots of high res pics.... need broadband or lots of patience. http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m291/dclothier/Pancakes Run Sept 06/DSC02281.jpg
I imagine our fearless leader Ryan will have to take you behind the woodshed and have a "talking" with you. A fenderless 38...........you fuckin crazy or somethin?
I saw a fenderless 40 ford coupe at Americruise in Lincoln about 7-8 years ago that really looked great. I know it's hard to imagine not seeing the graceful curves of Henry Ford's fenders on a turret bodied 35-40 coupe but I swear to you, it worked! All the open inner fenders were worked smooth and the rear of the body was bobbed off similar to a 33-34 with no tank. Had a quick change under the back and a chromed beam axle up front with the spring OVER or behind the axle to get the front wheels a little further forward. The guy used the deluxe chrome center grille piece but I believe he ommited the 2 side pieces. I took video of it but alas...no 35 MM or digital images. It can work. I've seen it done but I'd imagine it takes more work than straightening old fenders or buying 'glass re-pops. Gotta round off all the sharp corners, smooth everything up, etc etc...
There is just no improving the lines, shapes and overall style of a fendered 35 through 40 Ford. And dont even think about a 41-47. I was reading somewhere the designs of the 37 through 40's were created from the looks of boat gracefully running at speed through the water.
I sat here for ten minutes thinking about what to say about this and decided to just go lay in my shoebox for a while and cry.
Shure it can be done but it s not going to be easy. Look at some of the early 70s east cost modifieds. They were some of the baddest looking race cars on the planet. I got a lot of shit here on this board when I said I was going to build a 37 ford 2 dr fenderless. I build it and it came out good. Im thinking on a coupe you will have to build a frame with a slighty longer wb, get rid of some of the tail end, maybe slight chop and shorten the mid section and turn it into a 3 window. Thats just for starters. If your body is a good one I wouldnt do it but if the rust has taken its toll and your a real good fab guy and dont mind all the hours it could be done and could be neet. You can look a some of the threads I did under short 37 it might give you some Ideas good luck with your project
Check out this post, informative, and funny.... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14420&highlight=fenderless Rich
Several years ago one of the rod mags ran some drawings from one of the rod artist of different ideas for the glass 37 3 window that is popular. One of them was without fenders and it looked good but what the artist had done was move the front wheels forward at least 12 inches. If you looked at it from the side the profile line of the grill was behind the leading edge of the tire. It looked good. I know we have all seen the 3 window 37 done with no fenders and everyone puts the front wheels in the stock position and the car looks real nose heavy. If you do it move the front axle forward a bunch, looks much better. Rex
I'd like to see a pic Rock. Definitely more work than throwing on fenders (some may disagree; I know of a 40 vert that has been in the 'sheet metal fitment' stage for several months); I like it when people think out of the box. Just not TOO far out of the box...
That's a great reason to build to car with bad aesthetics! Do you work for GM by any chance? The reason you don't see many big fendered cars running sans fenders is due to proportions. These bodies are actually quite a bit larger than you think and the fenders help ground the shape. Remove them and you have some really bad (top heavy) proportions that can't be righted without a lot of coach work. And of course, when you remove these fenders you don't have the same clean reveals that early 30's era Fords have. The rear quarters are kind of funky and much longer, the hood sides don't go all the way down to the frame rails, the grille shells are too big to left out in the wind on their own, etc... In my opinion, this is just a really bad idea.
Django, that picture saved on your computer will probably cause it to crash and burn! That is absolutely awful, my eyes hurt just seeing that. I better run a check on my computer so that pic doesn't contaminate anything else.
My God. This is a good example of how NOT to build a car. I hope the builder did this in gest; a lot of effort went into this to make it look stupid where the same amount of effort could have been utilized to make it much better looking at no additional cost.
I feel the same way about some of the HEAVILY chopped/channelled cars too. And the STRETCHED OUT suicide frontends.......look goofy..... That's why I DIDN'T chop my truck, would have SCREWED UP the look. It's all about PROPORTION......many guys don't GET IT.....
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