Last year I "inherited" a '38 Standard from a friend of mine, to settle up since I ended up paying all the bills left over from our Bonneville project. A '38 wouldn't have been my first choice but the more I drive it, the more I like it. We rolled it into another friend's workshop last weekend which was a story in itself, as that involved moving a steamroller with a '39 AEC Matador...I'll post some photos of those two soon. The brakes have been converted to juice, there's a few minor jobs to sort out but the condition is a revelation, looking round the car it looks more like seven years old rather than 70+. Here's a shot of it taken at Goodwood last year... I had three ideas for this car; option 1 was simply to paint it a decent single color, add some '40 solids with 7.50s on the back, sort out the stance and add dual pipes; option 2 was to go the early street custom route with De Soto bumpers, skirts etc and option 3 was to go more extreme, with a chop and LaSalle grille etc. After having a close look at the car I'm going with option 1 (for now) since that way she'll be back on the road fairly soon. Looking through the Don Montgomery books yesterday evening I was slightly surprised to read that it was the '37s, not the '38s, that were considered the "Ugly Ducklings" back in the '40s. '39s and '40s were "OK", '38s were "acceptable" but '37s certainly were not (don't get me wrong here - I like '37s and for a while even thought about changing to a '37 front clip). This surprised me as there were more '37s in the backgrounds of the photos than '38s. Most of the '38s were De Luxes in the pictures but I found a couple of Standards, one in particular was very interesting with a slightly modified front grille, solid hood sides and V12 painted on the side - a Lincoln Zephyr transplant perhaps? Don also said that '38s to '40s were the favourite choice for the lakes, with '38s featuring quite often in the results. I found a few more gems when hunting around for info' on '38s in stock car racing - AJ Foyt ran his first race in a '38 De Luxe. Harry Torgerson was another famous '38 racer in "The Meadowgrove car". Roy Hall, who also raced a '38, inspired the Jim Croce song "Rapid Roy, that stock car boy". Here's a photo of Roy... I think this is a '38 too, at Daytona in '41 - bit difficult to tell from this angle! The front end of the Standard with its Art Deco streamlining kinda reminds me of the So Cal Plating Special... Whilst I'm about it, thought I might as well post a few photos of some great '38 customs. I borrowed the next two photos from Rik Trovit - hope that's OK? First, the Tony and Bill Carr Standard, built when they were working at the Barris shop... Next, Kent Kozera's convertible by Cole Foster... Finally, another '38 with a Barris connection - the Dick Fowler coupe, proof the '38 really is a swan... I'll post some more photos of mine when I've made some progress...and of course I haven't forgotten Ryan's De Luxe but I'm sure he'll post a few photos shortly?! Regards Jon'.
Usually im not a big fan of 38 standards, but i like the Carr custom you posted. First time i have seen that. Starting to give me a new appreciation/look towards that design. Big fan of 38 deluxe/39 standards......have one in the works myself. Cole foster built 38 one of my all time favorites.....Good luck with your build, you have a great foundation to start from.....
I have a '38 Standard Tudor and went a route close to your #1 choice. Believe me, changing to a single color made a MAJOR difference in the overall appearance of the car. I modified the stance the a 4" dropped front axle and lengthened rear spring shackles, added front disc brakes, switched to an 8BA with two 94's and a T-5. The car drives and rides great and always stands out in a crowd. Well worth the effort and money.
It's a beautiful car, it just needs cleaning up. Change the square number plate for a centrally mounted normal one. Use chrome 3D letters on a black plate, looks lovely. Mount the number plate on the bumper. Lose the fogs. Hide the indicators in the headlights. Drop the front a couple of inches.
Having had a '38 Standard in out family for 30 years I've had longer to do some research and talk to the old timers on just how acceptable they were- and while the '37 were totally unacceptable and an embarassment to drive- the '38 Standard was WORSE- NO ONE wanted them. Look at how many were EVER featured in Hot Rod and Rod and Custom- NONE! And they don't even exist in the background- and I have been studying old hot rod magazines for the last 30 years LOOKING for any examples of '38 Standards- they just aren't there. The Stock Car and dirt track guys used up a lot of '38s, but even then for some odd reason they preferred the Deluxes to go out and smash up. 1938 was Ford's WORST year and almost instantly the cars were scrapped as they wore out. People kept and saved the '35s, '36s, '39s & '40s- but you can't even hardly find '38 Standards rotting away in fields. And the ammount of '38 Standard hoods (bonnets to you) I've seen for sale at the hundreds of swap meets I've been to in the last 30 years- NONE. They just don't exist. I could find hundreds of the olther years- as well as their hubcaps. Now I'm not saying I hate '38 Standars- it's infact one of my favorites because of it's unique story. Just want to share what I have found in my travels.
Jon The wife has a '38 Tudor standard. It is still waiting for me to get off my dead ass and become a cruiser. Actually it is waiting for me to go pic it up which is dependent on the weather blah, blah and any number of other excuses. I think they are beautiful cars. Not too popular so not seen traditionaly built every day. Yours looks good the way it is so if you just personalized it a bit it would make a fine ride without a full on build.
I never liked the 37, 38, or 39 Standard very much, but the more I see them, the more I'm starting to appreciate them. The ones pictured here so far are cool. Here's one I saw at the Simeone Museum yesterday.
Little known fact was that Lloyd Seay (#7) and Roy Hall (Usually #14) were both cousins from my territory in Dawsonville. And they were cousins to Raymond Parks from Dawsonville. (They Moonshine supplier and race car owner) Roy did infact drive many 38's, but mostly 39's. The picture of Lloyd Seay on two wheels was taken in August of 41', the first and only race he won at the famed Daytona Beach Course (He died in September that year) and BTW, it IS a 39 coupe, not a 38'. If ya need to know any more stock car history, let me know! And by the way, nice 38'. Your's is a standard right? So is the convertible you posted a deluxe then? -Cody
Many thanks everyone for the positive comments, info' and photos. I know they say it takes a real man to cut one up but the chop on this one is way beyond my fabrication skills and I reckon it will look a whole lot better just with paint, wheels, tyres and a drop, then I'll put some more miles on it. Seems these Standards are thin on the ground. Their streamlined Art Deco styling has certainly grown on me and must be Ford's most extreme example - I remember hearing somewhere that the streamlined styling was the problem - it just dated the car so quickly back then but nowadays, that Art Deco front end is classic '30s. The stock car history and info' is really interesting - mine's a Standard, Cody, and the black convertible's a De Luxe. Here's a couple of photos from Don Montgomery's books - the first one is the one I mentioned with the V12 and the second just shows a stocker at the lakes - so long as one was there, that's good enough for me! By the way, does anyone know if that blue roof marker light on mine was a factory option or an aftermarket add-on? Regards Jon'.
Love all the comments on the 38 Standard. Always been one of my favorites. I am building an awesome 38 Standard now and I need a good hood. Since all you guys on here know so much about them maybe you can help me find a really nice hood? Any help would be appreciated.
Collected the coupe from the painters yesterday and it's looking damn good... Hopefully it should be back together in a couple of weekends. I'll be watching the HAMB with interest to see what Ryan's '38 looks like when Keith Tardel has finished with it. Regards Jon'.
Holy chit! It's beautiful I wouldn't dare go near it, in case a button popped of my shirt and scratched the paint
Jon, Looks great. A big improvement over the two tone green. Looking forward to seeing you at Garage Night. Your passenger, Bill.
Some of you may have seen this at the Hayride last weekend here in England... The car has been professionally repainted, including the dash and all the garnish moldings. I have the original hubcaps which are very rare but left them off as I like the 'shine runner look. It's an export car which came from New Zealand, which is probably why it survived - most of these met their end on the circle tracks. As it was built in Canada it has the sought after high compression ali' heads, which were so popular with the stock car racers. It also has an ali' intake manifold, which probably explains why it goes so well. We just replaced one of the water pumps and converted it to a single belt. The front screen opens and even the clock and the original radio work. We drove there and back to the Hayride with no problems whatsoever - temp is fine (new radiator went in last year), loads of oil pressure, battery spot-on etc. It stops well too, thanks to the juice brakes. 6.00 Excelsiors on the front and 7.50 Firestones on the rear. Before it was painted gloss black I used to drive around in this all the time and it has never let me down. With Ryan's own gloss black '38 about to emerge from its rebuild at Keith Tardel's, hopefully there's going to be renewed interest in these '38s, after all, not everyone can afford a Lincoln Zephyr... Regards Jon'.
I love your Standard. It looks great! It took me a while to warm up to the Standards but if you study one long enough, it's hard to NOT like them. I had a '38 Deluxe. It was a good old car. I probably should have kept it.....
Yeah Jim,you should have kept the coupe but reality sets in and you just have to let them go to scratch that new itch! HRP
Great looking car! Much better in black. I like this picture, it says "Rapid Roy" reminds me of a Jim Croce song. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0yOpSPIsQeo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Many thanks for the comments, everyone. Tim - see you on the salt - I'm flying out to NY on Thursday, then driving the roadster to Wendover with the rest of the Bones. The 2321B '32 won't be racing this year as we'll be racing our new '29 roadster. Looking forward to seeing how fast Keith goes with that killer Y-block - and how fast you go too. Regards Jon'.
Damn that's pretty! I have always liked the '38 standard just a bit more than the '37. i always thought it was a little funny that even well versed hot rodders really don't know what they look like. And, even weirder, even though I am a complete coupe roadster pick up knida guy, my '38 standard fantasy is a tudor flat back sedan...
Cool! We'll see you there. Make sure you identify yourself, so many people from the HAMB are going to be there and I don't know what any of them look like. lol
Nice shot of your 38, it looks like a real road machine. I think I also found the color for my 36'... classic black! Great 38! Just Beautiful!
They sold quite a few '38 Standards here in NZ, and there are a reasonable number still around. Love the way yours looks in black! I just sold this one a couple of months ago ...
I love the looks of a '38 standard. I don't know why people always thought they were the ugly ducklings of old Fords......if I could have just one more car I'd get one! Christmas is coming soon ...........
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