Customs My first irresistible "Field Find"

Ok, so my neighbor comes down to pay my daughter for taking care of their chickens while they were away. (Yep, we live out in the country) He's a car guy, I'm an old car guy so he shows me pictures of some junk this lady his wife knows wants hauled away. Can't really tell much in the phone pics but one's an OT Firebird and the other is a '50 Ford with something terribly wrong with the top. I say call her up and lets go see 'em.
So tomorrow I'll be dragging home another treasure.......
Anyone recognize this old shoebox from central Ca.??? It has remnants of pink and white tuck-n-roll, no engine/trans but some old motor mounts. What top did they splice on there?

 

I'm gonna guess 52-54 Ford Crestline top.

 

Looks like an abbreviated shoebox Victoria roof. They just changed the angle of the rear window to look like a breezeway...I dig that car! Must have some show or magazine history..

 

Built by BUDWEISER and lots of it !

Oldmics

 

That is just weird, I like it!

 

Might be the Ranchero proto-type of the '50 Autorama...

 

Might be a flower car, use by funeral homes. Really cool find.

 

I gotta admit I thought it looked kinda weird at first but it's growing on me - fast.
I thought of '52-54 also but it might be Victoria, I'm not a shoebox expert by any means.
Oldmics - you're probably more right than you know!
DDDenny - that's exactly what I thought .... and there was no way I'd let it go to scrap.
The lady told me her husband (or his brother?) owned a body shop and built it as a shop truck. From the interior it looks like it was pretty spiffy at one point - pink and white tuck-n-roll, chromed garnish molding, etc.
Gonna try to get it out of the grass and home tomorrow where I can evaluate it a little better.

 

I’d say Panther got it right.

 

It's quirky and I dig quirky cars. This could be a very fun save.

 

It's funny, it found me. I was sitting in the back room, feet up, reading the latest Hemmings when the neighbor (who I almost never see) came over. He was available, the lady was willing to show it and we had just enough daylight to see it. The stars aligned for about an hour....
I hope I can find a flatbed tomorrow, I don't think the winch on my trailer is up to pulling it without putting some tires on it.

 

I wonder how tight the seating is with that roof setup? That aside, it's relatively well done as far as these truck conversions go, I like it. I can see how that rear window setup would help make more space in the box, if the old window had to be used it would extend into the box opening pretty far.

I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the top is made to be removable somehow. I'm also wondering if those are '51 Victoria doors judging from the vent wing design.

 

I guess making a "Ranchero" out of '49-'51 Fords was popular in central and northern California at one point. Didn't Bob Dron just restore one lately?
Kinda wish they would have used the rear glass that went with the roof, even at the expense of some bed length, but I guess that's what makes it what it is.

 

Very cool, looks similar to the Joe Bailon built 1949 Ford "Shampoo Truck." It was a shoebox turned into a pickup and sectioned.

 

I thought the same thing about cab room. Hopefully I can get in and try it out tomorrow.
Other than the top looking a little "humpy" it's pretty decent. That "humpy" is what made me so curious when my neighbor showed me a picture. I'm getting used to that Mercury style rear window.
Don'cha love that feeling when you score something and you have to hide how excited you are so the owner doesn't change their mind. Haven't felt that way since I scored a set of small window Halibrands for $200/pr at a garage sale.

 

hell yeah

 

This car needs to be redone/ finished! Just something about it cranks my engine

 

Lovely chicken coupe

 

Hopefully tomorrow we'll get it up on a flatbed or trailer and get a look at what's hidden by the deep grass. It didn't look all that bad in the dim light of this afternoon. Barring any horrible rust issues, I probably won't be able to resist tearing into it right away. Unfortunately I'm in the middle of re-chopping my '33 pu, gotta finish that.

 

Nice!!!!

Sent from my SM-J727T1 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

You scored. I think it's a victoria roof and would be nice to see the rear glass put back in. I think it would flow pretty good. Congrats on the shoero pick up

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Welp, it appears to have the shorter 1950 four door doors. I believe somebody may have started with a 50 four door, welded the back doors shut and put the back half of a 52-54 victoria top on it. It looks like a very short person may fit in it. I believe if it was my car I'd have to take the top back off, scoot the seat and back panel rearward and make a roadster pickup out of it. Then I'd drive around with my dog in the back. I'd keep it simple with a cast-off chevy small block [350 or 305] and a 350 turbo. I dig it!

 

Roadster pickup, sounds good!

 

Cool. Needs to be re-spiffy-fied. I can see it now...brought back in two-tone pink and white inside and out...sitting under the bright lights at the GNRS.

 

That's just flat out cool! Pretty close to a Ute from down under, but completely home built. A 50 Ranchero. Too bad the glass is all blown out (damn kids). You have to do a build on this and post it. And, this is coming from a primarily CHEVROLET guy!!! I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

It sure has the style of a flower car but obviously shorter. Maybe because most of the flower car pics on the H.A.M.B. are giantsize converted Cadillacs.

 

I think it deserves to be brought back to life. What engine mounts does it have, they might indicate what was in it during its earlier life. Would be damn hard to get in with that short roof, any engine bay or interior shots? What rear axle is under the back, it might shed some light as to era?
Here's a Mercury flower car.

http://www.oldcarsweekly.com/news/hobby-news/little_business_big_cars

Here's an Ozzie ute.


And Vicky body

 

Once it's done, you know some asshat is gonna say ''nice El Camino. My friend had one just like it''.
It's cool. Was thinking flower car, but The Godfather was on yesterday and I was dorkin' out on the funeral vehicles at Vito's last ride.

 

"Irresistible"..I would agree.
This car is odd enough in a good way, to take it on as a project.
Good luck, keep the pics coming as you progress.