went out for a quick ride this evening on one of my 30 mile loops to get some Dilly Bars at the DQ the next town over. Decided to get some gas which required a u turn. Much to my surprise someone else had the same idea. Well, he pulled in just ahead of me to tank up and I guess the only analogy I can think of is that my Avatar found its "brother from another mother". A beautiful rock stock '29 Special Coupe.
I can just imagine how the conversation went, Where did you get all of those original parts to restore her like that? I had to hot rod mine! Right?
Funny thing is you could tell this guy loved his "correct car" and I had to tell him mine started out with a pile of parts and a decent body more like the Johnny Cash "One Piece at a time" version. Sad thing was he said it was the first time he had his out all season. I don't think he "did" his based on the conversation but in all sincerity, it was the nicest stock special coupe I ever saw. Pretty flawless back paint as well. All in all, nice people to chat with on a beautiful evening! Pete
Jetdoc, The person who stitched the top used to do a lot of vinyl tops back in the day when they were hot. She used the aluminum trim like they used to use back then when they redid the tops. It is kind of half round but maybe more like 1/3 round and hollow. There are plastic/nylon kind of pieces that get nailed into the wood and the trim is snapped over that and is kept in place by them. From what I understand, the lower belt is not so hard but the parts around the quarter windows are literally painful and she made plywood forms to bend the aluminum on the wide dimension. I don't know where you are located but this person is here in CT and funny thing was just a couple of months ago, someone came up to me at a show and said he helped her bend the trim. PM me if you want her info. Pete
Thank you for the info. I'll scratch build something similar. I have at least a year before I'll be ready to tackle it. You have a very nice special coupe.
Good stuff! Must have had a great conversation ( as long as he wasn't a "restorer" from that other site ( HaHa)
at least to the Ford Barn - way a lot of stuff happens in life, just end up in the right place at the right time - how/why, who knows
Seb I am betting it does. This in on Rte 66 east bound in Portland. We were heading west then both did the U turn near where the hot dog stand sets up. It used to be a Sunoco station but has opened and closed several times over the recent past. All in all, I still can't get over the odds of this happening. I have seen two other special coupes in the area over the past few years but never this one. Simply a beautiful example of a nicely restored car.
Rte 66 in Portland CT? Yep. Remember the Nat King Cole Song: ...."And Oklahoma City is mighty pretty, You see Amarillo, Gallup New Mexico, Flagstaff, Arizona, Don't forget Portland, Kingman, Barstow, San Bernandino...." Just kidding Rte 66 in CT is a State route that runs East-West in roughly the center of the state from Meriden to Willimantic CT. Pete
You never see special coupes let alone 2 at once!! Makes me happy to see them. I am biased based on my current build.
we like your car better because it is a hamber car. scratch built and you know every part and bolt. there is no equal to turning a pile of parts into a dilly bar getter.
Well, unless you live up here. We rarely see standards! Funny how that works. I too am missing the belt trim for my coupe and since I plan on giving it the vinyl top I may have to do something similar to yours.
Binger for the most part you are correct. Never saw one at a hot rod event except mine, though there was one for sale a while back on the HAMB. On the other hand, one night at a cruise in Colchester, another one parked next to me. I never had the chance to talk to the owner of this car as he took off as I was approaching and was lucky to get this shot. From what I could find out about these cars, Henry F. had one for his personal car for a number of years. He wanted all coupes made this way and based on what I could see from what's under the fabric, could tell that its construction was probably more simple given there are a number of smaller metal pieces pressed out and secured to a pretty stout wooden frame. I think the technology left this idea in the dust as best I can tell. Same kinds of issues as the vinyl tops as the metal underneath gets pretty rusty/pitted. Can't explain the different distribution with maybe more being in Canada? I can say that I have never seen another hot rodded in person but as noted above, one changed hands on the HAMB a while back. I do have the original band but figured it was too difficult to work with as there is a system of trim clips that need to be mounted to the wood and the band snapped over them. I could not foresee mounting this band without putting a crease in the band as it is a pretty big but floppy one piece item. If anyone wants to know more about it, PM me and I can provide more information. Thank you all for your kind words and comments. I had as much fun with this post as I was amazed to see the other S. Coupe Monday evening. All in all, the car works out pretty good for getting Dilly Bars and we have been as far out as 190 miles from home with it. Pete
From what Steve at Bert's had to say they built standard coupes only in part of 28 and then built only special coupes into 29 and then back to standards. Mine was built feb of 29
Bringer That's cool. My body was built in Sept 29 based on the date stamped on the tank if I remember correct. I actually used a tank off a doodle bug as I cut it and the one that came with the body was near perfect
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