Wednesday’s Sedan Wisdom

I am the kind of person who sees a particular car and instantly falls in love with it. (I was this way with my girl friends also when I was young.) I have a Model 40 group on Facebook that now has over a 160 members who share the passion for the 33/34 Ford. I receive lots of photos to keep me inspired and while I love roadsters, a clean sedan is probably more “Age Appropriate” for me at this stage of my life. Deuce sedans seem to be everywhere today in both the hiboy/ resto-rod style with fenders and cowl lights. I saw several Deuce sedan projects at the LARS but did not seen any Model 40’s in the swap meet area. I may have missed them as they are normally hard to find. I recall in the 70’s Jim Smith of the Hot Rod Garage built a very nice sedan with a Potter trunk which was a spectacular looking ride. He went on to establish his own shop and built another high end 33 sedan that won lots of awards. Over the years, I have always been attracted to the large sedans and watched Reed Lillard build his maroon beauty in the early early 80’s. He had a shop behind his house just around the corner from Boyds. He left us to early but his mark was set when he built the sedan.

Ron, a friend of mine in town picked up a two owner 34 that is a cream puff which he drives often. The car is stock with a 40 motor that he installed. The price was very reasonable for a near mint sedan. You just need to keep your eyes and ears open for these old Fords – they are still out there.

The balance of August is filled with the world renown Monterey/Pebble Beach extravaganza and GG’s in P-Town. I wish I could take in both activities but I would need my old GM expense account back to handle the two weeks. Remember expense accounts for visiting those famous expensive venues? Those were the days.

I will be settling for our Valley Roadster Boys Malibu trip next Tuesday.

Visit your local hot rod shop, become inspired and fall in love again.

Stay Tooned!

Lynn

 Click on Photos for a larger view and copying.

I received this photo of a nice sedan that is painted a CMG color and has a mild chop. What a nice color on a big sedan like a model 40. I don’t know the spec’s other than what I can see in the photos but I sure like the profile. The front fender bead hanging over the whitewall is what makes the stance look correct to me.

A late night search turned up this 33 that is for sale at one of our long time hot rod dealers. The body appears to be on the rough side but it is hard to tell from the photos.

A clean chassis with a dropped axle, boxed frame and SBC motor mounts fits my build ideas for a sedan.

P&J ladder bars, Bilstein coil overs coupled to the 9 inch plus a long pan hard bar is a very clean set up that works well.

I doubt that we will ever see the above sedan finished but I sure liked the design. Jason was going to chop it to complete the rendering.

Here is a nice start on a patina ride. This is an old field car that he put on the road.

If you like sedan deliveries this one is available to make it your own. Centerline wheels date the car in the early 80’s.

I like to purchase cars in this state then make minor changes as you drive them. You know, dropped axle, SBC/auto/9inch , etc.

Here is a radical version for your back east looking rides. Nice maroon color.

They don’t have to be fancy to have fun. This style attracts a lot of people at a show.

Filling the roof was popular at one time but I prefer the cloth insert in today’s builds. Walden makes a perfect top insert.

Another recent build in a pastel color was a big hit a few years ago. Note the three piece hood which stretches the design of the beautiful front end sheet metal.

One of the nicest mor-doors is from our area. Perfect paint and interior are two of the many highlights of this build.

I watched this one being built at GMT a long time ago. It is now finished and has been in the RJ and SR magazines. Perfection is the objective of this build. Big horsepower (BBC) is under the hood. Note the billet grille and painted surround.

 A tribute to Reed Lillard

Reed built this simple but classic sedan using his expert attention to detail and a P&J chassis. The car is still around and shows up each year at the Outrider’s Picnic. One of the best!