Another Month passed by without alot of real interesting things going on. The weather is finally starting to come around. I've been driving my roadster a bit. Car shows are starting to spring up here and there also.
I'm usually stuck in a mode of thought that doesn't pertain to what I'm actually working on. One or more projects ahead. So as usual I spend alot of time pondering things I may not work on for a while. Drawing pictures, researching, studying, thinking....
My current brain wave is aimed towards customs. I have this '35 Ford 5 window coupe that I'm anxious to work on. I've never really "customized" a car before. So I'm really trying to think this one out beforehand. I go back and forth with thoughts of a clean smoothed out late 40's "taildragger". That seems to be a bit overdone in the world and not really an era that interests me. My main focus on history seems to lie between the early 30's and the end of WWII. A time when a car was your daily car and it was either to burn rubber or impress the ladies. A '35 Ford isnt exactly the best suited for racing when compared to a roadster of a few years older. So I'm going after the classy night on the town look.
I've begun to dig into EVERY '35 picture I can find. Every advertizement, drawing, etc. It seems then, as it does now. The designers drew a cool car. But the people in charge, on the outgoing end, screwed with it a little. The roofs a tad taller, the ground clearance made suitable for rock climbing, etc.
They left mostly well enough, alone though. The lines of this art deco period design still stand strong. The steep agressive grill with waterfall teeth. The swoopy fenders blending into the running boards. Just enough chrome on the hood sides to draw your attention forward on the car while the back end blends away to the road. The perfect body lines rounding up the back end. This car is just a masterpiece of great ideas.
To me the 1935 Ford was one of, if not THE ultimate car that Ford ever built. I know most people may tend to disagree. To most, the '36 model was a more pleasing design. But if you really get down to it and study the lines, not as a car but as art. You can see where alot of the details of the 36 look like an afterthought. The convex fenders just don't quite have the same "flow" as their older brother. The grill, while very pleasing on its own, seems as though a bridge in deisgn, leaning more towards the split windsheild of 1937.
So anyways, what I am getting at with this rambling... I think for my old '35, I'd like to build what the designers saw in their head. A little bit lower roof, a little bit lower suspension, lower headlights, a little more raked out spare, maybe a few parts stolen from a more valuable car, some of the aftermarket accessories of the time period. Just enough to accent the car, nothing added, nothing taken away. The perfect 1935 Ford coupe.
I'd like to build this car as though it would have been built in 1935. Although being influenced by later cars and trends. I'm sure I will use some parts from newer Fords, Lincolns, etc. The reliable, economical flathead V8 will be modified slightly. A Winfield camshaft, dual carburetors on a tall Weiand intake. Just some simple hop-up items to leave the world behind at a slightly faster rate.
Automotive euphoria in 1945, atleast in my eyes...
Happy Hot Rodding everyone!
The sun is out today, I'm going Roadsterin'.....
Zach
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