Preserving the history of the car was priority number one in this build. The history, character, and patina that this car has acquired over the last ninety years can’t be duplicated and is important to the family. As a result, delicate care was taken to fix the small amounts of rot the car had and then being able to blend the repairs into the ninety year old paint without being obvious that repairs were ever done. The end result is a car that probably doesn’t look much different then when it was parked in the 1950’s, but now it runs and drives like new.

Replacement 221 Ci 3.6l Flathead V8 85hp 150 Ft Lbs Trq Manual 4 Wheel Drum
Deluxe Package 3 Speed Sliding Gear Trans All Original Lacquer Paint

The overall theme of the build was done in memory of the car’s previous owner, the current owner’s father, which is where the story begins. In the early 1950’s, the owner’s father began taking the car apart to hotrod the car, adding a new (for the time) 8BA flathead engine out of a 1949-1953 Ford which produced much more power than the original flathead from 1933 all while being more reliable than the early flathead. After that, he then added a row of three carburetors and began adding red accents around the motor. But by 1955, the car would be taken off the road entirely and put into a barn on their property in Central Massachusetts where it would stay for the next 61 years untouched, as seen on the original 1955 Massachusetts inspection sticker that is in perfect shape! All the removed parts were wrapped in old blankets and stored in the shed along with shovels, garden hoses, and all things yard maintenance. The vehicle was in amazing shape and the owner did a great job at preserving it, a time capsule for sure!

The car itself is very rare, being one of about 4,800 or so Model 40 deluxe roadsters produced in ’33. The deluxe option gave you simple options we take for granted nowadays, including two taillights and horns instead of just one. A new deluxe roadster would set you back about 600 dollars in 1933, a price we would gladly pay today! The early flat head motor was plagued with major mechanical problems and failures which most likely led to the engine being changed out in the 1950’s, but due to budget restrictions and the damages from sitting six decades, the 8BA engine couldn’t be rebuilt and was replaced with an early 40’s flathead engine. We are estimating it to be one of only a few left in existence with original lacquer paint and not cutup and “hot rodded”.

The restoration of the body was done in a minimally invasive way to protect and preserve the eighty-year-old original black lacquer paint. Being a popular choice for hot rodding since the 1950’s, these ’33 and ’34 Fords have become extremely rare in original or unrestored condition, so much so that companies like Factory Five Racing now make complete replica bodies kits for this body style Ford dubbing them the “33 Hot Rod”. Careful measures were taken to fix only what needed fixing and leave the body as it was. As they say, “they’re only original once.” Overall, the restoration was a success and took about 1,000 hours to bring this vehicle back to life.

One of the favorite parts of the project was being able to drive it once again after all these years and getting to take the vehicle to a local old mill town in Massachusetts where my grandmother grew up. Make sure to check out our YouTube video of this build as well.