1939 Ford Deluxe Convertible - Roy Grimm - Wild Thing

Fans of American cars of the 1930s know well that the 1939 Fords, including the 1939 Ford Deluxe, adopted hydraulic brakes. After years of stubbornly resisting this advance in engineering as market rivals Plymouth and then Chevrolet adopted it, Henry Ford abruptly reversed course in time for "juice brakes" to be applied to most '39 Ford Motor Company cars.



For consignment, a late 70's build that was performed by Roy Grimm. This low slung hot rodded, red beauty is like a luscious pair of lips smiling with beautiful white teeth in the middle. It sports the curved lines of a centerfold, and not a straight line on her. Bumpers have been shaved, top chopped, and it's been channeled and sectioned. Throw in a big Caddy V8 with a Turbo 400 tranny and a picture of this car can appear in the dictionary under mouthwatering.

Exterior
Right up front we are lured in with the inward curved vertical ribbed front V shaped grille. This melts into a high bulbous pointed hood which is flanked on either side by big curved bumpers and a round inserted headlight. A downward curve eventually meets up with the rubber ribbed topped running boards which attaches to the rear fender as well. Here we see automotive sex appeal with the gently curved rear fenders with low cut fender skirts, magically melting into the rear of the car which could best be described as nice ass! An elongated convertible white canvas top now covers where the original rumble seat would have been, and sports a glass rear window, and B pillars which now follow the curve of the rear. The back is shaved of its bumper has long vertical thin taillights and on the rear roll-pan, chromed exhaust tips protruding through them. Beautifully undulating pinstripe flourishes highlight lines of this car as well as a chrome "pinstripe" which runs the length of the car. Dual spotlights and nice chrome trimmings and badges adorn this car with their flourishes, and door handles have also been shaved. 15 inch polished dish wheel covers with a waffle background and a tri-pointed star in the center hub, are all wrapped up with wide whites on all 4 corners. Noted a few scratches due to an encounter with a garage that definitely moved in the way of this car while parking it! All bathed in red, red, red.


Interior
A swing of the doors, and we see white vinyl uppers under a metal sill with a long door pull, tuck and roll mid sections in red vinyl, and a lower panel of red carpet. The actuating handle is still there to open the door from the inside, and now power window toggles are present along with lighting in each corner. Inside a glorious dash now customized to emulate the exterior curves present in white, has a lineup of round black faced SW gauges, and these are all bordered by red and blue flourish pinstriping with some added star sparkles throughout. An aftermarket digital AM/FM radio is now below the dash along with a self-proclaiming Wild Thing badge over the passenger glovey. Red carpet floods the floors and is excellent, as is the whitey tighty headliner. For the front, low back bomber buckets in two tone red and white vinyl are inside along with a rear matching bench.

Drivetrain
Stolen from a big Caddy, now this 472ci V8 is shoehorned into the clean engine bay. It shows a big red block, and plenty of chromed bolt ons like the air cleaner cover, valve covers, generator, and belt spindles. This engine is definitely buttoned up and looking as nice as the exterior and interior. This healthy mill is topped by a 4-barrel carburetor and backed up by a 3-speed automatic TH400 transmission. Headers are helping evacuate spent fossils, and these flow through a glass pack style system before exiting on the rear in chromed tipped fashion.

Undercarriage
WOW would best describe this underside with no rust, some patina, independent coil spring front suspension, and a Corvette IRS on back. Disc brakes are on all 4 corners, and just a beautifully crafted job on the frame and structure.

Drive-Ability
Planting my backside into this custom interior I felt like I was in Henry Ford heaven, and then some! She fired right up, and ran like a champ with plenty of acceleration, smooth shifting, and straight bias free braking. It handled nicely with the help of that Corvette rear suspension. It's definitely a head turner.

Absolutely a very nice older custom build, with some new lines for the convertible top, plenty of curved steel, great roomy interior and flourish pin striping to beat the band. A wonderful hot rod with plenty of eye candy appeal