1934 Edsel Ford's Model 40 Speedster
1934 Edsel Ford's Model 40 Speedster
Not much today is remembered of Edsel Ford, Henry Ford's son. His legacy is mired in the ill-fate Edsel marque (1958-60), almost a byword for failure.
However, Edsel - the Man - excelled in a number of areas, and compared with old Henry Ford, brought balance to the force.
Why we are here though, is to examine his influence on the cars of the 1930s. Edsel was reportedly instrumental in the creation of the first Lincoln Continental, and a focus on stylistic detail and form. The evidence of his personal whims is manifest here in the Custom Roadster based on a 1934 Model 40 V8.
This car is stunning.
The car barely changes the key length, width wheelbase parameters of the Model 40. Many Model 40s look pretty uncomfortable with the same measurements. This car is long and low, the look achieved by moving the driving position down and rearwards. The hoodline is extended rearwards, giving a long hoodline, despite the V8's modest length. A simple speedster screen keeps the overall height quite low as well.
The tail looks like a cross between a Auburn Boat-tail Speedster, and a Land Speed Record racer. This look is accentuated by the cars fender/sills - there are bicycle guard fenders, plus a kind of streamlined side sill cover. Awesome!
The front of the car is great too. a beautiful little split kidney grille (apparently crap for cooling the updated Mercury V8), And below, at the rail height, low set headlamps with a horizontal grille-like treatment extending between the two.
Edsel used this as his personal car - not a big deal, until you understand that this car cost $100,000 back in 1934.
For LUGNuts 109th Challenge - 'Deuces Wild' - a challenge to build 1932 - 1934 Fords, I was very keen to build this one car, but ran out of time. Now having seen the car in real life, I will absolutely return to this subject in the future.
1934 Edsel Ford's Model 40 Speedster
1934 Edsel Ford's Model 40 Speedster
Not much today is remembered of Edsel Ford, Henry Ford's son. His legacy is mired in the ill-fate Edsel marque (1958-60), almost a byword for failure.
However, Edsel - the Man - excelled in a number of areas, and compared with old Henry Ford, brought balance to the force.
Why we are here though, is to examine his influence on the cars of the 1930s. Edsel was reportedly instrumental in the creation of the first Lincoln Continental, and a focus on stylistic detail and form. The evidence of his personal whims is manifest here in the Custom Roadster based on a 1934 Model 40 V8.
This car is stunning.
The car barely changes the key length, width wheelbase parameters of the Model 40. Many Model 40s look pretty uncomfortable with the same measurements. This car is long and low, the look achieved by moving the driving position down and rearwards. The hoodline is extended rearwards, giving a long hoodline, despite the V8's modest length. A simple speedster screen keeps the overall height quite low as well.
The tail looks like a cross between a Auburn Boat-tail Speedster, and a Land Speed Record racer. This look is accentuated by the cars fender/sills - there are bicycle guard fenders, plus a kind of streamlined side sill cover. Awesome!
The front of the car is great too. a beautiful little split kidney grille (apparently crap for cooling the updated Mercury V8), And below, at the rail height, low set headlamps with a horizontal grille-like treatment extending between the two.
Edsel used this as his personal car - not a big deal, until you understand that this car cost $100,000 back in 1934.
For LUGNuts 109th Challenge - 'Deuces Wild' - a challenge to build 1932 - 1934 Fords, I was very keen to build this one car, but ran out of time. Now having seen the car in real life, I will absolutely return to this subject in the future.