1936 Ford Deluxe Cabriolet found at Pennsylvania auction
The restored 1936 Ford Deluxe Cabriolet seemed to call out to Keith Randall at an antique automobile auction he was attending in Pennsylvania.
Even though Randall had no intention of bidding on the car, he could not resist the appeal of the Cordoba Tan Ford with the Poppy Red pinstripes. Consequently Randall became the new owner of the car in October 2015.
Some of the history that came with the car indicated that it was purchased as a basket case in Miami back in 1988. A shop in Homasassa, Florida, performed a frame-off restoration on the Ford over the next four years. Upon completion, the owner took the like-new car on the “show circuit.”
“He chose to show the car rather than drive it,” Randall said.
In 2001, after winning several prestigious awards in Michigan, Colorado, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois, South Carolina, Alabama, and Iowa the car was donated to the AACA museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Randall was told that one of the cars would be sold off when additional storage space was needed at the museum.
“The [rebuilt-engine] odometer showed 190 miles when I bought the car at the auction,” Randall said.
“As the new owner of the show car I spent the next year going over the car and refreshing, adjusting, and making it road worthy for touring,” Randall reports.
Ford made a number of modifications and improvements to differentiate the 1936 models from the previous-year models. The spare tire at the rear of the car was encased in a lockable metal shroud on the 1936 car. Wire wheels with spokes also became a thing of the past that year. Exposed horns suspended beneath the headlights on 1935-model-year Fords were repositioned on 1936 models, hidden under the front fenders.
Two small, round, step plates are located at the right rear for easy access to the rumble seat. The taillight stanchions are multi functional: The right one serves as one of the steps to the rumble seat while the left one holds the rear license plate, the license plate light, and the gasoline cap that leads to the 14 gallon tank.
Inside the cabriolet, only the driver’s door has an armrest. The driver steers the cabriolet with a banjostyle steering wheel. Since Randall’s car is a deluxe model it has a dashboard with a 100-mph speedometer, four-digit trip mileage recorder, ammeter, water temperature indicator, electric fuel and oil gauges, cigar lighter, ashtray, and glove compartment. A cowl ventilator draws in fresh air.
Beneath the hood is a flathead V-8 engine with the correct 21-stud aluminum heads. The trusty 221-cubicinch engine develops 85 horsepower to propel the 2,661-pound car on its 112-inch wheelbase. Bringing the car to a halt is a task left to the mechanical brakes. Gooseneck mirrors — one on each side of the car — help when negotiating traffic on multi-lane roads.
Randall points out the 6.00-by-16-inch tires feature white sidewalls on both sides of the tires. They don’t improve the ride but they certainly add to the appearance.