Before Vin Diesel first clenched the steering wheel of a Mazda RX-7, you didn’t “modify” cars, you “hot rodded” them.
There’s no more iconic hot rod than the 1932 Ford Coupe, and now it’s back. Sort of.
Ford is offering reproduction 1932 5-Window Coupe (there was also a 3-Window model in ’32) bodies through its Ford Component Sales division.
Announced at the 2013 SEMA show in Las Vegas, the reproduction body shells are all steel, and are made using some of the original tooling by United Pacific Industries to Ford specifications.
Reproduction bodies are nothing new – the ’32 has been copied countless times, as have the Shelby Cobra and other models – but Ford has really come full circle with this one. What better way to restore an old car than with parts from the company that made it in the first place?
In addition to the ’32, the Ford Component Sales catalog includes a 1940 Coupe body shell, and Dynacorn International produces 1965-1970 Mustang shells under license.
This is the logical extension of Ford’s restoration parts program, which supplies everything from fenders to badges to gear heads looking to fix up an original ’32, or create their own hot rod.
Ford says it’s now possible to build a complete car by ordering parts online, without ever making a trip to the junkyard.
That may become more of a necessity than a choice soon.
The 1932 Ford is over 80 years old and in the intervening years most examples have either rusted into oblivion or snatched up for restorations or hot rod builds. They’ll only get harder to find.
Originality is part of an old car’s appeal, but for those simply looking to replicate classic hot rods like the yellow coupe from George Lucas’ American Graffiti, a reproduction is an easier – and probably cheaper – alternative.
