FOUND!! Historic Central Coast ’40 coupe.

In 1952 or ’53 a Central Coast high school student bought a 1940 Ford Standard Business Coupe – the model with the extended floor and jump seats – and spent the summer hopping it up. He had a $300 purple lacquer paint job sprayed at the local Studebaker agency, reupholstered the interior, and added whitewalls and dress up goodies.

The car then disappeared for over 50 years. We’ve found it, and we’re laying out plans for its restoration.

In ’57, the owner went to Korea and his younger twin brothers blew the coupe apart to build a “race car.” Needless to say, when he returned home he was pretty upset. He stored the car in his dad’s barn and made his brothers collect the parts and pieces he would someday need to reassemble it. He never got to it and it’s been in storage ever since. There’s lots of history surrounding this coupe, it was somewhat notorious in our area.

The sheet metal is nearly flawless. There are no patch panels — and no need for any. Check the drip rails and the gaps. The fenders are just as nice. We have all the trim, the dash, the window garnish, latches, handles, gas tank, and glass. We even have the spotlights and Mercury bumper and guards you see in the original photos.

The original mileage can be seen on the speedo: 36,943

We’ve had the gauge insert restored by Lee Kelly, it’s now set up for modern 12V sending units.

We’ve also collected some parts for a build:

An original ‘40 split seat, with new mohair. Chassis Engineering dropped axle with split wishbones and related hardware. Chassis Engineering rear parallel spring kit, and an 8 inch Ford rear end with tall (2.78) highway gears. We  have a couple of engines that would be appropriate for a traditional build: a ’57 283 with Power Pac heads and a later, built 327 — but we’d love to find a period Olds V8. That’s the motor the twins wanted to drop in.

If you’ve got an Olds motor you’d part with — or other ’40 parts we could use –  send us an email. dave@seabrighthotrods.com