Danville Street Sighting - 1940 Ford DeLuxe V8 Coupe

Every now and then I get lucky and something cool turns up on the road, then it happens to park nearby on a public street. Such was the case with this 1940 Ford that rolled past me while I was driving through Danville one afternoon following work. I'm not typically a fan of brown cars, I'm a fan of the '40 Ford and this one definitely spoke to me, brown and all.

I've loved the looks of the 1940 Ford coupes, two-door sedans, woodies and pickup trucks for most of my life. It came from car shows, but it also came from the Testors 1:24 scale model kit of the '40 Ford pickup, and the Hot Wheels Fat Fendered '40 and '40s Ford Woodie. The coupes were interesting to me, with their dramatically styled long sloping tails, split rear window and wide, tapered pontoon fenders with chevron taillights. Much of the body design was already there, new for 1937. The front with its pointed prow was new for 1939, then refreshed for 1940 with a modified grille, flatter hood and sealed-beam headlamps. Two models were available, Standard and DeLuxe. The Standard retained the looks of the '39 model. Both models were flathead V8-powered, producing up to 85 horsepower from the factory.

This one probably makes a lot more power than stock. I'd venture that a small-block Chevy lives under that long hood, mainly because it seems like every hot rod has a Chevy V8. Two coupes were available in 1940, including a Business Coupe with a divided front bench and two fold-down jump seats mounted in the back like in a Ford Ranger or other extended-cab compact pickup. The regular DeLuxe coupe had one bench seat for up to three passengers. I don't know which seating format this car has. I give the owner credit for keeping the body stock and very clean. The stance looks good for a cruiser and even the color appeals to me here. Condition isn't show-winner quality but a nice driver. It could use a little detailing here and there, and I'd remove the window stickers, but all in all, I like it a lot.