1932 THREE-WINDOW COUPE #591

1932 THREE-WINDOW COUPE #591

On loan courtesy of Ken Schmidt:
The cat or the mouse? Relentless in purpose, she stalks her prey. Hind legs drawn up, eyes fixed on the target, deadly silence fills the air in that final moment. Which would you rather be? The mouse or the cat?
Attitude, purpose, proportion and line. Strip a 1933-1934 Ford of her fenders and running boards and, as far as we are concerned, you will have exposed several lines that go in the wrong direction, slowing her down visually.
It starts with that “duck-tail” space behind the rear tire that leads your eye backwards. We tucked the tail in about two inches, making the wheelhouse fit the tire. Then we added a rear roll pan that allows your eye to round the corner and flow forward. Of course, we have all seen rear roll pans that remind us of a politician or a baby’s diaper. Ours are sleek and serve as the mount for the taillights, exhaust and push-bar license-plate holder.
The sides of the rails on a ’32 are beautiful but not so much with the ’33s and ’34s. When the frame is exposed, it comes to an ugly point below the cowl; we trim it off but that only solves part of the problem. Aside from the rails hanging out to the side, when they pass by the grill shell (which adds to the cluttered heavy look), they change direction up and down. We step them up one inch at the firewall, straighten, flatten and pinch them so they end at the rear of the grill shell.
Next we get rid of the inner fender bubbles and drop the cowl sides. This allows us to keep the lines flowing forward and run full hood sides. If running a stock grill shell, we take a couple inches out of it, so the line at the top and bottom of the hood will run to the same imaginary vanishing point we use in all of our builds. We make under-the-hood panels and frame covers as part of the belly pan, tucking everything up inside the frame so nothing hangs down.
Finally the chop can make a bold statement, and for us, the more attitude, the better. Certainly we have all seen cars that have become cartoons. The key to making a serious chop look right is as much about how it relates to the proportions of the rest of the car as it is about how deep the cut is.
Backing up the look, this ’33 three-window is powered with a 323 cubic inch, 420 horsepower, 1957 Ford Y-block hooked to a five-speed transmission and V8 quick-change.