This is a “one-off” German bodied Ford, redesigned by Steve’s Auto Restorations in
Portland Oregon and recreated into an elegant “one of a kind” streetrod consuming
some 15,000 man hours to build. Over $860K was invested in this designer oriented
creation. It is truly a “one of a kind”. This Roadster d’ Elegance winner began life as an
original Karl Deutsch from Koeln, custom coachbuilt 1937 Ford Cabriolet. A 1937 Ford
chassis was first shipped to Grue & Company, a Ford dealership in Copenhagen, then
sent on to Deutsch for a custom, one only body. SAR’s own David Brost penned an
elegant redesign with a European flavor and style taking special care to preserve the
uniqueness of the rare Ford. Extensive sheet-metal fabrication was required in the build,
and very little of the original body remains such as the rear fenders, the top of the hood,
the top reveal lines of the body and the upper portions of the doors. The curvaceous new
body lines are accentuated by the hand-formed brass trim and grille all fabricated “in
house”. The lift off top was made out of aluminum.The luxurious interior was done in
hand picked elegantly rich furniture grade leather. The front seats were originally Lexus
seats and the rear seats were fabricated and formed in the vehicle. A matching leather
covered chrome steering wheel tops off a chrome steering column. There is a hand
formed and painted steel console that runs from the dash on through the interior into the
back seat area. The original German gauges were upgraded to 12 volts with modern
components to marry up to the 514 CI Ford engine. The gauge faces still maintain the
original German script relating to the function of each gauge. A center mounted
tachometer and a glove box clock were fabricated and screened faces were made to
match the gauge faces in the instrument cluster, again in German script. The gauge
cluster surround, the top center of the console, and the glove box door are painted in a
faux “mother of pearl” reminiscent of that touch adorned on mid 30’s Mercedes cars,
thus maintaining that touch of European flavor and heritage. Art deco speaker pods
mount on the rear deck behind the rear seats. The headliner in the lift off aluminum top is
done in ultra suede with a classy art deco rear dome light above the rear window. The
console sports a chrome shifter that matches all of the other chrome trim pieces on the
interior, which were totally hand formed from brass stock. The interior is air conditioned.
The car has an automatic transmission and a 9? Ford center section in an independent
rear end. The entire chassis is fabricated new with Kugel independent suspension front
and rear. All trim on the body was hand formed from brass stock then chrome plated.
Stylish chrome inserts in the reverse fender reveals mimic the type of trim used on
Mercedes of the 1930’s. The extensive chrome trim on the outer edge of the aluminum
top has a ghost of an image detail in their shape to vaguely represent a landau bar
configuration. 80% of the body is new hand formed sheet metal to a designers layout.
The belt line reveal area around the body, the hood, and the rear fenders maintain some
of the original sheet metal. The headlights on the front fenders are of the 1937 vintage
but have 1938 lenses that have been shaved down and used in place of the ‘37s. Tail
lights are 1939 Lincoln Zephyr’s. The aluminum lift off top was shaped on a Yoder power
hammer as a two man operation. The chassis was also designed and built in-house and
features independent front and rear suspension and a 514 Ford SVO engine riding on
17's and 20's. The entire car was built at SAR and in only 15 months. This car has been
shown only a limited number of times but has received top honors every time. The car is
as fresh and perfect as the day it was built and drives like a dream. You can purchase
this car for a lot less than the cost to build it. $860k
Sold
714.434.8388
1937 Ford Cabriolet