Title: Introducing the new 1942 Dodge! Source:
Chrysler Corporation/You Tube URL Source:http://www.youtube.com Published:Dec 9, 2009 Author:Chrysler Corporation Post Date:2009-12-09 12:53:13 by sneakypete Ping List:*Gear Heads*Subscribe to *Gear Heads* Keywords:hot rod, rat rod, classic car Views:16142 Comments:27
I have one of these rare beauties,but mine is a 3-window business coupe like the one in the photo above. 1942 was a short production year because the 42's came out in Sept of 41,and WW-2 began for the US on 7 Dec.1947. US civilian passenger car production ceased so the auto plants could gear up to produce airplanes,machine guns,tanks,trucks,jeeps,and other war goods.
There were just 5257 business coupes produced that year,making it and parts for it pretty hard to find. I have been looking for a undented and unrusted grille for over 2 years now.
For those of you who think some things are new,the 42 Dodge had child proof rear door handles as standard equipment,and the 1942 DeSoto even had hideaway headlights like the newer Corverttes.
LOL. That one's not mine. I paid 995 bucks for mine,and the paint job on that one probably cost more than that. The two photos above are what mine looked like when I bought it. It's mostly apart in my shop now while I do body and chassis work and get it ready for paint. I'm going to paint it using rollers and spray cans.
Yeah,it doesn't look too bad in those photos. That's why I agreed to buy it after the seller assured me it was only surface rust and the floors were solid. When it got here it had rust holes in the floor that you could throw a cat through,parts that were on it in the photos had been taken off and sold by the sellers son (he seemed to think this was no big deal when he told me this in response to my questions about where the missing parts were) and the inner rockers on both sides were gone. This car and the 33 Plymouth coupe are why I bought a English wheel,shrinkers and stretchers,a slip roller, and a industrial sheet metal brake.
The guy I hired to bring it to me had the photos taken of it when it was for sale and the description,and the car was so rough he called me on the phone to describe it and ask me if I really wanted him to bring it to me. Since I had already paid for it and had to pay him if he brought it or not,I told him to ahead and bring it.
The sad part is this was a one-owner car bought by a woman in Boston on Dec 2nd 1941,and she drove mostly to church until she had to quit driving in 1974,and then she just left it parked inside the heated garage where it had spent it's whole life. Hell,there is only one small tear in the upholstery. The original keys were still hanging out of the switch,and when I hooked up a battery to it the interior and dash lights even came on. The seat in it would clean up and be very nice if it weren't for that one tear on the top back of the seat where the bozo I bought it from tore the seat taking stuff out from behind it after he sold it to me.
The guy I bought it from bought it from her estate sale in 1995,and towed it home to Rhode Island,and just left it parked out in the open with grass growing up all around it. It has less than 35,000 miles on it right now,and the engine looked new inside when I dropped the base pan to look.
The two photos above are what mine looked like when I bought it. It's mostly apart in my shop now while I do body and chassis work and get it ready for paint. I'm going to paint it using rollers and spray cans.
Yeah,it doesn't look too bad in those photos. That's why I agreed to buy it after the seller assured me it was only surface rust and the floors were solid. When it got here it had rust holes in the floor that you could throw a cat through,parts that were on it in the photos had been taken off and sold by the sellers son (he seemed to think this was no big deal when he told me this in response to my questions about where the missing parts were) and the inner rockers on both sides were gone.
The seat in it would clean up and be very nice if it weren't for that one tear on the top back of the seat where the bozo I bought it from tore the seat taking stuff out from behind it after he sold it to me.
No, not bad. But geez...ANYTHING missing from these cars is a 'big deal"; it's gold. The kid was one greedy idiot.
The guy I bought it from bought it from her estate sale in 1995,and towed it home to Rhode Island,and just left it parked out in the open with grass growing up all around it. It has less than 35,000 miles on it right now,and the engine looked new inside when I dropped the base pan to look.
Nice...Lotta work though Pete. You know what you're doing, so it's a challenge and fun.
Back in '80 I bought a '39 Chevy Master Sedan that had been towed in from a farm in Wyoming. NO rot, surprisingly little oxidation, solid - a great "gangster" car with a few bullet holes in the windows, but NO engine/drive-train. I don't work on cars but a bud of mine did; It was going to be our project-car. We got lucky and found a seller, traveling up to Connecticut from Jersey to buy a drive-train and several missing components...
Shortly after beginning to arrange having it put together I realized it was gonna cost a fortune...and too much time so I sold it all.