Classic Wheels Spotlight: 1940 Ford DeLuxe Sedan

It was 13 years ago and Bruce Huntley was looking for a 1940 Ford Coupe, a very popular body style, when he came across an amazing DeLuxe sedan. He said that while he thought he had his mind set on a coupe, he liked the sedan – and the price was right.

The car’s owner, Ray Shuler, owned an auto sales shop in Elkhart, Ind., that had lots of old classics. Bruce said Ray finds the classic cars, buys them, and sells them for just a little more than he pays for them.

According to Bruce, when he bought the DeLuxe, it was all original and in great shape. While it had a top speed of around 45 miles per hour, it was not good enough for Bruce, who immediately started to plan out his project the minute he got home. He knew he wanted to build a cruiser and that required him to do some major upgrades across the board. When he bought it, the body was all steel with the original paint.

The engine is a small block Chevy 350 cubic inch crate motor, all cast iron block and heads. Bruce took it apart and installed an RV cam, for lower end torque, and added a set of roller lifters and rockers. He topped it off with an Edelbrock high-rise manifold and a 500 CFM four-barrel carburetor.

An electronic ignition system was installed, as well as a Walker all-brass radiator. The exhaust has Sanderson headers and a custom dual exhaust installed by Midas. A notable nice touch on the DeLuxe is the air cleaner “wing nut” which is a piston on top of the Ford V8 symbol.

The chassis had to be slightly modified to fit the 700R4 transmission unit, which had an aftermarket kit available to make the installation easier. The Differential assembly is an 8-inch unit from a 1970’s Mercury Monarch.

Bruce replaced the mono leaf front suspension with a rack and pinion set up from a Mustang and a 5/8-inch narrowed control arm kit from Heights Suspension. Even the steering shaft was upgraded to complete the job. While he was at it, he added front disc brakes and kept the drum brakes that came with the rear end.

The interior has been dressed up with leather seats from a Honda Odyssey’s second and third rows. Bruce says the seats are very comfortable. The Odyssey’s middle row is now the front seats – and they recline! The Honda’s third-row seat is the DeLuxe’s back seat, which folds down to offer some extra space for road trips.

Bruce said some details of the dashboard are subtle. He machined the knobs for the cigarette lighter and two controls out of brass to match the shifter knob. He also hid the A/C controls behind the speaker grille that flips open for access. The headliner is the one that came with the car.

Bruce doesn’t know much about the history of his classic, other than it came from the East Coast. He enjoys taking his Ford to as many car shows as he can. He drives it everywhere. Whether it’s a show around the corner or out of state, he drives it there. He says that he really likes going to cruise nights, they can be found any night of the week. Bruce said he gets the most pleasure just cruising around.

If you have a car you would like to see featured in Classic Wheels, contact Rudy Host, Jr. at Classic.Wheels.Rudy@gmail.com.