New home for stainless Ford

By: Unique Cars magazine

Date: 08.06.2017

Promo car said to be worth well over half a mil US

Just six of these wild stainless steel Fords were built.

An ultra-rare stainless steel 1936 Ford has just been donated to the Early Ford V8 Foundation Museum in Indiana, USA. It’s part of a 16-car fleet being handed over by collector Joe Floyd.

Only six of the 1936 Ford Deluxe Tudors were ever made and, according to folklore, Ford built them for Allegheny Steel, as a way for the company to promote its stainless steel. Another version suggests it was Allegheny Steel that built them using Ford dies.

Four of the stainless cars survive. Two are with Allegheny, together with stainless steel examples of a 1960 Thunderbird and 1966 Continental. One is in the Crawford Auto-Aviation museum and the fourth one belongs to Floyd.

The stainless six from 36 went to the top Allegheny regional sales reps to use for a year as a reward.

According to Hemmings, this car was based in Chicago and was bought by a local dentist, where it remained in the family for many years before being sold to collector Ed James.

Leo Gephart, an Arizona-based collector and car dealer, bought the Ford in the mid-2000s and is said to have invested 1000 hours of labour into polishing the body back to its original sheen. In 2010 he knocked back a US$550,000 bid for it at the Mecum Monterey auction.

Meanwhile Floyd began assembling his collection of 1936 Fords, including coach-built and one-offs as a result of a post-retirement plan discussion with his wife. He wondered how long it would take to find all the models of the 36 production year and so began his quest. It led him to find the stainless model in 2014.

An in all things Ford has seen Floyd serve as both a treasurer and trustee for the Early Ford V-8 Foundation and museum, which is based in DeKalb County, Indiana. And to ensure his Fords are well-cared for, he is also donating a million bucks to the institution.

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