Ford oddities on my car….

[38convsedan]

I’m noticing some oddities on my ‘38 convertible sedan. Hoping someone can shed some light….

My car has the exterior door lock on the driver’s side. Everything I’ve read and all photos show passenger side.

My car also has the hook type seat adjuster handle on the passenger side, while all photos and information indicates it should be a loop style handle on the driver’s side. In fact, every 1938 Ford photo/car I’ve see puts the handle on driver’s side.

I do not see any evidence of the car ever being RHD…

What little I know of car’s history puts it in upstate New York in 2004. I do not have any prior knowledge before that time.

Included in the spare parts that came with the car is a kilometer speedometer…-not sure if that is relevant or not.

Any thoughts/ideas??

[DavidG]

Sounds like a car built as RHD and then converted to LHD. There were four countries that I'm aware of that made the switch after WWII (Argentina, Paraguay, Sweden, and Uruguay), all of which originally had kilometer speedometers.. After the change, some cars were converted, such as yours perhaps, and some were not, as it wasn't mandatory.

Imagine the chaos on the roads on the day of the change and in the months that followed. Further, imagine the extent of preparations before the BIG day. Everything from doors on both side of busses to a complete duplicate set of road/highway street signage.

[TonyM]

Left hand drive 1937 Ford Phaeton with right hand drive instrument panel.

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by TonyM

Left hand drive 1937 Ford Phaeton with right hand drive instrument panel.

[50fordcoupeman]

My '40 coupe has an exterior key lock on the drivers door, which folks tell me none did?? Maybe it's related to yours................

[38convsedan]

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I’m wondering if my car was RHD at some point as suggested by David G. That would explain the door lock location and seat adjustment arm placement…also having a km speedometer makes sense in this context.
I’m guessing a RHD 1938 convertible dash would be nearly impossible to locate, as would other components needed to complete the RHD swap. It is intriguing to think about, though!!
My car could be the older cousin of the ‘40 coupe owned by 50fordcoupeman!!

[mhsprecher]

Canadian car? That might explain it.

[38convsedan]

I wondered about it being a Canadian car…especially since it was in upstate New York (and possibly not too far from Canadian border). Canadians drive on the same side of road as we do in the States so it doesn’t add up for the RHD oddities, but I guess I can’t be sure.
Also, Canada didn’t change to metric system until 1970’s if the km speedometer is under consideration….

[DavidG]

Both Ford U.S. and Ford Canada produced RHD vehicles for export during the flathead era. The former for the three South American countries that I mentioned above plus Japan and the latter for the British Commonwealth Countries which were almost all RHD. Sweden was served by both Ford U.S. and Ford of Canada.


You are right about the relatively greater challenge in finding parts for RHD vehicles which largely reflects the much larger proportion of original LHD production.

[38convsedan]

Thank you David G for sharing! My car has a relatively early body number of 143…it’s unfortunate records are not available to trace its history…
Would there be evidence on the body indicating a conversion to LHD?
I believe previous owner did a frame and engine swap so those clues will remain hidden…

[DavidG]

Whether of U.S. or Canadian manufacture, the prefix of the engine number (VIN) stamped on the chassis frame and transmission bell housing will have the letter F as the last character in the prefix of that number.

[swoopNZ]

Some provinces in Canada were still RHD in 1938 - Newfoundland for one.
I'm pretty sure I still have a RHD seat adjuster in my shed.
Chris.NZ.

[DavidG]

Only Newfoundland until 1947. B.C., Nova Scotia, P.E.I., and New Brunswick switched to LHD in the late 1920s.

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by DavidG

Only Newfoundland until 1947. B.C., Nova Scotia, P.E.I., and New Brunswick switched to LHD in the late 1920s.

Our illustrious "DavidG" certainly does know some useful STUFF when the chips are on the table, yes?

Coop

.

[38convsedan]

So perhaps this car is from Canada….

[DavidG]

No matter where it is from, if it was built RHD, its engine number (VIN) will carry the letter F.

[DavidG]

Coop,


Thanks, but I cannot take any credit for that information about RHD in some of the Canadian provinces. It's on the internet for the asking. I knew about Newfoundland converting just before confederation, but the other instances were news to me too.

[38convsedan]

Vehicle id number on title does not have an F prefix.
Engine number indicates a build date between October 4th-29th of 1937.
Glass bug on the one surviving original piece of glass is dated 10-37.
So I’m assuming the car was built sometime during October-November 1937.
The EFV-8 38-39 book states complete number with two stars and prefix is stamped on frame near steering gear support…I’m going to look—but am fairly certain car has replacement frame…

[38convsedan]

…Frame is original to the car (just had a nice conversation with previous owner. He shared it was his belief the car was originally RHD and was converted.

I did not find a serial number stamped on frame near steering box…nothing there….

[DavidG]

Now you know with reasonable certainty.