1941 Convertible- 10,000 Original Miles !!!
 

The music store I work at moved locations a few years ago and we are currently across the street from a large health club just outside Madison, Wisconsin. Right after the move when summer weather hit I started to see some very interesting cars. First was a 1936 Ford Phaeton, then an early 1950's Chrysler woodie, a few days later a Jeepster. Turns out they all had the same owner who belonged to the club and stopped by to work out. I never got to meet him till a few weeks ago at a cruise-in at a local restaurant when he arrived in a 1941 Ford Convertible. His name is Ron and he's been involved in Madison real estate for quite a few decades but his real passion in automobiles. Ron has about 28 cars currently ranging in age from the mid 1920's to a 1964 Corvair. A lot of his cars are convertibles including a 1939 Ford coupe and a 1948 Lincoln, but the reason I'm concentrating on the 1941 is it now has just over 10,000 miles total since new! You might scoff at this but the history on this car is documented from it's purchase in 1941 by a school teacher named Sarah Wright who lived in Door County, a part of Wisconsin that is a large peninsula that juts out into Lake Michigan. She had this as a second car that was only used in very good weather during the summer months, the rest of the year it was parked in a heated garage attached to her house on blocks with the battery removed which was kept at the local garage and maintained. When she finally sold the car to her neighbor in 2007 it had less than 7,000 miles on it. He had his primary home in Madison just down the street from Ron. When he had some financial issues the next year he sold the car to Ron who likes to drive at least one or more of his cars in good weather every day so Ron has put on 3,000 plus miles since he's owned it. Ron has had 5 people that are involved in restorations look at the car and all verify the authenticity of its history. Ron contacted the garage that the oil change tag belonged to and the owner knew all about the the car since his grandfather was the one that would go to Sarah Wright's house to put it up and take it off blocks each year. If you notice the tag from 1989 it records the miles as 4900 plus. Sorry for the long winded post but I think this is a car that is worth it. GaryU.

Re: 1941 Convertible- 10,000 Original Miles !!!
 

Gary, thank you for posting. Saying that is an awesome car is an understatement in my very limited knowledge. Wish my "original owner" had opted for the leather interior!!:rolleyes:

Re: 1941 Convertible- 10,000 Original Miles !!!
 

WOW! What a beautiful car. Usually, when something like this is found, it's gramma's old Fordor. A convertible? Too good to be true.

(When I looked at some of the pictures, it confirmed the fact that I put '41 hubcaps on anything I owned that they would fit.)

Re: 1941 Convertible- 10,000 Original Miles !!!
 

Thanks. Great story and better car!

Re: 1941 Convertible- 10,000 Original Miles !!!
 

Great story. Thanks for sharing.

Re: 1941 Convertible- 10,000 Original Miles !!!
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1563488359
Wow, what a beautiful well preserved car. Thanks for sharing.

Re: 1941 Convertible- 10,000 Original Miles !!!
 

Thanks for sharing! Great history for a superb survivor.

Re: 1941 Convertible- 10,000 Original Miles !!!
 

Just WOW!!

Re: 1941 Convertible- 10,000 Original Miles !!!
 

What a great piece of history, did you sign the owner up for the Ford barn?

Re: 1941 Convertible- 10,000 Original Miles !!!
 

That's a story that should be in the V-8 Times.

Re: 1941 Convertible- 10,000 Original Miles !!!
 

Ron told me the car was in one magazine some years ago, I believe it was Car Collector? He was unfamiliar with Fordbarn or the H.a.m.b. and it quite busy with his business so don't think he has in an interest in websites. His cars are not all Fords, he has quite a few Cadillac's and even a Nash limousine. Glad he let me post this and I'll probably be seeing him again soon at a show or his garage.

Re: 1941 Convertible- 10,000 Original Miles !!!
 

WOW! what a beauty. Wouldn't all of us like to find one like it.

Re: 1941 Convertible- 10,000 Original Miles !!!
 

Probably the most pristine OEM 41 convert in the world.
Amazing how some cars literally get preserved.
Just think, that car has outlived those on the line that built it.

Re: 1941 Convertible- 10,000 Original Miles !!!
 

I wonder if another car this original will be found someday. Amazing!

Re: 1941 Convertible- 10,000 Original Miles !!!
 

That was a pretty snazzy car for a school teacher back then. I bet she was sexy.
Did a subsequent owner add the spotlights and rear view mirrors? The passenger side mirror looks like it would be useless to the driver but maybe a styling addition from Ron.

Re: 1941 Convertible- 10,000 Original Miles !!!
 

Ron has not added any accessories to the car, all were done by original owner. The original tan top was a little worn and had one hole in it so he replaced it with a black top. He said as I took the photo of the passenger side mirror that it is completely useless.

Re: 1941 Convertible- 10,000 Original Miles !!!
 

I'm basically a skeptic, and I don't believe I'm yet convinced. How many (presumably senior) school teachers would maintain a car like that with those accessories, skirts, spotlights, non-functional outside mirrors, wingtips, fog lights, grille guard. I trust the documentation supports her adding that stuff. And, WHY, would someone (Ron), a 'car-nut' and collector who presumably has a love of these things, put on a new top that does not duplicate the original. It just doesn't all add up for my skeptical mind.
In any event, looks to be a nice one.

Re: 1941 Convertible- 10,000 Original Miles !!!
 

Have to ammend my last post, Ron did add the fender skirts, however the spot lights, fog lights, mirrors were all done by original owner. He also told me that when on vacation in Door County a few years back with his wife, an art gallery owner saw a car club jacket he was wearing and started talking about a 1941 Ford Convertible that used to be in the area. Ron replied "was it black with a red leather interior and owned by Sarah Wright?" to the amazed look by the gallery owner. So I guess the car had made quite an impression in that area.

Re: 1941 Convertible- 10,000 Original Miles !!!
 

Re: 1941 Convertible- 10,000 Original Miles !!!
 

Hope you guys don't mind if I add a little more information to this thread this morning. A simple google search led me to the obituary of Miss Sarah Elizabeth Wright , the original owner of this car. Details included that she was born in 1922 in Chicago and grew up as an only child in Highland Park, Illinois. That area is north of Chicago along Lake Michigan and is quite affluent overall (I lived there for a few years in the early 1990's on the not so affluent side of the street). During and shortly after World War 2 she attended 3 universitys graduating from Northwestern in 1948 where she was a teacher till the early 1950's when she moved with some friends to Door County, Wisconsin. The obit. states that given her business acumen she didn't take long to open multiple businesses in the area and lived the rest of her life in Wisconsin pasing away in 2017. To quote a part of the obituary ""She loved her collections and only sold her vintage Ford convertible a few years ago" which says to me that the car must of been very significant in her life. It would be great if we could get the rest of the story about the car and if she indeed was the original owner (I think she was) but don't know if that is possible anymore. So referring to her as a teacher is indeed true but there was a lot more to her life later. Never married and no children according to the obituary. GaryU.