Discussion on '34 or '35 Argentina Roadster

[mike42]

At coffee today a buddy of mine in Northern Michigan here asked me if I know anything about Ford cars built in Argentina. He said that there really was no mfg. factories there, but rather kits were put together in Dearborn and sent down there for assembly. This was in the '30's.

I know Ford started a tire plant in Brazil called Fordlandia, but I never heard of a kit car from Argentina.

Does anyone have anything on this ?

Thx....Mike

[swoopNZ]

I believe sedans and maybe some coupes were assembled there but low volume body types like convertibles were assembled in the USA and shipped down there complete in RHD form.

[Henry Hopper]

I bought a 32 rhd roadster out of Conneticut that was from South America....identical in every way apart from the rhd.There is a guy in Germany that imports a lot of early Ford stuff from South America.

[DavidG]

Ford had assembly plants in both Argentina and Brazil during the early the '30s. Starting in the mid-70s, I imported over thirty 1930-1937 open cars from both countries (and Uruguay) and all were of U.S. manufacture (RHD in the case of those from Argentina and LHD in the case of those from Brazil).

swoopNZ,

With respect, based on the survival rates (and original production figures), the closed body types were the low volume ones in those markets, unlike the rest of the world.

[BLACKNRED]

I have a 33 5 Window Deluxe coupe B Model ex Argentine.

by the chassis/engine number it is a late car, November 33

has a few differing assembly variations over the US assembled cars, factory filled roof is the main difference, RHD with metric Speedometer.

The area on my car, not sure whether or not all cars had this, where the tank cover attaches is different.

[swoopNZ]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

I have a RHD convertible coupe that came from Argentina.

[DavidG]

The filled roof on some surviving S/A closed cars was a common non-ford, post-production modification. The really low mileage survivors have the original fabric insert. Several U.S. assembly plants produced both LHD and RHD vehicles for export to countries where there was no Ford assembly capability including those with metric systems.

[Tudortomnz]

There was a newish Plant in B.A. Argentina to do the Model A ; they would have been assembling all types, probably some bodywork may have been pre assembled in US [ there is a photo of an export Deluxe Phaeton body built up with all the trim packed inside it in ''Model A as Henry Built It''] .
Regarding Fordlandia, that was a folie of Henry Ford, something to further waste money & time on. There was never any rubber produced or tyres made from there. By the time they got any rubber, the high world rubber prices had subsided & Ford walked away from it during the War.

[T Scott]

I have a 34 five window that I always assumed was built in the states and shipped to Argentina. It was shipped back to Seattle a number of years ago by Dr. Mario Kaplan. I used to see his adds in Hemmings but nothing in recent years.

This car had a filled roof. I don't know if it was Ford or aftermarket. It was a quality job but the contours were not right, too flat, so I cut it out and put in a soft top channel.

[Doctor's Ford]

I am restoring a 33 Tudor from Uruguay (bordering Argentina) and is a RHD with original speedometer in kilometers. Notice the dash insert. It looks original in all regards but is not engine-turned. I have not heard of similar ones in the US market. Of course a 34 insert with no paint may have been used to replace the original.

I was common to fill up the roof with metal. Here is a picture of what I found when stripping the paint. Although not original, it was perfectly welded and I left it untouched. I have all the vinyl and frame that goes on top, so exteriorly it will simulate an original roof.

Also it seems that the distinction between Standard and Deluxe models was a bit blurred. Mine has two cowl lights, two rear lights, and chromed windshield frame (deluxe features) but the dash appears standard. I found a perfect replacement deluxe dash from an old collector in Montana so, when finished, the car will have all deluxe features. Manuel

[mike42]

Guys this is really interesting for me. I worked for Ford at Powertrain for a number of years and I just never heard of this before ! Many thanks for the info, as I'll take my iPad to coffee next week for the guys to read !

I don't know about you guys, but at 71 years old.....I wonder where all this type of info will come frrom with the next generation ?

Thx very much.....Mike

[T Scott]

Originally Posted by mike42

Guys this is really interesting for me. I worked for Ford at Powertrain for a number of years and I just never heard of this before ! Many thanks for the info, as I'll take my iPad to coffee next week for the guys to read !

I don't know about you guys, but at 71 years old.....I wonder where all this type of info will come frrom with the next generation ?

Thx very much.....Mike

Only 71? I'd love to be still 71!