Looking at some items on my car confuses me, as they were for the deluxe model, and I think I definitely have Standard. I have chrome trim on my grille, although the shape of it shows the model to be the standard. It has chrome windshield trim. Dual wipers and dual taillights. I removed the rear seat bottom, and it still has a metal tag; the first letters and numbers are 81 A . Wood-grain dash and window openings, no banjo wheel, no clock in the dash, and a three-digit odometer, 85 HP engine. Could these be add-on options to the standard?
Confused on what model my 38 Tudor
- Thread starter Jagawar
- Start date
TJ
Well-known member
Prior owners probably made various changes to the car. It sounds like you have a standard that others added some deluxe features. If you have the Early Ford V-8 Club's 38-39 book it may answer some of your questions. If you do not have it I recommend you buying it. It is a wealth of knowledge for those year cars. Go to the V-8 Club site to purchase it.www.earlyfordv8.org
38 coupe
Well-known member
81A is the starting designation for 85 hp Fords for the 1938 model year, and also any parts designed new for 85 hp Fords for the 1938 model year. Standard 85 hp cars are 81A cars.
Ford made a mistake when they brought out the 1938 standard vehicles, they were too plain. The initial 1938 standard vehicles had very little stainless or chrome trim. These early cars were not selling well so Ford quickly added horizontal stainless trim on the grill and trim down the side of the car. These cars still were not selling as well as Ford wanted so Ford soon again added more chrome, the chrome windshield frame. The result is three generations of 1938 Ford standard cars with varying amounts of shiny trim. By far the most produced and most common is the version with the stainless trim and chrome windshield. Below are a picture of each of these generations of 1938 Ford standard.
This has been discussed before on the Ford Barn, and is described in the 1938 Ford Book referenced above.
This is an original, un-restored, early 38 standard without side trim and with painted windshield that showed up at the 2013 Tahoe meet
This is a 38 standard with the side trim but still with the painted windshield that showed up at the 2013 Tahoe meet
This is a 38 standard with the side trim and chrome grill, the most common amount of trim on a 38 standard.
It would help if you would post a picture of your car, or email a picture to one of us to post for you.
Ford made a mistake when they brought out the 1938 standard vehicles, they were too plain. The initial 1938 standard vehicles had very little stainless or chrome trim. These early cars were not selling well so Ford quickly added horizontal stainless trim on the grill and trim down the side of the car. These cars still were not selling as well as Ford wanted so Ford soon again added more chrome, the chrome windshield frame. The result is three generations of 1938 Ford standard cars with varying amounts of shiny trim. By far the most produced and most common is the version with the stainless trim and chrome windshield. Below are a picture of each of these generations of 1938 Ford standard.
This has been discussed before on the Ford Barn, and is described in the 1938 Ford Book referenced above.
This is an original, un-restored, early 38 standard without side trim and with painted windshield that showed up at the 2013 Tahoe meet
This is a 38 standard with the side trim but still with the painted windshield that showed up at the 2013 Tahoe meet
This is a 38 standard with the side trim and chrome grill, the most common amount of trim on a 38 standard.
It would help if you would post a picture of your car, or email a picture to one of us to post for you.
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petehoovie
Well-known member
81A is the starting designation for 85 hp Fords for the 1938 model year, and also any parts designed new for 85 hp Fords for the 1938 model year. Standard 85 hp cars are 81A cars.
Ford made a mistake when they brought out the 1938 standard vehicles, they were too plain. The initial 1938 standard vehicles had very little stainless or chrome trim. These early cars were not selling well so Ford quickly added horizontal stainless trim on the grill and trim down the side of the car. These cars still were not selling as well as Ford wanted so Ford soon again added more chrome, the chrome windshield frame. The result is three generations of 1938 Ford standard cars with varying amounts of shiny trim. By far the most produced and most common is the version with the stainless trim and chrome windshield. Below are a picture of each of these generations of 1938 Ford standard.
This has been discussed before on the Ford Barn, and is described in the 1938 Ford Book referenced above.
This is an original, un-restored, early 38 standard without side trim and with painted windshield that showed up at the 2013 Tahoe meet
This is a 38 standard with the side trim but still with the painted windshield that showed up at the 2013 Tahoe meet
This is a 38 standard with the side trim and chrome grill, the most common amount of trim on a 38 standard.
It would help if you would post a picture of your car, or email a picture to one of us to post for you.
38 coupe
Well-known member
Please be aware that I avoided "late" in my description (just a semantics choice by me). The "late" version was in production pretty quickly in the 1938 model year and is not a description of when in the model year a car was built. The 38-39 book has the running changes documented in the back in detail, along with the disclaimer that the individual assembly plants were notorious for implementing changes on their schedule rather than exactly when the directive from Dearborn was received. Please verify the actual timeline from the documented sources, but my memory is the "late" version was in production for 3/4 or more of the model year, resulting in most 38 Ford standard cars being the "late" type.