1938 Ford Roadster Pick Up

Argentina, was RHD until 1942, when they changed sides. I think the pickings were pretty good in Argentina in the 70's but thinned out. I imported a Victoria in 1990 looked great in the pictures, but has had a total rebuild of literally everything, including the two mint handmade front fenders. Lots of parts had Industria Argentina on them including the transmission case.
 
just went back to the Main page of the ford barn if you scroll down there is a pic of a bunch of kids in a 38 convert. if you look at them hood fenders ( front and back ) even door looks the same. Very neat thanks for sharing.
 
In 1977 my dad and two friends imported 36 cars all purchased from Dr. Kaplain. With the exception of two of the cars, a Marquette Phaeton and a 31 Auburn Cabriolet, the cars were all Fords. They were primarily 31-36 roadsters and 35-38 Phaetons and convertible sedans. There were a couple Vicky's and three window coupes. All of the cars up until Dr. Kaplan's purchase were still daily drivers and were very, very rough. All of the cars were right hand drive.

Dr. Kaplan, if still alive, would be in his 80's. He became a family friend visiting our home twice, once in Arkansas and once in Texas. He was a true car guy saving a lot of cars from future total destruction in Argentine (yes I'm sure that he made a ton of money along the way) .
 
I love stuff like this!! The mystery and the story behind it makes it even better!! One thing's for sure...it's cool as hell and looks great the way it is!! I'd love to see it in person.
 
Memo to William Ford; Build this thing again and I will buy it! However, As an aside, in the early seventies, a friend was going to Brazil on buying trips. He brought home a few magazines with ads for Ford trucks in them. I recognized much of the body tin as being from models that had been used in the 60s in the US. But it wasn't consistently 1964 or 1968, it was all jumbled with some unique pieces. Another aside. I can't accurately recall the years, but that was about the time the notorius Eva Peron (Evita) was shaking down everybody she could for her Foundacion Eva Peron. No Doubt she hit Ford up for a few thousand bucks and that would have a discouraging effect on their desire to stay in Argentina.
Terry
 
I saw this post at the NSRA hotel in Louisville so its taken time to respond. This car is a good example of back yard ingenuity. It is Not and Never was a factory production car. This is the front section of a 38 deluxe convertible sedan that was cannibalized to make a pickup truck by some crafty individual, in other words it a home made hot rod.
 
Do you know this as a fact? Or are you surmising. A good case was made earlier in this post regarding Ford Argentina putting such vehicles together. There may even be some documentation to support this view.
 
Has anyone checked the firewall for a body ID tag? That might provide a bit more insight on the origin, Most likely, the body ID tag, if it had one, is long gone but its worth a look.
 
I wonder why Ford would stop sending supplies to Argentina in 1939 since the US wasn't involved in WW2 until december 1941? US car production was stopped in early 1942, then perhaps they had a reason to end shipping to Argentina. Oil supplies may have been low to Argentina during the war? If they imported gas too from the US then perhaps gas supplies ended about the same time as the knocked down Fords? No or limited gas supply makes for slow sales in the auto buissness. In Sweden we had to use coal and wood gas generators on the few cars that still rolled during the war. (Only 60% of the original power and lots of maintenance, gas has to go up to $15 a gallon until I start searching for one - it's $8 here now)
 
DICK SPADARO said:
I saw this post at the NSRA hotel in Louisville so its taken time to respond. This car is a good example of back yard ingenuity. It is Not and Never was a factory production car. This is the front section of a 38 deluxe convertible sedan that was cannibalized to make a pickup truck by some crafty individual, in other words it a home made hot rod.
Click to expand...

checking the door windows.. that would be my assumption as well..
as they appear to be real convertible sedan parts.. additionally the rear of the cab is pretty close to the shape of a convertible sedan center cowl (convertible sedans have a "bulkhead" that is steel and is welded to the b pillars.. )

as for the kaplans.. I believe they are still " in the business"

http://www.kaplansfamily.com/index2.htm
 
Argentinan cars were RHD and drove on the LH side until the 1940's then changed to driving on the right.
 
Picture this if you will. Ford Argentina has stopped receiving parts from the USA, however they still have a large inventory. The options are: Pack up and go home. Assemble your remaining parts into cars and trucks.

The further along this process you go the more desperate you become, finally you alter bodies to manage your production needs. When this happens you are faced with two facts: The labour cost is becoming too expensive. You are running out of parts.
Eventually you have no bodies and too few parts and no profits.

Viva Ford Argentina and their desperately built and slighty wacky vehicles.
 
Last edited:
I have to agree that it could have evolved from a convertible sedan. The inside pic of the back of the cab shows the convertible sedan post and the large chrome turn screw that secured the bottom of theside posts between the front windows and the back when the top was up. Nothing gets by Dick!
Really neat vehicle but that tailgate particularly does not appeal to me.
All the best, Al
 
In Argentina, in the war time, a lot of owners of cars converted them in pick up (in our country call is "chatita". The reason was that the authority only let sell gasoline and tires to trucks and pick up (vehicles for works): rationing in war time.
Never I heard about vehicles with different body that Ford made in USA (only the position of steering wheel).
This is the reason that in my country exists of a lot of false pick up. Now, when somebody sells a pick up, he needs to say if is original or not.
Probably, the pick up in the photograpy is a modify car
 
I love the way that panel fits under the rear of the bed, and molds into the rear fenders. Very classy!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top