Barnfind: German 1932 Convertible?

E

Entlebucher

Junior Member
Hello
At first: please pardon my rusty english...
I am a Model-A-Guy from Switzerland and i just have bought a 1932 Model B. I am not very experienced with the 32s and would be very thankful for some help of you guys!

I just dragged a 1932 Ford Model B home, the last owner tried to restore it for the last 25 years, and it seems that he failed...

We have very little information on the car and i try to find out more about it:
It seems to be some kind of "convertible sedan" with a 4-Banger, Model B-head but Model A block.

Frame, firewall, grill is model B (1932) but the body is some kind of mystery...
The frame has stamps on it "made in germany" and the body was build by "Drauz Karosseriewerke" in Heilbronn, Germany. It is complete and has minor rust. All the electric parts are stamped "made in "Czechoslovakia". Under the roof we also found some jute bag from czechoslovakia.

It looks a lot like the B-400 body-style that i found after a google-research, but the windscreen and the rear is a lot different, it seemed to have a kind of box in the back.

The original color seemed to be bright blue and was painted some day in brown. So we think that this car was used during Word War II in eastern europe.

I would be very thankful if somebody has further information about this car or body style!

Here are some pictures:
















 
Interesting difference, the Concourse car has front hinge doors, opposite of the 32 barnfind. Will be interesting to see if more info pops up.
 
This is probably about what it will look like after you wash and wax it. Then you would be afraid to leave in the the supermarket parking lot.
 

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The photos below are from a Ford Werke '32 catalogue and of a restored example I encountered years ago in the Netherlands.
 

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Great pics, David. I can see from the catalog pages the one with the fixed rear window had the doors hinged the other way compared to the auction car. (And the car in Holland). Henry Norberhuis in Tiel, Holland has or had a coachbuilt 32. I can't remember if he had one or two of them. I kinda remember one having a British body, though, so may be barking up the wrong tree in associating Henry possibly with the Dutch cabrio pictured. (Might be a bum steer).

Mart.
 
Thank you very much! Great Info!
Yes, the car is mostly complete, all parts are there, doors, trim, canopy (or what's left of it), rear box... as far as i can see, i only miss the seats.

It has suicide doors, 3 hinges just like the one in the catalogue DavidG posted, thank you very much!

Hm, but it seems like i found a rare piece... boon and bane?
I hoped that i might find some parts (cloth, wood etc.) in the US. But this might need some (expensive) handcraft.

I trie to get you some better pictures of the car in the next days, if you are interested
 
I have no information to offer but I would love to see that car. A wonderful find!! Good luck with your re-construction.

JWL
 
You are quite fortunate to have the hard to find pieces. This limits the amount of parts that would have to be fabricated from scratch. This is the way the coach builders made them back in the day. They were low production and likely hand fit for each part. Finding or reverse engineering stuff like seat spring boxes is a big job but not impossible to accomplish. Those Fords are among the rarest out there due to the rough times they were built under and the ravages of the war years.
 
Thank you again guys!
I did some more research on the internet with your info. Found a hand full of 1932 Drauz-bodys still existing, but none of it had them had suicide doors. Or has somebody other information?

Today we put it to together to find out if there are any parts missing. But it seems like all the parts and most of the wood is still there, i only miss the seats, as far as i can see. The landau irons are still there.

But now i wll have to decide, what to do with it!?
I wanted to use the 1932-chassis for a prewar-hot rod with a 1931 roadster body. But now i have to admit, that the car is a rare piece of history, that i would like to save as a complete car. But i think that the restoration might exceed my budget and my skills:(

I will try to post better pictures, if you are interested











 
That's quite a dilemma. I can't offer advice one way or the other but good luck with it.

Mart.
 
It should bring enough money to build several street rods. Is there a european venue such as the large American vehicle auctions?
 
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