1937 Ford Housecar
Susan Kunze brought this little gem to my attention. This is the forerunner of the Class B motor home we discussed last week. Here is a little history about this interesting housecar.
One of only six said to have been made per year in the mid-’30s at the Ford Plant in St. Paul, Minnesota, according to an article on this car in a 1993 “Old Cars” magazine article.
When discovered in a garage (under a heavy cover) in Northern Minnesota in August 2001, she had only 19,000 miles, and the owner’s manual was actually still the glove box in like-new condition! She had always been garaged and treated with much TLC as a collector vehicle.
The interior, all wood lined, was still the way it appeared in the ’30s and ’40s, complete with framed photos of the original owner on his travels (mainly to Florida) and his cabin in the North Woods, plus and other memorabilia from the era.
Built on the ’37 Ford Pickup frame and cowling (powered by a 60-hp flathead V8 with aluminum heads), the rear framing is all wood, with the metal skin wrapped around it. The roof structure, too, is all wood, over which the heavy, waterproofed canvas top is still very securely fitted. The structure of the body is solid, appearing from underneath to be all oak, and still in a remarkably unaltered, undamaged condition. The door frames are thick, solid oak, and oak is visible around the window openings (as on the four side windows in back) — though it is painted over. Check out this website to learn more.
7 Responses to “1937 Ford Housecar”
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That is wild. Wonder what the value of that is…
There was a similar model on the Ken Burn National Parks Documentary. It was shown during the part of the series where car travel started to make visiting a National Park more accessible, etc. Episode 4 or 5 I believe. It belonged to a couple from Nebraska who made annual visits to the mountains. Really neat. Quite a contrast to the modern versions of motorized campers!
UNBELIEVABLE!! i would have loved to have been there when they uncovered that for the first time in who knows how long.
LOVE IT !!!
…just neat, simple and basic.
Wouldn’t it be fun to have one of these? So cool!
So cool!
I don’t think that aluminum heads were period correct, but what a neat find.