1939 Ford Coupe

This car wasn’t built to take part in the 9,000 mile Peking-Paris endurance race.

It was built to win it.

That it never got the chance to do so is largely attributable to Covid.

The owners are selling it because the world has changed and they’re focussing on different things now.

This car was built by Royal Kustoms over four years. The parts bill alone was in excess of £100,000 and over 3,400 man-hours were put into the project.

The vendors don’t think anyone attempting this build today would get much change from £350,000.

This car has been obsessively over-engineered – outside, inside and underneath – to the most exacting standards of build quality and craftsmanship.

Fully fettled and ready to go, the car starts, goes and stops as you would hope. The handling and balance are impressive, as is the power on tap from the stroked and bored, 5.6-litre ‘Flathead’ V8 offering around 260bhp and eye-watering amounts of torque.

And it goes about its business to a barking, thunderous, roaring soundtrack of Wagnerian proportions that will have people diving for cover at 200 yards.

No expense has been spared, no corners cut, no compromises tolerated.

Every structural, mechanical, electrical or cosmetic component is the best that it could be.

The car was sourced as something of a barn find in Canada and brought to the UK.

A new body was ordered from Ford Racing in The USA and shipped over (yes, amazingly, you can order yourself a brand new 1939 Ford Coupé body ‘off the shelf’).

The wings and the chrome on and around the front grille are original.

Now then. Are you sitting down?

Brace yourself.

Here’s the spec sheet…..

Chassis

Original 1939 Ford Chassis converted with a custom centre section to accommodate 5-speed gearbox.

Fully step boxed the entire length of the chassis rails with added strength gussets.

Rear chassis crossmember converted to take 1939 pickup Parrel leaf-spring kit with custom rear crossmember.

Hydraulic bump stop brackets fitted onto chassis.

All chassis areas with either roll cage or suspension hoops fitted have crush tubes fitted into the chassis.

Front and rear tow hitches installed.

Suspension and Steering

Front: Original style transverse spring front suspension with custom-made front spring with new spring shackles fitted with poly bushes.

Royal Kustoms designed and made front shock hoops with removable strut brace.

Fox front shocks custom made and setup for exact weight of car. Fox adjustable hydraulic bump stops.

Front suspension wishbone has additional reinforcement.

Front anti-roll fitted.

Rear: 1939 Parrel leaf-spring kit fitted.

Fox rear shocks custom-made and setup for exact weight of car, fully adjustable for height.

Fox fully adjustable hydraulic bump stops.

Royal Kustoms top A-arm made with hi-acute off-road Land Rover centre ball joint.

Steering: Fully adjustable electric power steering unit connect to a GM525 heavy duty quick steering manual steering box via Borguson steering U/Js with added tilt adjustment.

Fully refurbished spindles with new kingpins fitted.

Drivetrain

Ford Tremec T5Z Motorsport 5-speed transmission.

MDL dual-friction clutch disc and diaphragm clutch plate.

Wilwood external hydraulic clutch slave cylinder.

Mustang racing mechanical clutch release bearing.

Custom-made propshaft fully balanced with heavy duty U/Js fitted.

Ford heavy duty 9” rear axle assembly with Strange heavy duty half-shafts and 3.55 crown and pinion. Custom-made by Hauser racing.

Brakes

Lincoln Bendix 12” Front drum brakes with re-lined road/race shoes and added air scoops on backing.

Ford 11” Bendix self-adjusting rear drum brakes with road/race linings.

Wilwood adjustable pedal box running Wilwood front and rear master cylinders.

Remote brake servo installed onto front brakes only, running a vacuum hold tank.

Brake proportioning valve and residual valves fitted. Braided flexy lines installed, front and rear.

Hard brake lines are Kniefer with a stainless outer spiral sleeving fitted through out.

Engine

296 cubic inch Ford ‘Flathead’ V8.

Ex-military block. Fully ported and polished. Heavy duty main caps. Engine block converted for oil filter system.

New Scat 4 ¼ inch stroke forged crank shaft.

Scat H-beam rods with 2.0 inch bearing size for modern rod bearings.

Ross Racing 3 5/16” forged pistons with Molly rings.

Custom Cam shaft with adjustable lifters, Isky racing springs correctly weighted, 1.6 Manley stainless intake and exhaust valves, 1 piece valve guides.

Mellings oil pump with baffled oil pan.

Edelbrock 75cc finned ally heads. Cometic head gaskets installed. ARP head bolts and complete stainless bolt set.

Royal Kustoms supercharger kit running a Weiand 174 Supercharger with a 4 lb boost pulley.

Holley 600cfm 4-barrel carb correctly jetted for engine.

Modern seal/bearing water pumps. K&N air filter with pre-charger installed.

Custom-made lightened flywheel. Engine fully balanced. Custom-made harmonic balanced front crank pulley fitted.

MSD electronic distributor with switchable on-the-fly twin MSD off-road epoxy racing coils with rev limiter.

Fuel System

Pro-Alloy 175-ltr custom-made fully baffled ally fuel tank.

Twin Facet Red Top electric fuel pumps. Twin Malpassi Competition fuel filter/regulators.

Sytec large metal pre-filter element fuel filter. Sytec anti drain back valves.

Cohline 2240 100% ethanol fuel lines fitted.

Electrical system

Complete new custom-made firing loom fitted with reset tripable fuses and heavy-duty relays converted to 12 volts.

120 amp alternator. Varley Red Top Racing gel pack battery. 12-volt power sockets installed under hood, inside car and also fitted in boot. Master cut-off key connected onto neg side of battery.

16” high CFM electric fan running with twin auto fan controllers set at different operating temps, also with a fan override switch and a river crossing switch.

Heated seats. Driver to navigator head-sets and controller. Bluetooth connectivity.

New Classic instruments - fully electric gauge cluster.

O2 Lambda sensor and gauge fitted for AFR ratios. On-the-fly switchable fuel and ignition systems.

New electric wiper motor fitted with wash wipes.

Nav systems (GPS and wheel speed sensors) doubled up.

Ignition coils doubled up.

Body and Roll-Cage

Brand new 1939 Ford Coupé body shell.

Original front sheet metal work. Custom-made hood with louvres and side panels. Custom-made floor with drop down boot area and removable trans cover panels enabling transmission removal from the inside if required.

Custom-made seat framework with lockable under-seat drawers.

Custom-made fuel tank framework with removable ally bulk heads and panel work.

Front and rear fenders reworked for higher tyre clearance and to place tyres in the centre of the fender openings.

Bare metal re-spray. Body fully rust protected with all under panels sprayed with Raptor protection and all areas wax treated.

Car fully sound and heat deadened with Dynamat and ½ Dynaliner throughout whole vehicle.

Full roll-cage custom-made with halo and extending into boot picking up onto rear suspension spring mounts. Fully removable with removable door bars made from carbon-based cold-drawn seamless steel tubing with a tensile and yield strength up to 35% higher than standard mechanical cold-drawn steel tubing. Fully certified to MSA and FIA spec with FIA approved cage joints.

Full under body protection with front axle skid plate, engine skid plate and rear suspension skid plates.

New glass and all new rubbers and seals fitted.

Have we missed anything?

Probably.

This is a car that’s only covered about 30 miles since it completed its 1000 mile service (the one where every nut and bolt is examined and re-tightened).

And it hasn’t been on a 9,000 mile epic journey through deserts, across raging torrents, or up and down mountains.

So, it looks absolutely pristine.

The metallic grey paintwork is glossy and has a real lustre to it. There are no nicks, scuffs, chips, scratches anywhere that we’ve seen.

The same is true of the car’s alluringly curvaceous panels, which are untroubled by any dinks or dents.

The doors close with a weight and precision that tells you all you need to know about the quality of the build.

The wheels are in fine fettle, as are the Peking to Paris-ready tyres.

The oversized fuel filler caps (sourced from an aircraft) are a particularly striking aesthetic signature.

All of the chrome work is bright, shiny and free of any foxing or pitting.

Except for the chrome on the grille and around the bonnet, which the vendors were keen to retain for its authentic patina and as a reminder that this is a car that first hit the road when Glenn Miller was on the radio and The Wizard of Oz was on the silver screen.

The wonderful interior is a symphony of high-tech, luxury and old-world charm.

Above all, it’s functional, focussed and the product of a single-minded vision.

It’s optimally designed and built to survive 9 weeks of high-speed, high-adrenaline, high-risk racing on the way to winning the Peking to Paris endurance race.

Everything you can see and feel is of the highest possible quality, from the ranks of (usually duplicated to allow for redundancy) navigation electronics, to the custom-made leather interior with Recaro CS Sportster heated seats in diamond pleated leather.

The interior of the car is, effectively, brand new and barely used.

Unsurprisingly nothing is worn or damaged and everything from the dashboard and instruments to the headlining and door cards is in first-class condition.

We’ve pressed and flicked most of the buttons, toggles, switches, levers and knobs on display and can report that they all seem to do what they’re supposed to do. The only exception is the horn (needs a new relay or fuse or something equally quick and easy to rectify), which is a shame, as we’re told it offers up a splendid rendition of the theme from The Godfather.

The boot, too, is an engineering tour de force. There are storage pouches in abundance and the central well in the floor is fully waterproofed.

Looking under the mats in here or elsewhere in the car reveals – no rust to worry about whatsoever.

The undersides of the car look as if they were designed to cover thousands of miles over rocky terrain without flinching.

Which is not that surprising really.

Everything appears to be in its right and proper place inside the gloriously full and shiny engine bay.

Aside from a summer spent pottering around some country lanes near Henley, this awesome vehicle hasn’t done anything or been anywhere.

It was custom-built by world-leading experts in their fields to succeed in a specific automotive challenge – one it has yet to face.

So, it doesn’t have any history to speak of. But it does have that all-important FIVA certificate (well, it's a little sticker in the window actually) that makes it eligible for historic events.

What it also has is an unimpeachable provenance courtesy of Royal Kustoms and a spec sheet that would make the average wallet run and hide.

The car doesn’t have a current MoT certificate. And yes, the plate is included in the auction.

If you’d like to inspect the car prior to placing a bid then please use the Contact Seller button to arrange an appointment.

There’s no other car in the world quite like this one. It is unique.

The quality of the parts, build and craftsmanship could not be bettered.

It is simply extraordinary on every level.

Maybe you want to win an epic endurance race and you’ve been waiting for a chance to get your hands on the perfect vehicle for rather less money than the vendors stumped up.

Maybe you’re preparing yourself for some post-apocalyptic world and need something that could out-run and out-last anything from the Mad Max franchise.

Maybe you just want to enjoy a one-off masterclass in automotive engineering that will turn heads and draw admiring glances wherever you go (Peking, Paris or Peterborough).

We like it a great deal.

We’re confident to offer this vehicle for auction with an estimate in the range of £150,000 - £250,000.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.