Ford Roadster - 1932

The fourth in my series of vintage cars, this is one of my favorites...a 1932 Ford Roadster, one of the B series that came after the Model A line.... more

by Rory Siegel

Title

Ford Roadster - 1932

Artist

Rory Siegel

Medium

Photograph

Description

The fourth in my series of vintage cars, this is one of my favorites...a 1932 Ford Roadster, one of the B series that came after the Model A line. Here's a bit of info on this classification of car:

Although sharing a common platform, Model Bs and Model 18s came not only in Standard and Deluxe trim, they were available in a large variety of body styles. Some of them, like the commercial cars described below, were only availabe as Standards, and a few other came only in Deluxe trim. There were two-door roadster, two-door cabriolet, four-door phaeton, two-door and four-door sedans, four-door 'woodie" station wagon, two-door Victoria, two-door convertible sedan, panel and sedan deliveries, five-window coupe, a sport coupe (stationary softtop), the three-window Deluxe Coupé, and pickup.

Prices ranged from US$495[1] for the roadster, $490 for the coupés, and $650 for the convertible sedan. Production totals numbered from 12,597 for the roadster to 124,101 for the two-door sedan. Ford sold 298,647 V8-powered 18s in 1932,[2] and except for the fact Ford could not keep up with demand, the essentially identical four-cylinder B would have been a sales disaster: dealers switched customers to them from the V8, and even then sold only 133,539,[2] in part because the V8 cost just US$10 more.[2]

The B was discontinued because buyers disliked four cylinder models in general, and because of the huge success of the V-8, not for being an inferior car. In fact, it persisted a little longer in Europe, where in many countries the tax system heavily favored smaller-displacement engines.

Today, the 1932 Model B, although always a little bit in the shadow of the V-8, is a highly collectible car and people will pay thousands of dollars to restore one to original specification.

Uploaded

September 22nd, 2013