1936 Ford

edited by David Barth, 15 February 2009.
Courtesy The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Photos were taken in January 2009.

In 1935, the Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corporation commissioned the Ford Motor Company to make stainless steel bodies to be placed on six 1936 DeLuxe Tudor sedan chassis to promote the use of stainless steel in America. The stainless steel Fords were not made until the end of the 1936 production run because of the difficulties involved in their manufacture.

Because of the toughness of stainless, Ford and Allegheny Ludlum engineers had to develop special forming and welding processes to complete the cars. The cars were distributed to Allegheny Ludlum offices in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Detroit, and Cleveland. For the next ten years, Allegheny Ludlum officers and salesmen drove the stainless cars all over the country, invariably attracting a crowd wherever they went.

This car is one from Detroit. It is unrestored and has a rotted floorboard and other undercarriage decay, but the stainless steel body is still sound and virtually maintenance-free. This car is over seventy years old, and has been driven hundreds of thousands of miles and has needed only soap and water to keep its finish in like-new condition.

Model: 68 DeLuxe
Body Style: Tudor Touring Sedan
Original Factory Price: Not sold commercially
Brake Horsepower: 85
Displacement: 221 cubic inches
Bore: 3 1/16 inches
Stroke: 3 3/4 inches
Cylinders: V-8, cast en bloc (cast as a single unit)
Wheelbase: 112 inches
Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Location: Dearborn, Michigan, USA

Donor: The Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA