Ford Model 40 Special Speedster (1934)

Beauty in simplicity! If ever there was a vehicle that embodies the meaning of that phrase, it is this one-off Model 40 Speedster. Built under the direction of Ford Motor Company president Edsel Ford. Inspired by sports cars he saw in Europe during a visit in the early 1930s, Edsel asked ET Bob Gregorie (Ford’s chief designer at the time) to design a low and racy car.

The resulting car was based on a modified 1934 Ford Model 40 frame and was powered by a stock flathead V-8 (later replaced by a more powerful Mercury motor).

The body itself is like the top half of a butter dish with wheels, but in all details and proportions it delivers the impression of a low, sleek, fast, and fun car. The split front grille is laid back at just the right angle, while underneath another, wider grille is flanked by two round headlights.

This lower portion of the car recedes like a wedge from the very front of the car back to the rear wheels; this taper keeps the bluff front and horizontal hood from looking too blocky. Cut-down openings aside the passenger compartment add a racy element and further break up the car’s flat sides. A low-profile split windshield just in front of the cockpit gives a sporting driver the barest protection from the wind.

Edsel died in 1943, and the Speedster disappeared a few times over the ensuing decades. It resurfaced in 1999 and eventually made its way back to the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House in Michigan, which is now operated as a historic site. Ford House had the car restored to its 1940 configuration.

Ford Speedster 1934

Ford Speedster 1934 Specifications

Engine : Mercury V-8, 239 ci/3.9 liters
Power : 100 bhp
Body : Sheet aluminum over aluminum structural framework
Exhaust : Straight dual exhaust, enclosed in bodywork
Weight : 2,100 lbs/952 kg
Wheelbase : 113 inches/287cm