Please help me ID this car

"Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland) 08/24/2017 at 16:03 • Filed to: None

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Photo taken in 1938 San Francisco near Stern Grove Park. It kind of looks like a Ford coupe, but the chrome wrap around the nose is wrong.

asenna > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 08/24/2017 at 16:13

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Looks like just a slightly customized 36 ford cabriolet.

asenna > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 08/24/2017 at 16:14

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RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > asenna 08/24/2017 at 16:20

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I don’t think so. Windshield frame bottom corners are wrong, hood seems too low, lower fake grill accents would have had to have been sourced from somewhere... it shows more resemblance to a coupe of other brands in most respects. It *does* have a single pane windshield like the Ford, though.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 08/24/2017 at 16:22

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The bumper and side profile are spot on though... I think customization at this time was very common.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 08/24/2017 at 16:24

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Here’s a roadster which has a slightly better match to the windshield frame - still not sold, though:

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 08/24/2017 at 16:27

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Is that a 36 ford?

asenna > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 08/24/2017 at 16:28

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looks like the frame around the wind windshield is painted white in contrast to the regular paint also matching the added trim pieces along the hood. you can see the windshield in the photo I put up curves around the hood similar to the that in the old photo if you highlight the frame in white you can change the way the corners look by painting it to a point down to the hood where the windshield curves upward at the edge.

Also looks to me that they customized it by adding trim pieces along the hood straight over the grill you can see they kinda match up to the factory lines along the side you can also see the same bumper , same bumper guards, windshield wiper locations, and body line that runs down the side of the car, same headlights same tail lights that stick out on the rear, and if you look at other photos of 36 ford cabriolets on the web you can see the same wheels. I believe I can also just barely make out the horn covers under the headlights in the old photo.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 08/24/2017 at 16:28

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Yes.

asenna > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 08/24/2017 at 16:29

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Also same license plate location, too many similarities for it not to be a 36 ford

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > asenna 08/24/2017 at 16:32

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There were a number of other marques that did a thing with grill lines continuing back from the grill along the sides that way - so if it’s a custom ‘36, they would have been sort of trying to copy that. Studebaker and Willys, to name two.

asenna > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 08/24/2017 at 16:37

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yes this is definitely it I guess a roadster over the cabriolet

asenna > asenna 08/24/2017 at 16:38

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Main difference is the cabriolet has windows in the doors, roadsters don’t

fintail > asenna 08/24/2017 at 16:55

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Yep, definitely a 36 Ford with accessory chrome bits as were becoming popular at the time.

wafflesnfalafel > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 08/24/2017 at 18:41

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that’s got to be it, bumper, headlamps, windshield, fenders, top are all right on - maybe Ford had a “luxury” option with extra chrome on the hood?