Dick Livingston’s Original 1938 Ford V-8 Coupe

By Gary Osborne and Dick Livingston

In 1938 Henry Ford turned 75 years of age. For 35 of those years the Ford Motor Company had been producing his automobiles just the way he wanted. He still believed that his cars, for the money, were the best in the world. But he also knew that his cars were still not selling as well as he would have liked. Changes would have to be made again, to attract more sales of the new models. Of course, there were many changes made, but the reality was that the Great Depression still had it’s ugly grip on the working classes of people. The American economy which had shown improvement, hit a slump in mid-1937, lasting for 13 months through most of 1938. The numbers don’t lie. There were only 410,048 passenger cars sold in 1938, which is only half of the units sold the previous model year.

Ford engineers came up with some design changes to help boost sales. This was the first year that a consumer would have a choice of several models in a Standard or Deluxe Version. The Standard cars came with the V-8 60 HP engine but could be ordered with the V-8 85 HP engine. The Deluxe cars came only with the V-8 85 HP. There were slight differences in the grilles, and the standard version only had one taillight, windshield wiper, and sun visor. Whereas the Deluxe version had two taillights, wipers, and inside sun visors. There were also several interior appointments to choose from. The upholstery could be had in broadcloth, mohair, or genuine leather, depending on the model. It was certainly evident that Ford was making an attempt to attract buyers.

The automobile pictured above is a 1938 Standard Coupe that belongs to members Dick and Linda Livingston. The car came into the Livingston family in 1956 when Dick’s father, Frank, purchased it from the original owner. Frank made some minor changes to the engine to improve its’ performance. You’ll notice that this car is a beautiful example of an unrestored original model. The car is a Standard Coupe but was originally equipped with the option of the 85 HP engine. Since Dick became the owner it has won a Rouge Award for Interior/Exterior from the Early Ford V-8 Club of America. He had the engine rebuilt due to a rod knock, so it did not receive the Drive Train Award.

There have been some challenges with the car over the years. One was that the rear axle seals leaked causing the brakes to not function properly. They probably hadn’t worked correctly for years! Well, that was repaired, and then there was a drivability issue that caused a severe power loss. After a little head scratching, it was determined to send the distributor to Bubba’s. Dick was informed by Bubba that he did not know what happened to this distributor, but he had never had one smoke on his testing machine. So, a replacement one was sent back for the car, and all worked great.

Another challenge was that the wiring needed to be replaced due to age and rodent damage. This is a funny story so I’ll let Dick tell it as he wrote it: Shortly after I got it home and had it drivable, I took it one evening to a friend of my son’s where they were taking homecoming pictures. By the time we left it was dark, and about a mile from their house the headlights went out. We had taped up wires from the mouse damage but must have missed some. We were on a country road with a full moon, and fresh white gravel on the edges, so we decided to continue the approximately four miles home.    

We were fine until we came to a short section of road with dense enough trees to turn on automatic headlights during a sunny day on a new car. Not only did the moonlight go away, but the straight road with the white gravel edges turned into a twisty road with deep dark ditches. I hadn’t had the car long enough to even put in a flashlight.

Sitting for a couple of minutes it dawned on me that my cell phone has a flashlight in it. It turns out that a cell phone flashlight is about as bright as the headlights! So, with a phone held out each side of the car (Linda was with me), we made it the three miles we had left to get home. I ordered a wiring kit shortly thereafter.

The car has been driven to several National Meets, and to our own Lake Geneva Tour with no problems. Dick said it has been fun and a privilege to drive an original Ford Coupe. Next time he brings it to one of our tours, be sure to take a good look at his 1938 Ford V-8 Standard Coupe.

(Note: you can read more about the family’s history with this car in an article written by Dick that is published in the Sept/Oct 2017 V-8 Times)