AutoHunter Spotlight: 1936 Ford Deluxe

Featured on AutoHunter, the online auction platform driven by ClassicCars.com, is this 389-Mile 1936 Ford Deluxe.

Can you imagine buying a nearly 90-year-old car and having it be “new”? That’s essentially what the ownership experience will be like for the lucky next owner of a dark blue Ford two-door coupe that is being sold by a dealership in Gladstone, Oregon. The auction ends tomorrow, Thursday January 18.

The Ford Deluxe has great style, complete with smooth body contours that are accessorized with a grille guard, a tilt-out windshield, a black vinyl roof, rubber running boards, a rumble seat, and a rear-mounted spare tire cover. The selling dealer says that this car was repainted at one point, and based on the photos, the work was high quality. This car looks a lot like a 1936 Model 68 coupe I wrote about last August for The Journal.

The odometer indeed reads just 389 miles, which comes out to an uncanny four miles per year. The 100-mph speedometer is accompanied by gauges for fuel level, oil pressure, coolant temperature, and voltage. What was this car used for? Did it spend a great length of time in static storage? I have so many questions, but the mystery is part of its allure/appeal.

The good news is that despite spending a good amount of time sitting still, the car is currently deemed roadworthy and ready to roll, unlike many “barn find” type projects. Power comes from a 221cid Flathead V8 paired with a three-speed manual transmission. The dealer says that the heads have been replaced, and the radiator and the fuel tank have been flushed.

It would be rewarding to have a Q&A session with the people who have preserved this car as part of their family for 88 years. I am sure there must be some good reasons why it was kept in safekeeping and driven so sparingly over its lifetime. Regardless, that low mileage reading makes it an exceptionally unique find today.

If you owned a super-low-mileage car like this, would you store it or drive the wheels off it? I’d probably be comfortable logging few hundred miles per year on it. As much fun as it is to look at classic cars, the real joy is in driving them.

The auction for this 389-Mile 1936 Ford Deluxe ends Thursday, January 18, 2024 at 12:45 p.m. (MST)

Visit the AutoHunter listing for more information and photo gallery