Jim Winn was a young man when he first took apart a car. The feeling of pounding out metal and grinding fiberglass and steel into the angle of a body line soon became an incurable impulse. But when one lucky car outlived its usefulness, Winn turned an innocuous weekend hobby into a 32-year restoration project.
Even in their heyday, Ford Cabriolets were not the easiest things to find. While the Roadsters were plentiful, the 1936 Ford Cabriolets were rare, with only 600 of them being built. The primary distinction between the two models was simply the way the windshield was attached, with the Roadster bolting onto the frame and the Cabriolet’s being part of it.
Winn purchased the 1936 Ford Cabriolet from his uncle in 1977 and since that time has been visiting junkyards to salvage parts or hunting the Internet for hard-to-find original body pieces. But nothing on the Cabriolet is original to form.
By 1979, Winn had chopped the body two inches all the way around and dropped the frame four inches. The fenders had to be raised so Winn could squeeze the wheels under the excessively low fender wells. The bodywork has been firmed up on several occasions, and when he couldn’t find replacement doors using old-fashioned channels, his search took him across the electronic highway to a man in Colorado who sold him a pair of doors, which were later discovered to be so full of pinholes he ended up having to rebuild the interior panels anyway.
Inside the cabin, Winn’s own needleworking abilities hide away hints of bare metal through custom-stitched upholstery. The roll bar, which was bent at a local welding shop, was covered with extra material Winn used to create the removable cloth top. A rumble seat was inserted where the trunk used to be by using a bench seat from his own 1978 Winnebago. To give it additional curb appeal, a linear actuator was installed that pushed open a shaved trunk lid, revealing an area completely customized for those daring enough to hop in.
Winn said the biggest challenge came when he swapped out the old engine for one out of a 1983 Ford pickup truck. A faulty fire wall was allowing too much heat to enter the cabin, so when he cut the fire wall out, he made short work of the wiring in the process. The trouble was, with the engine out, Winn knew there was no better time than the present to add air compressors and bags because the suspension was now unobstructed and easy to get to. The result was a new Air Ride suspension. The reality was a wiring nightmare that caused a considerable headache with the original wiring compromised.
But no one who looks at Winn’s car can pass over the unique hood, a one-of-a-kind creation that summons the acuity of vision that comes from two people very close to one another.
“My wife and I always disagree on how the car should show. I like the hood up. I put the engine in it. I like people to see what I did. She said the car looks better with the hood down,” Winn said.
Winn resolved the dilemma by creating a fiberglass hood that you don’t need X-ray vision to see through. Instead of transparent Lexan, which, while durable enough, only has the similitude of a solid piece of material covering the body, Winn had a flame pattern painted and cut out teardrop-shaped portholes through the tongues of fire. With a little mood lighting in the engine bay and two air cylinders that open the hood from back to front, it’s a tease that keeps the judges coming back for more.
What do you drive? A 1936 Ford Cabriolet.
Why do you drive it? ’Cause nobody else knows how. I like to drive it. It’s got a 302 engine in it. It’s really quick. It’ll squeal those tires every time it changes gears. It’s just a lot of fun to drive and gets a lot of attention when it’s on the road.
What makes this car so special? There’s nothing on here that’s original. I paid $200 for the car. There was nothing there but a body and frame. It didn’t have a motor, transmission, nothing. And it had been sitting in the woods covered in a tarp.
What is your most memorable driving experience? Was that breakdown free or otherwise? We used to have a Lab, Cody was her name. And she used to ride in the rumble seat down the boardwalk parade [in Ocean City, Md.].
What was the first vehicle you owned? It was a ’47 Chevrolet four-door sedan for $25. Bought it from my art teacher in high school. He had hand-painted it. He had done such a great job you couldn’t even see the brush marks.
What music are you currently listening to in your car? Oh, there’s only one kind of music when you’re driving that car … ’50s music … Jerry Lee Lewis.
And your first ticket? What was it for? That was back when I was in high school. There was a 35 mph speed limit and I went through at 50 mph. Cop wanted to see my license. I reached in my back pocket and hadn’t got my wallet. He took me back to the house. I went upstairs, got my license and showed him.
