1932 Ford B Model Herald/Sun Delivery Van

Description

Having made history with the revolutionary Model T and commercially successful Model A, Henry Ford launched a new model in 1932 called, logically, the Model B. However, consecutively, Ford also launched his first V8 model which looked just like the Model B but was actually called the Model 18. Mistakenly, Model 18s are today almost always called Model Bs. The real model Ford Model B featured an improved four-cylinder Model A engine of 201ci (3.3 litre) displacement, producing 50 horsepower (37kW). The Model B was derived from the Model A with as few technical changes as possible, to keep cost low. The intention was for it to be a price leader, and as it offered more than the popular Model A, this should have been a winning formula. However, in fact the new and only slightly more expensive V8 stole the show, and finally made the Model B obsolete. Thus, Model B’s were only produced between 1932 and 1934. Although there was a visual similarity with the Model A, the Model B was new. While the Model A had a simple frame with two straight longitudinal members, the new car got a longer wheelbase, and an outward curved, double-dropped chassis. The fuel tank was relocated from the cowl as in Model A and late Model T, where its back formed the dash, to the lower rear of the car, as is typical in modern vehicles. This required an engine-driven fuel pump rather than relying on gravity feed. All 1932 Fords were handsome cars, the Lincoln-inspired styling highlighted by nicely contoured fenders and a streamlined radiator shell. The range of body styles included the roadster, phaeton, coupe (in either three or five-window guises), Tudor sedan, Fordor sedan, Victoria, convertible, sedan delivery and cab/chassis for truck bodies. Well-equipped for the price, the 1932 Fords had a nicely finished interior, the revised timber-grained dash with its oval engine-turned centrepiece a classy touch too. Once the supply of original cars began to dwindle in the 1970s, a number of companies began making replacement bodywork in either fibreglass or steel and ’32 Fords remain at the heart of the hot rod movement today.