1934 Ford 4 banger roadster

[Andrew Konig]

Hi All Early Ford lovers,

I live in Johannesburg, South Africa and recently acquired a 1934 four cylinder roadster, which was restored about 50 years ago - it is mostly original - except in the engine area, where the carb was converted to downdraft, the generator was replaced by an altenator along with a few other minor changes.

I have read that around 40 roadsters were produced in the US in 1934 and was wondering whether anyone knows how many were built worldwide and more importantly, how many 4 cylinder roadsters have survived.

I have included some pictures of my roadster.

Regards,
Andrew

[mercman from oz]

You are a lucky man finding such a nice car.
I can't speak for the USA, but the total combined production of 1933/1934 Fords in Australia for all body styles, was only 9418 Units.
Out of this total, 1038 were Roadsters.
As for the breakup between the 2 available engines, 1628 had the 4 cylinder motor, while 7790 had the V8 motor.
It is easy to pick an Australian 1933/1934 Ford, as the bodies were made in Australia & differ from the USA counterparts.
All Australian 1933/1934 Fords have a "false" panel that sits above the Running Board, & below the "D" Mold that fits under the Doors.
This is because all Australian 1933/1934 Ford have Wooden Floors.
There are many other differences in the bodies, especially on the closed cars where no panel interchanges with the American cars.
Your car has the genuine American body, but is RHD.

[FlatheadTed]

Nice car, good to see it in this colour ,was that the factory colour .

[DavidG]

Excluding the unique-to-Australia '34 roadsters, the world-wide production of '34 four-cylinder roadsters (all deluxe models) was 77, with 40 produced in the U.S. and the balance in Canada (assuming yours was originally sold in South Africa, it would have been from Canada).

I formerly owned one of the 40 U.S.-built roadsters which I found in Argentina in the mid-1990s. It was an excellent car and I had planned to restore as a four and retain the original RHD, but I had too many projects and I let it go. The new owner restored it, but as a LHD V-8. There was another four-banger '34 roadster in Buenos Aires for sale at the time I bought mine, but it was in somewhat rougher condition.

[mfagan]

Super nice!

[Bick in New Zealand]

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A few years ago I asked a similar question on one of the forums, I can't remember which one it was now, and someone in the U.S. responded with pictures of a beautifully restored Maroon RHD 4cyl roadster, ex South America. It was neat to see the car restored back to it's original configuration.

[jimTN]

There was one in the museum at the theme park that is up on that big mountion rock. Cannot remember the name of that park. The Roadster was red with black fenders,.

[Strick]

Originally Posted by jimTN

There was one in the museum at the theme park that is up on that big mountion rock. Cannot remember the name of that park. The Roadster was red with black fenders,.

Stone Mountain?

[jimTN]

Opps, Theme park at Atlanta, GA.

[al's28/33]

Nice car keep it and enjoy it for many years!!

[Mike in AZ]

welcome to the 'Barn....cool car....Mike

[koates]

Hi Andrew, Very nice and rare car. I have a friend here in Melbourne, Australia who has a restored 1933 4cyl. deluxe roadster (Aust built). I will see if he can contact you and maybe post some pictures. I have a South Africa (Port Elizabeth) assembled 1934 fourdoor standard V8 sedan, right hand drive. Like yours it does not not have a patents plate or a body number plate on the drivers side firewall under hood. USA built cars generally had these plates. Your car will have a chassis number stamped just ahead of the steering box on the top of chassis, right hand side and also the same number stamped on the top of the gearbox above the clutch thrust bearing greaser. That's of course if the transmission is original to the car as when new. These numbers are Canadian production same as Australian fords and completely different to the USA production numbers. I have tried to trace my cars history in South Africa but have had no luck so far. Do you know of any way to do this through registration records or chassis numbers in your country? Total sales figures for Australian built model 40 (1933 & 34) 4 cylinder deluxe roadsters was 93 cars, (40 in 1934). Standard 4cyl roadsters numbered 221 cars for both years and 118 in 1934. Total roadster sales for both years 1933-34, standard & deluxe, V8 and 4 cyl was 1,038 cars. Good luck with your great roadster. Regards, Kevin.

[A Racer]

Hi Andrew, Great to see another

[A Racer]

Hi Andrew, Great to see another model 40 roadster has survived, looks like a great find. I have a aussie rhd 33 4cyl roadster myself and is good to see another. have sent some photos above . Doug.

[mvee33]

Really like your 34, and the 33 deluxe, here is my Aussie 33 B, a standard 4 banger.

[RPM]

There is a maroon right drive 4 cylinder here in the Midwest. It came from Africa as I recall. The owner is a Barner, perhaps he can post some pics. He bought my Ford script WW tires for it earlier this year. Nice car.

[Vics Stuff]

Nice buy. I like the car
Vic

[Lawson Cox]

I love the 34 Roadster. Just can't afford one.

[B-nut]

How about the dual sidemounts on the 34 Roadster are they factory?