Why This Car Is Special

The 1936 Ford Model 68 DeLuxe Cabriolet is one of the most desirable body styles Ford produced during the prewar era. Ford designated its entire 1936 lineup under the "Model 68" name, representing a significant refinement over the 1935 cars in terms of styling and chassis development. The cabriolet was a low-volume, premium body style within that lineup — a convertible with a genuine rumble seat, meaning the rear deck opens to reveal a separate passenger compartment exposed to the open air. It was a coachbuilt-style experience at a production car price point, and buyers who ordered one in 1936 were making a statement. The cabriolet accounted for a small fraction of overall Model 68 production, which itself totaled just over 791,000 units across all body styles. Open cars with rumble seats were already beginning to fade from the American market by the late 1930s, making the 1936 Ford cabriolet a genuine end-of-an-era body style.

What makes this particular 1936 Ford Model 68 DeLuxe Cabriolet worth serious attention is the combination of authentic pre-war coachwork and a thoughtfully executed restomod drivetrain. The all-steel body retains every significant factory styling detail — the chrome vertical-bar grille, the teardrop headlamps, the sweeping fenders — while the chassis underneath has been updated to make this car completely usable in modern traffic. It is not a trailered show piece. It is a car you can drive to the coast on a Saturday morning and bring home the same day without worrying about vapor lock, drum brake fade, or a 6-volt electrical system that cannot keep up with a modern traffic light cycle.

The tan exterior with the red leather interior is a sharp, historically consistent color pairing for a car of this era, and the folding black soft top with the rumble seat behind it gives this car a silhouette that nothing built after 1940 can replicate.

Features List

- 302ci Ford small-block V8 - 5-speed manual transmission with floor-mounted shifter - 4-wheel disc brakes - Independent front suspension - Rack-and-pinion steering with tilt column - Air conditioning - Folding black convertible soft top - Functional rumble seat - Updated 12-volt wiring throughout - Performance exhaust system - Wood-grain dashboard and interior trim - Banjo-style steering wheel - Red leather interior upholstery - 16-inch steel artillery wheels with V8 hubcaps and beauty rings - Wide whitewall tires with red pinstripe accent - Chrome vertical-bar grille with concealed horns - Teardrop-shaped headlamps - Clean and detailed undercarriage - Professional-grade tan exterior paint - New glass throughout - Functional heater

Mechanical

Under the hood sits a 302 cubic inch Ford small-block V8, the same engine family that powered everything from Mustangs to police interceptors across several decades of Ford production. It is a proven, parts-everywhere platform that any competent Ford shop can work on. The engine bay photo shows a tidy installation with a chrome open-element air cleaner, MSD ignition wiring, an electric cooling fan from Perma-Cool, and what appears to be a mechanical fuel pressure gauge — the kind of detail that tells you the builder was thinking about long-term drivability, not just appearance.

Behind the 302 is a 5-speed manual transmission with a floor-mounted shifter. Running an H-pattern gearbox in a prewar body is a distinctly different experience from driving a modern car, and in the best possible way. The gear ratios give you flexibility that the original 3-speed flathead setup simply could not provide, including an overdrive fifth gear that lets the engine settle into a relaxed cruise at highway speeds.

The chassis upgrades go well beyond the engine swap. Independent front suspension replaces the original transverse leaf and kingpin setup, giving the car actual road-holding geometry. Rack-and-pinion steering means you get direct, predictable feedback through the wheel rather than the vague wandering that is common to vintage recirculating-ball systems. The tilt steering column lets you dial in a driving position that works for you rather than the average 1936 Ford buyer. Four-wheel disc brakes mean you can stop this car in a modern emergency stopping distance. That is not a small thing in a vehicle that weighs roughly two tons and was originally fitted with cable-operated drums at all four corners. The electrical system has been converted to a full 12-volt setup with updated wiring, which means the air conditioning, gauges, and any accessories you plug in will function reliably. The undercarriage photographs as clean and detailed — no surface rust, no improvised repairs.

Interior

The cabin has been redone in red leather, which photographs vividly against the tan exterior and the wood-grain dashboard trim. The vertical-pleated door panels are a clean, period-appropriate execution that complement the factory styling without looking like an afterthought. Chrome window cranks and door hardware have been retained, keeping the interior honest to its prewar roots. The banjo-style steering wheel is both a nod to the factory DeLuxe specification and a genuinely ergonomic design — the spoke openings give you a better view of the gauge cluster than a solid wheel would.

The dashboard retains wood-grain trim consistent with the DeLuxe package, and the instrument cluster has been updated for modern legibility. Air conditioning has been integrated into the build, which matters considerably if you plan to drive this car in Florida from April through October. The rumble seat is functional and opens from the rear deck — a legitimate passenger area that turns this cabriolet into a four-place open car when the top is down. It is the feature that separates this body style from every other open Ford of the same year.

Exterior

The tan paint is applied professionally and sits well on the Model 68's long, flowing body lines. The 1936 Ford was the last of the truly separate-fender prewar Fords before the body began its transition toward slab-sided postwar design, and the cabriolet body style shows that form at its best. Long front fenders that wrap down toward the running boards, a tall windshield with a slight rake, and the folded soft top stacked neatly behind the cockpit — the proportions are correct and the execution here is consistent throughout.

The chrome vertical-bar grille is intact and correct for the DeLuxe trim level. The teardrop headlamps sit in their proper position integrated into the fender crowns. The concealed horns behind the grille are a detail that most people walk right past but is genuinely correct to the original DeLuxe specification. The 16-inch steel artillery wheels wear period-style V8 hubcaps with beauty rings, and the wide whitewall tires with their red pinstripe accent pick up the interior color in a way that looks intentional rather than accidental. The undercarriage shot confirms a clean chassis and dual exhaust routing that exits cleanly at the rear. The convertible top boot panel on the rear deck shows custom pinstriping work in red — a subtle traditional hot rod touch that does not overwhelm the otherwise stock appearance of the car from a distance.

The glass is new throughout, which means clean, distortion-free sightlines when the top is up and no crazing or yellowing in the windshield corners.

Conclusion

The 1936 Ford Model 68 DeLuxe Cabriolet was already a low-production, premium body style when it left the factory nearly ninety years ago. The rumble seat cabriolet configuration was not the cheap Ford — it was the one buyers chose when they wanted the most open, most stylized version of the car available. This example preserves all of that original character while replacing the mechanical components that would make daily use difficult or unreliable. The 302 V8, 5-speed manual, disc brakes, independent front suspension, rack-and-pinion steering, and air conditioning transform the ownership experience without altering what makes the car visually and historically significant. The red leather interior and tan exterior are a well-chosen combination, and the build quality visible in the photos — the engine bay, the undercarriage, the upholstery — reflects serious investment and careful work.

If you are looking at this car, you already understand what you are looking at. Give us a call at Skyway Classics and we will answer whatever questions you have.

Skyway Classics — Sarasota, Florida 941-254-6608

Disclaimer Information found on the website is presented as given to us by the owner of the car, whether on consignment or from the owner we bought it from. Some Photos, materials for videos, descriptions and other information are provided by the consignor/seller and is deemed reliable, but Skyway Classics does not warranty or guarantee this information. Skyway Classics is not responsible for information that may incorrect or a publishing error. The decision to purchase should be based solely on the buyers personal inspection of the vehicle or by a professional inspection service prior to offer or purchase being made.