
Casting : Classic '36 Ford Coupe

The 1936 Ford Coupe, as American as apple pie, was
one
of the first heavily modified hot rods of all time.
They have
been
chopped, channeled, lowered, tubed, flamed, blown - you name it!
And since 1969, the Ford Coupe has been immortalized in 1/64th scale as
a part of the
second-year line-up of Hot Wheels!

Mattel's version of the '36 Ford
Coupe is based on the
1936 Ford 3-window Coupe (as opposed to the 5-window Coupe, which had
two windows on each side). The Coupe was a popular model in it's
time,
and featured a V-8 engine and a rear rumble seat for additional
riders. The '36 Coupe also is a favorite of restorers of classic
cars
and can be seen at auto shows in some very interesting configurations.

Above and below: '36 Coupes in
light ("apple") green and lime.

All '36 Coupes were produced at
Mattel's US plant.
They feature clear windows, a black-painted roof, and an opening rumble
seat in the rear. Standard US bearing wheels are small in front
and large in the rear. Of specific interest to collectors is the
number of
"seat buttons" present on the rumble seat. According to a former
Mattel employee, the factory used the number of seat buttons as an
identifier for each cavity in the mold used to make the interior
parts. His recollection was that
there
were cavaties for nine seat backs in the mold. Therefore, all nine
should be present in equal
numbers.

A red '36 Coupe showing the
buttons on the rear rumble seat.
The '36 Coupe is easy to find in common colors like
blue, aqua and green, but can be very hard to find in the more elusive
colors like "apple" green, "ice" blue and true yellow. As with
the McLaren M6A, the '36 Coupe
was produced in many different shades of the various Spectraflame
colors, leading to some occasional confusion as to the true color of
the car. The Coupe is often difficult to find in truly mint
condition, presumably because they were so well-loved by kids and thus
more often played with!

A purple '36 Coupe with a white
interior.
Color chart
US COLORS:
|
COMMENTS:
|
blue
|
common
|
aqua |
common
|
green |
common
|
lime |
common
|
gold |
common
|
red |
common
|
orange |
uncommon |
purple
|
uncommon
|
antifreeze
|
uncommon
|
rose
|
uncommon
|
hot pink
|
hard to find
|
brown
|
hard to find
|
magenta
|
hard to find
|
light blue
|
hard to find
|
copper
|
hard to find
|
olive
|
rare
|
yellow
|
rare
|
light (apple) green
|
rare
|
ice blue
|
rare
|

A '36 Ford Coupe in hot pink!

'36 Ford Coupes in orange, olive
and magenta.

Tough color: a '36 Coupe in ice blue!

An awesome group of '36 Ford Coupes!

A purple 6-button Coupe with the collector's button.
Photo
& info credits: Jeff
Henderson

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