Courtesy of the Edsel & Eleanor Ford HouseEdsel Ford II, driving, and Henry Ford III in the Model 40 Special Speedster on Friday.MONTEREY, Calif. — A memento from Ford Motor Company history, Edsel Ford’s personal Model 40 Special Speedster, was unveiled Friday at the Lodge at Pebble Beach after undergoing a three-year process to refurbish it to its original state.
Edsel Ford II, a grandson of his namesake, introduced the completed car here. Work on the vehicle was conducted by RM Auto Restoration.
“My grandfather was an early believer that everyday objects, including automobiles, could be seen as works of art,” Mr. Ford said. “While he wasn’t a designer in the traditional sense, his eye for styling and influence was apparent as he initiated and built the design department at Ford Motor Company.”
Based on a 1934 Ford roadster, the car was fashioned by E.T. Gregorie, the company’s head stylist at the time, according to specifications first laid out by Edsel Ford, the son of Henry Ford, in 1932. He asked Gregorie to design and supervise the construction of a personal sports car similar to ones he’d seen “on the continent.”
Following Edsel Ford’s death in 1943, the car was sold and changed hands several times until it sold for a paltry $603 in 1958. In 2008, the car, considerably altered from its original condition, was sold by RM Auctions for $1.76 million. The new owner died in 2010, and the car was bequeathed to the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich. Restoration was approved after that, with the intention of putting the car back in the condition as it appeared in 1940.
After the Pebble Beach weekend, during which it will be on display courtesy of Lincoln, the speedster will be returned to the Ford House.
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