Not all custom cars where owned or built by man in the early days. Quite a few women where involved into the custom car scene back then. One of them was Anne De Valle, she had here 1942 Ford club coupe built by the Barris brothers. And looking at the graceful lines of the top I guess Sam was responsible for most of the metal work.

Barris built the custom somewhere around 1950-51. Two photo’s of the car in light primer appear in Dan Post’s “Blue Book of Custom Restyling” the 1950-51 edition. The top on here Ford was chopped a bit more than the general amount. 5 inches in the front and 7 inches at the back to create a wonderful flow. A lot of work was put into the rear of the top making it flow into the tulip section. As common on most late 40’s early 50’s custom cars the drip rails where completely removed. The doors had the top corner at the B pillar radiused with a large radius, almost identical as the front of the door. The rear side window received new contours and fit the body perfectly.  The rear window was put at a much steeper angle than stock and appears to be chopped as well. Both fenders front and rear where molded to the body with a smooth radius.

At the front the headlights where molded to the fenders and the fenders where joint with at the center below the hood. And the erea was reshaped to fit the 1950 Oldsmobile grille. A shortened 1950 front bumper was used. The wrap around front bumper gives the 42 Ford an all new look. At the back scratch built fender skirts with very elegant lips at the bottom where fitted to the molded fenders. The stock taillights where shaved from the fenders and where replaced with 1946 Chevy taillights mounted onto the top section of the 1947 Buick rear bumper. The Buick rear bumper wraps around the body just like the Oldsmobile unit does at the front, a perfect combination. The running boards where removed and the body was rolled at the bottom and doors extended downwards.

The side trim was shortened on the hood, a common practice at late 40’s early 50’s customs to create the ultimate speedboat look. A set of S-112 Appleton spotlights where installed on the chopped A-pillars. The car was lowered considerably and slightly more at the back. White wall tires where installed and in later years the car run Dodge hubcaps with four bar spinners and heavy Dean Jeffries pinstriping over Sierra-Gold. The pinstriping on this 42 Ford remind me of those on the later version of the Snooky Janich 1941 Ford. I wish I could show you a photo of the car without it. I think it would have been much cleaner.