Well, I finally was able to get in touch with the owner selling a 55 Ford COE and went and took a look at it.

Any ideas on how much as stripped fairly mostly rust-free coe cab, with hood, fenders, step plates would be worth?

This 55 is basically stripped. The grille is complete and in good shape...the hard-to find parts...like the hood latches, hinges and emblems are missing (this was a major turn off here...I figure these parts will be hard to find).

Front bumper and brackets are gone. All dash parts are gone...including the guages. I think the smaller F series dash parts would be interchangable...I believe the cab themselves, for the most part, are the same the F series.

Drivetrain is history (gone)...only the rear-end and master cylinder with pedal are their. Frame has been chopped off right after the rear leaf-spring hangers. Seat appears to be complete and in decent shape. Their are a couple of butchered spots on the body...the driver's inner fender, the inside engine cover...none of them are very big. One of the keyed spots on the dash for the headlight switch is rounded off. Their is a large dent on the front firewall in-front of the cowl ventilator (btw the cowl ventilator is their but the linkage appears to be gone). Step-plates are their and in good shape and the steering column & wheel are their.

Their is a cardboard box in the cab with what appears to be the ashtray and door ventilators. Theres a couple of other parts their but I'm not sure exactly what their for.

I know it's hard too visualize this without pictures...but does this sound likes it's worth $1100? For the most part...the frame is less then useless....they made it even shorter then a 110" wheel base. I didn't really care so much about this (I planned on putting this cab on a later model chassis anyway)...but the missing body parts does bother me a bit.

Thanks for the input...good or bad.

 

Any COE body is rare, but a 55 is especially so. The missing stuff will be difficult to come by without question, but if you are looking to build a hot rod truck versus a resto, some options may work, as in reworking conventional pieces ..... The bumper will be almost impossible to find, but a conventional will look fine. It will be about 3 inches shorter is all. The hinges will be a challenge, as will the latches, but most hot rodders do seem to solve such stuff with their own designs using other similar pieces. The interior stuff will match with conventionals.

The frame may turn out to be of use though ...... you can make a very handy cab cart from the front section, and make life during the build a lot easier.

The value of the truck is hard to pick, but $1100 does seem a little high.
Complete trucks that are in need of a full rehab can bring that, but with what is missing I'd stick to something in the $700 range, and see what happens. You can mention that except for the hood, fenders and steps, the COE cab isn't so different that it can't be made from a conventional. I know of guys that have done that in fact.

I've paid $250 for a hood, fenders and doors for one of my 4 COE trucks (2 Fords, 2 GM). The cab was with all those pieces but too rusty to be of much worth. I paid a $1000 for a very complete GM COE (48) and it was rust free. A friend of mine bought a 51 Ford COE that was missing about what you are, but had no frame or steering. He paid $750, and was not sure he got much of a deal.

The other issue now of course is that the economy is not great, and collectors are seeing some serious drops in values in their hobby. Negotiate like crazy, and if the price is not adjusted, maybe walk away just to see if
the guy caves. Some do .... some don't.

You didn't mention if it has a title ..... that has some value too, and if missing, can be a major negotiation point.

Good luck .... and let us all know what happens. COE trucks are very cool
rides.

RG in Spokane

 

Titles mean alot....and when you have a good one...you are way ahead.
I know a guy that has at least 2 53-55 coes and a 56 coe.
Believe me...he wants a load more money than 1100 and they are basic shells.
I will not give his name out...so don't ask. I promised him. Anyway...1100 seems a little high. I am always willing to pay more if it has the parts with it.
Bill

 

Boy I was taken to the cleaner.. and I'm going to do it again if I find another , 48 to 50 coe

 

Thanks for the responces....

I agree...especially about the economy going south. The truck is located at the sellers friend's house. He said he's seen other 55/56 COEs where the sellers are asking a lot more $ and the cabs are in worse shape. I've seen this too...but I also don't see any of them selling either. I wouldn't mind paying more...if it was more complete...even if the parts maybe wheren't in the best condition.

I'm going to see if he'll go to $700 to $800. If it's a no-go...I ran across a 55 Dodge COE with a 16' dump flatbed for $1,000 today, so I'll take a look at in the mean time. I'd much rather have the 55 Ford...I just like the styling better...but the Dodge is complete...and a better buy for almost the same money considering it's complete and has a flatbed. So at the moment...it's the 55 Ford's competition.

 

I've come across a dozen or so coe's in the $600-$9600 range. a couple were worth their price, most were not. I've passed on nearly every one I've found. And the one's I didn't pass on, my finances did. I continue to hunt for the right coe for me. Do I regret not jumping on one of the attainable trucks? not really. as much as the coe is my holy grail, I haven't found "the one." you can keep your eye out and put out feelers for parts, they do pop up time to time. there's been a slew of coe's on uPaY over the past 5-7 years. I have a whole folder of auctions and ads found on the net. for the longest time, I didn't even glance at anything other than '56's. but as the economy grinds and the available trucks find homes, I give more attention to the earlier mid 50 big trucks. my most promising lead right now is a super straight '54 c-600 local to me. if it follows me home, I'll probably graft in the cowl, windshield and door posts to make it a '56. two years ago, I'd have shyed away from it. this is all my worthless opinion, but from what I see from your description, I'd say $700 or $800 would be an emotionally attached price. $250-$500 sounds more like it to me.
JML

 

As others mentioned... if you are wanting a restoration project then there are a lot of parts to find and this may not be the right truck. However, if you are going to make a custom or hot rod then the hood latches and hindges are the only parts that you will need, and then maybe this is a good truck.

Personally I would consider this a parts truck... good if you already have the missing parts or know where to find them. I believe it is much easier to build from a complete or near complete truck vs. having to search down parts that you may not have seen before.

Its hard to place a value on a truck. There are so many variables and it really works out to what you fee it is worth to you. remember to add a couple hundred for hood latches and hindges. And another 250 to 300 for title if it needs it.

However you go, count youself lucky that you have ANY coes close to home to choose from. That is a luxary only available in some areas of the country.

 

 

@48fordcoe...thats a pretty nice looking truck. I take it your also on the yahoo oldcoetruck group?

@frankcowan....yep, I agree. Some of the missing parts I'm not even really sure what they even look like. The only major plan I had, was to drop the cab onto a class 9 or 10 Freightliner chassis with a 28' flatbed (detroit or cummins diesel, air brakes, jakes...etc). The idea was to make the truck look stock on a heavier chassis. It's one of the reasons why when I saw so many cab pieces missing I was a bit disappointed. The 55 chassis, other then robertr pointed out, as being used as a cab dolly...really wasn't of any great interest to me (it's too short, especially since it's been chopped even shorter).

Just for a status update....I offered him less and received an email today that he would let it go for $900 and I could come get it today. He's pressed twice now that he has other people interested...I'm not sure if it's a pressure ploy or he really does. Either way, I still think it's too high.

It looks like the majority of the older vehicles are going to continue to lose value, so it might be best to hold out. Their are several other coes within a 200 mile radius (so yea, I guess I'm lucky) from where I'm located. At the moment, none of them are selling. I believe it's largely due to the economy.

At any rate, I'll keep you up to date if anything else further develops. I would really be kicking myself to buy this for $900 and run across one a couple of months later for a little more $ complete.