How many 1940 Ford Deluxe coupes were made?
Around 68,000 1940 Ford Deluxe coupes were produced.
The 1940 Ford lineup introduced a restyled look and included Deluxe and Standard models across several body styles. Exact production tallies by specific model and body style from that era are not consistently published, so historians and registries often give slightly different figures for the Deluxe Coupe.
Production figures and sources
To understand where the numbers come from, here is how major references frame the figure for the Deluxe Coupe.
- Ford archival material and factory summaries: The company's own records from 1940 do not always publish a clean, public breakdown by model and body style. The Deluxe Coupe count is usually embedded within broader two-door coupe totals, making a single precise public figure hard to pin down.
- The Standard Catalog of American Cars and similar reference books: These publications tend to place Deluxe Coupe production in the high-60,000s, typically cited as about 66,000–70,000 units depending on edition and counting method.
- Enthusiast databases and registries: Online or club-maintained databases often list figures around 68,000, with occasional variations ranging from roughly 60,000 to 70,000 based on how exports, replicas, or certain trim designations are counted.
In summary, the most commonly cited figure sits near the upper-60,000s, with credible sources giving a range roughly from 66,000 to 70,000 and occasional outliers depending on counting conventions.
Why the numbers vary
The discrepancies arise from several practical factors that historians must navigate when reconstructing production for a 1940 model year.
- Counting conventions: Some tallies count only the Deluxe-branded two-door coupes, while others lump all two-door coupes into a broader category, blending trim levels and body types.
- Exports and imports: Figures may or may not include vehicles built for export, which can skew totals if not consistently applied.
- Record-keeping gaps: Wartime and pre-war record-keeping practices did not always preserve detailed, publicly accessible breakdowns by model-year and body style.
- Variations in trim and designation: The line between “Deluxe” and other designations (like Standard or Special) could shift by market or year, leading to classification ambiguities in archives.
These factors help explain why a single exact figure is elusive, even as researchers converge on a surrounding consensus.
Summary
In short, the best-supported estimate places the 1940 Ford Deluxe Coupe production at about 68,000 units, with credible sources presenting a range roughly from the mid-60,000s to about 70,000 depending on counting methods. For restoration hobbyists or historians seeking precision, consult dedicated Ford historical records or the latest edition of a major automotive reference work.
