Previous Features

The Missing Speedster (UPDATE II Special Sports)

Last week we wrote about the Red Speedster made by Edsel Ford and Bob Gregorie. This picture probably was taken on the day it was finished. Edsel, sits - hardly visible - behind the wheel of the Speedster while Bob is in the midget car. This Speedster was the second of three prototypes made by Edsel and Bob. The first was a boattail body (edsel.com) on a ’32 chassis. After it was sold the new owner badly damaged the car in an accident. A few years ago this number one Speedster was discovered in a Connecticut bodyshop where the body had been customized with ’35 Chevrolet fenders. It is now being restored (Edmunds.com). Bob Gregorie and Edsel Ford built a third Speedster on the 1935 Ford prototype chassis. It had a ‘35 Ford V8 car radiator/grill, a ‘34 roadster cowl and rear fenders. It had right hand drive and the four-seater body was made by the panel beaters at the Tri-motor hanger. The prototype was planned as a sports car for Ford US, but Henry Ford put a stop to that idea. The blue prints were taken to England where the Jensen Brothers began build the first Jensen-Fords from the idea. Edsel gave the third Speedster to Gregorie who kept it for a time, then sold it. The prototype was last seen in California in 1952. Last Sunday number two Speedster was sold by RM at an amazing US$ 1.760.000 ! This now makes us wonder if the third prototype ever will be found. (photo collection Hugh Nutting) (RB)

Click Read More for UPDATES...
Update II with more info on the Jensen comes from Hugh Nutting: “The third special that was built for Edsel, was not a Type-S Jensen. The Jensen Brothers had built Jensen-Fords from starting in late 1934 to 1936 before the Type-S ever was designed. There are several of the 1934/5 cars still surviving in the UK. One of the first produced was used to race in TT type racing. In 1936 Jensen-Fords were redesigned using modified 1936 Dearborn front sheet metal and still using stock Ford V8 chassis. The best known survivor is the one Clark Gable ordered and did not purchase. The construction of Edsel's third V8 special started out with a much modified 1934 frame (lots of welding). When this hot rod like frame did not look like something Edsel Ford should drive safely, Bob was given the new 1935 prototype chassis to work with (a frame that was produced from 1935 to 1940 in Dearborn). Bob G. ordered the RHD steering assembly from Ford Canada. At that point Henry Ford refused to let a sports car come down his assembly line. A UK auto promoter made a deal with the Jensen Brothers using #3's basic concept. It had Edsel's blessings as he had met the Jensens on a trip to England. The Type-S cars (1938/39) were totally a Jensen design. They were set-up to use Ford, Lincoln Zephyr and Nash engines. The Jensens were noted for the craftsmanship having built bodies on Standard and Ford Y chassis prior to the first Jensen-Fords.”
Update I by Kit Foster who wrote an article on Jensen-Fords and the genesis of the S- and H-Types (Automobile Quarterly Vol. 36, No. 2): “The man standing behind Mr. Gregorie looks like Harry Bennett, Henry Ford's henchman and head of his security department. The third "speedster" was actually called the Special Sports. It would be more correct to say that the chassis served as a prototype for the S-Type Jensen (although even that is a simplification). The body for the S-Type was entirely a Jensen creation.”