Christer Lundberg's 1937 Ford Coupe
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1937 Ford Business Coupe originally owned and built by Christer 'Chrille' Lundberg of Stockholm, Sweden. Christer was an early Swedish hot rodder and an active builder in the 1960s. He bought the coupe for 200 SEK in 1960. It was in a poor condition when he got it, but he did a good job restoring it, getting it back on the road again - Fully approved.[1]
Contents
Roadtrip to Italy
In the summer of 1964, Christer joined several other Swedish hotrodders on a road trip to Italy. It was a nice experience and according to Chrille, the car behaved very well on the European roads.[1]
1965 Hot Rod Show
An early iteration of Chrille's coupe was shown at the 1965 Hot Rod Show in Marmorhallarna in Stockholm. By then, the had car had received a powerful 392 Dodge Hemi from a crashed car that Chrille had gotten for free.
The brakes were converted to hydraulic during the same operation, and according to the souvenir program from the show, the engine was hopped up with an Iskanderian racing cam and three Stromberg 97 carburetors.
It ran a 1939 Ford transmission with Zephyr gears and 14" chromed and reversed wheels. Chrille scrapped the stock bumpers, replacing them with chromed nerf bars.
Aftermarket headlight rims were also installed along with turn signal lights on the fenders. Inside it was dressed up with a red tuck'n'roll vinyl upholstery and seats from a 1964 Ford Thunderbird.
Note that the windshield wiper shafts on the coupe are mounted below the front windows, indicating that the window frame is fixed and not possible to open.
The car was supposedly painted white when Chrille entered it at the 1965 Hot Rod Show, and in addition to the coupe, Chrille also had a 1931 Chevrolet Roadster on display at the first Hot Rod Show.[1]
Silver
Sometime after the 1965 Hot Rod Show, the coupe was painted silver and dressed up chromed wheels from Astro Custom. A 392 Hemi with an automatic transmission from a 1959 Chrysler found its way into the coupe, precisely fitted within the hood sides. The rear end from the same Chrysler probably found its way under the car as well.[1]
Show and GO!
Christer attended and raced the coupe at the "First Go" - the first drag racing event at Anderstorp Raceway in 1968.
He had the #1 start number of all cars! Bitten by the bug, he went on to build build a dragster from an Anglia. [1]
Sold
Christer was an active builder. He had several projects, and he sold the coupe in September 1968 to Hans Peter Andersson in Farsta.
Full documentation of previously unknown ownership history has been made by Sondre Kvipt :
1992-09-01 HENRIKSSON, LARS ERIK HEDE-FINNFLOVÄGEN 19 824 92 HUDIKSVALL
1974-08-09 STRÖM, JAN GÖSTA BOX 1156 824 14 HUDIKSVALL
1974-03-30 BRUNDIN, HANS RYDE FÄRGARGRÄND 4 LGH 1102 831 51 ÖSTERSUND
1974-03-06 NILSSON, ERIK BENGT OLA VARBERGSVÄGEN 353 519 94 BJÖRKETORP
1973-07-31 DEGERMALM, BJÖRN GUSTAV HANDELSVÄGEN 2 B 132 46 SALTSJÖ-BOO
1972-08-18 ÖSTRÖM, RAYMOND HERMAN SPELVÄGEN 3 LGH 1504 142 62 TRÅNGSUND
1972-03-21 WIDÉN, LARS INGE SNARVÄGEN 9 A 733 62 VÄSTERFÄRNEBO
1971-11-24 BILLMAN, STEN HARALD SKALDEGATAN 1 C 722 22 VÄSTERÅS
1971-10-08 SVENSSON, TOMMY REKYLGATAN 4 723 38 VÄSTERÅS
1969-02-13 EKBERG, HANS SLÅNBÄRSSTIGEN 15-17 ÄLVSJÖ
1968-09-06 ANDERSSON, HANS PETER RUSSINVÄGEN 26 123 59 FARSTA
1964-05-06 LUNDBERG, CHRISTER NYNÄSVÄGEN 304 ENSKEDE
The coupe stayed in Stockholm area a couple of years and was then sold to well-known drag racer Tommy "Blue Swede" Svensson from Västerås.
Tommy kept it for a while before it changed hands again and was later sold back to Stockholm and Raymond Öström.
The car attended the Hot Rod Show with Raymond Öström as the owner. By then, a 413 ci Chrysler that had been bored to 426 ci had found its way into the coupe. It had also been dressed up with Ansen wheels and a new fade and panel paint job by Frittes Billack. This iteration of the coupe did also run widened fenders to cover up the wheels.
In 1974 the car went north to Ryde Brundin of Östersund, another well-known Swedish drag racer.
Growing up in Jämtland, Sweden, Mikael Gideryd has fond memories of the old coupe. In October of 2021, he told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama that he remembered one time, in the middle of the winter, driving a group of people to a dance far out in the wilderness. "At the entrance stood two hot rods. Chrille Lundberg's 1937 Ford Coupe, and a mildly rodded 1937 Chevrolet two-door." At the time, the coupe was owned by Brundin. Mikael tried for a long time to find out who the owner of the car was, but it was after reading a story about later owner PV Erik in Hudiksvall that he understood what car it was.[2]
Mustang driveline
Later restorations indicate that the car was re-painted several times in the 1960s and the 1970s. In 1974, Janne Ström of Hudiksvall traded his Chevy Nova for the Ford. Janne immediately pulled out the big and heavy Chrysler driveline, replacing it with a complete driveline from a crashed 1971 Ford Mustang. This included a 302 ci smallblock engine, a C4 transmission, and a 9" rear end. The rebuild made the car much lighter, and it gave it better mileage, performance, and handling on the road.[1]
The fire
Janne drove the car frequently over the years. Unfortunately, it was slightly damaged in a garage fire in 1992. Erik Henriksson of Hudiksvall bought the remains of the car from Janne in August of 1992. Having a collection of Volvo PV's, Erik is known as "PV-Erik."[1]
The restoration
Erik started an extensive restoration of the car and got it driveable again. He mounted original chrome bumpers and gave it an overall tune-up.
Click here to check out Erik's pictures from the restoration and see how he even worked on the car outside in the cold and snow!. Remember that the northern parts of Sweden have a very long, dark, snowy, and cold winter season.
We believe many 1930s Ford owners recognize themselves in the work![1]
Restored, again
Erik drove the car a lot. Not having a garage to park it in much of the time, he decided to perform a second extensive restoration in 2013. The good result was shown at several exhibitions, and at one show there was an elderly man who checked out the car thoroughly. Erik asked him why, and as it turned out, the old man happened to be Christer Lundberg "himself" telling him that this was the car he built in the sixties! They both had a nice chat! Christer told Erik he had left the motor scene many years ago but was delighted to see his old car![1]
We hope Erik keeps the car and continues to run and show it around.
This is a great example of a strong survivor having a tough long life surviving fire, racing, rain, and snow. It also proofs the good solid work from all owners over time to preserve this Hot Rod for the future!
Like the old saying: - "Old Fords never die - They just go faster!"
Magazine Features and Appearances
References
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