Sven Sandberg 1937 Ford Coupe - Mystic Blue

Photo from Colorod

Photo from Colorod

Photo from Colorod

Photo from Colorod 6/1979

At Mantorp park

Holiday trip

Arrived at Peter Björndal

Upholstery sign

After the 2nd rebuild by Nille Nilsson

From Öland 2022

Thanks to current owner Henrik Sjölin, who has made extensive research on all owners and modifications over the years!
The following information is mostly collected from this data.

The beginning

Creative Sven Sandberg from Tyresö south of Stockholm build this nice 1937 Ford Club coupe in the late 1960s.
The Club coupe has a bit longer roof line and a small back seat, compared to the Business coupe.

We are not sure from whom or where Sven acquired the car but there were quite a lot pre-war Fords available at that time.

Sven did an extensive rebuilt of the chassie including IFS with disc brakes and a 9" rear end from Mustang.
The frame is actually from a 1947 Ford so the car is registered as a 1947 year model.

The Ford theme also goes with the driveline - a 289 ci and C4 transmission fits well and gives moderate performance.
The seats are from Volvo as is the steering box.
Except for the blue metallic paint, only the chrome Cragar S/S wheels indicates this is a Street Rod. The paint was done by Sven's brother Bo 'Gamen' Sandberg with pinstriping by Göran Silfors at Yankee Custom Parts.

Sven had a busy time getting the car ready before new regulations should take effect. May 12th 1970 he went to the car control and could return home with a smile and approval tag on the windshield!

As the Sandberg family always put a name on their cars, this was not an exception, Sven came up with the name "Mystic Blue" that was texted by Göran Silfors on the sides.

The car was shown at Hot Rod Show 1971 Marmorhallarna and featured in Colorod Magazine no. 2/1971.

It became a soft rod that was used as a daily reliable driver around the year. Sven's children spent a lot of time in the small back seat on holiday journeys.

Overhauling

In 1978, the car was rebuild with a 351 Cleveland and FMX transmission. Sven made a mould and fabricated new rear fenders in fibreglass from that.
Now it was Ingersjö Billack that painted in a darker blue color, Sven and Göran Silfors did the flames and striping.
The windows was etched, Silfors did the masking and an unknown professional etcher did the work.
All the modifications were described in an article in Colorod Magazine no. 6/1979.
The car took part in Hot Rod Show 1979 Citymässan, Danvikstull where it well-deserved won a 1st price in Hot Rod Coupe and 2nd price in Best Paint!

Long list of owners ...

Sven and his family used the car a lot over the years but as new projects always come up, Sven did a try in early 1980s to sell "Mystic Blue" by a magazine ad.
A lot of people called discussing price etc. One day some guys showed up at Sven's house. They have travelled all the way from northern Sweden and offered cash payment.
Sven was close to take the bid when wife Maud Sandberg showed up and said that -"We are never gonna sell that car!". And so it was.....

Finally, in 1986 Sven made a swap deal with Chris Ricking (who had painted the "Glowing Coupe"). Sven got a started T-23 project and a bag of money.
The T-23 later became in Svens hands "The Zipper"!
Chris kept the -37 in six years, repaired and painted one front fender and fixed the front bumper after a minor accident.
In 1992, Chris swapped the -37 for a 1929 Roadster with Peter Björndal from Leksand, Dalarna.

Long time in Dalarna county

Peter Björndal owned the car but shared it with his brother-in-law Thomas Stoors. Together they did many modifications as;

• repairing the floor from rust and modifying the transmission tunnel
• Changed the rear end to a 8" Ford with linkage and suspension from Volvo. Bushings and weldings controlled and changed when necessary.
• New interior made by Peter and Thomas together! Seats in front and back from a Mitsubishi 1989.
• Heater from Toyota, Power steering Volvo 164, Volvo master brake cylinder, check of the engine 351C etc. etc.

Thomas Stoors took over the ownership alone in 1999 and kept the car in 14 years to 2013.
During that time a lot of changes were done.

The hood, roof and trunk was painted black by Björn in Leksand, and the flames striped by "Ruppe".
Sidepipes were installed (located under the running boards), as was a new windshield and side windows.
New set of wheels around were added. The front brake calipers from Volvo Amazon. New Grant steering wheel.

In 2013 the new lucky owner became Robert Väliste from Hjortnäs.
He let Nilsén in Bjursås recondition the 351C engine, put a 10" converter to the FMX transmission and let skilled Mark Willhans do some nice pinstriping.

New owner 2015 was Kenneth Hellberg who had the car a short while. Kenneth sold the car for the same amount as he bought it, 265.000 SEK to Mikael Tägtström in the same town Ludvika.

Going east

In 2016 , Nille Nilsson offered Mikael a swap with a 1969 Camaro and the car went to Enköping.
Nille had the car for four years. Here is a list of the many modifications done by Nille;

• Engine swap to a low-milage 351W
• Transmission changed to a restored FMX with 12" converter
• Volvo S60 power steering
• New radiator
• New master brake cylinder
• New alternator
• 5 kW heater system
• New tires and wheel alignment
• Rear left wheel got loose! damaging fender, bumper and other parts. Repaired by Nille.

In July 2020 Nille sold the car to a car dealer in Strängnäs in exchange for a 1960 Cadillac.

Finally, current owner Henrik Sjölin from Uppsala bought it from the dealer in October 2020.
Henrik put in safety belts and exchanged all electrical wiring in the car with help from Robban Rejholt

In 2021 he drove 8000 km without any problems, which indicates a great job by Nille and previuos owners.

Henrik is the 10th owner. He uses and shows the car with great pride and always brings photos and documentation to preserve the history and share information of the iconic car.

Kustomrama is very happy to take part of the documentation on the wiki!