Ridler-Award-Winning 1937 Ford 5-Window "Aero Coupe"
Selling with NO RESERVE on Bring a Trailer - View the auction here:
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1937-ford-coupe-13
** THIS VEHICLE IS CURRENTLY SELLING WITH NO RESERVE ON A BRING-A-TRAILER ONLINE AUCTION. THE AUCTION ENDS ON THURSDAY FEBRUARY 26TH @ 3:45PM EST. IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN PURCHASING THIS VEHICLE PLEASE REGISTER TO BID DIRECTLY WITH BRING-A-TRAILER. IT'S A QUICK AND SIMPLE PROCESS. PLEASE CALL WITH ANY QUESTIONS.**
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1937-ford-coupe-13
“The time has finally come to present the first vehicle from the MS CLASSIC CARS Collection that has won “The Ridler Award”. This prestigious award is considered the “Holy Grail” of custom car building. This 1937 Ford 5-Window “Aero Coupe” Custom Hot Rod was built by Fred Warren and Tim Novick of Warren Motorsports. Hot Rods by Boyd were also part of the build. Yes, Boyd Coddington and his staff including Jim Griffin were part of constructing this masterpiece. John Buttera and the Mr. Gasket Company built the rare Hawks 406 polished aluminum V8 engine. This car was featured on the cover of Street Rodder Magazine in 1994. It also was the Al Slonaker Memorial Award Winner at the Grand National Roadster Show in 1997. It was featured on the T.V. show Bitchin' Rides in 2025. This is a great opportunity to purchase an iconic vehicle that played an important role in Hot Rodding history. It is often associated with the “smooth” 90s style of hot rodding and is sometimes discussed alongside other famous builds like the “Smoothster” also owned by Fred Warren. This car helped define the high-end custom scene in the 1990's, showcasing advanced fabrication techniques and custom styling on a 1937 Ford platform. “Aero Coupe” belongs in everyone's collection but can it only be part of one.” – Marc Schiliro
This Ridler Award Winning 1937 Ford 5-Window “Aero Coupe” Custom Hot Rod was built by well-respected Fred Warren and Tim Novick of Warren Motorsports. Hot Rods by Boyd were also part of the build. Yes, Boyd Coddington and his staff including Jim Griffin were part of constructing this masterpiece. John Buttera and the Mr. Gasket Company built the rare Hawks 406 Aluminum V8 engine. This car was featured on the cover of Street Rodding Magazine in 1994. It also won Best Rod at the Houston, Texas Shootout and was the Al Slonaker Memorial Award Winner at the Grand National Roadster Show in 1997. It was also recently featured on the T.V. show Bitchin' Rides in 2025. Bitchin' Rides is a popular MotorTrend TV reality series featuring Dave Kindig of Kindig-it-Design, a custom car shop based in Salt Lake City, Utah who won “The Ridler Award” with a 1953 Corvette in 2024. The Ridler Award is considered the “holy grail” of custom car building and is the most prestigious honor in the indoor custom car industry which is awarded annually at the Detroit Autorama. Established in 1964 to honor promoter Don Ridler, it recognizes the top vehicle based on creativity, engineering and workmanship often selected from the “Great 8” finalists. Fred Warren purchased this car as an original 1937 Ford 5-Window Coupe from a friend who lived near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. This car had an excellent original body with no rust so it was the perfect candidate for a build. Fred had a vision to create a one-of-a-kind Hot Rod that would represent as a premier example of 1990s hot rod design at its best. It was designed in a CAD system which refers to Computer-Aided Design which is used by engineers, architects and designers to create, modify, analyze and optimize 2D or 3D technical drawings and models. As it was being designed sections were ink printed and applied on a wall for a complete visual. These pieces were then put on a sheet metal, cut to design and fabricated to the body. The build started in 1992 and was completed in 1994. Countless hours and dollars were invested. It debuted at the Detroit Autorama where it went on to win “The Ridler Award”. Over the next few years Fred Warren showcased the car at prestigious events and in magazines. Thereafter, the car was proudly displayed in Fred's collection of amazing Hot Rods. After 30+ years of ownership Fred decided to sell his collection including the 1937 Ford 5-Window “Aero Coupe”. MS CLASSIC CARS purchased the car directly from Fred Warren in April of 2023. MS CLASSIC CARS displayed the car in their collection for almost 3 years. MS CLASSIC CARS invested a total of 5,972.89 in recent service work which is documented with an invoice pictured in the photo gallery. The original Inglese 8-stack Electronic Fuel Injection unit, Street Rodder Magazine cardboard display and Ridler Award are included. February of 2026 is the first time MS CLASSIC CARS listed it for sale and it's being offered with NO RESERVE on a Bring-A-Trailer online auction. Don't miss this great opportunity to purchase an iconic Hot Rod. This vehicle has a clean Ohio title that's titled as a 1937 Ford 5-Window Coupe.
The one-of-a-kind exterior is truly remarkable with its simple and clean design. It defines the “smooth” 90s style of hot rodding. The original body was completely disassembled and many parts weren't reused during for the new build. The entire body was redesigned and reconstructed. Some of the body modifications included chopping and lengthening the top, extending the hood, custom engine cover side panels, custom suicide doors and 6”-8” was removed from the rear of the body starting under the windows. The wheelbase was also extended to 120”. Countless hours were invested in prepping the body and panel fitment so it would be laser straight with excellent gap lines. It was refinished in Electric Blue which dresses the body perfectly. The show quality paint was recently detailed to a mirror like finish by the team at MS CLASSIC CARS. It was outfitted with all new custom made tinted glass throughout which is crystal clear. The headlights and turn signals are discreetly hidden behind the custom fabricated front aerodynamic aluminum grill. The rear lights were sourced from a Buick and are trimmed with aluminum bezels. This Hot Rod has a killer stance on modern Budnik Gasser 18”and 20” Polished Wheels. These wheels were added by Fred Warren in 2022 to replace the original Boyd Coddington Wheels. The wheels are mounted to new Nitto NT555 G2 tires that are 225-40-18 on the front and 295-40-20 on the rear. Items to note, there are no high-beams, reverse lights or license plate brackets. Also, the windshield wiper and electronic speedometer isn't operational.
The one-of-a-kind interior is also truly remarkable with its simple and clean design. The surprisingly spacious cabin was designed to flow with the exterior bodylines such as the full-length arm rests. It was upholstered in Dark Tan leather in two different patterns including solid and perforated. The leather wrapped pieces include the headliner, dash, center console, kicker panels, door panels, window level rear package shelf, rear panel and bucket seats. The one-piece designed headliner frames the electric gauges which include the fuel, volts, mph, rpm, water and oil. The custom fabricated stair-step dash continues underneath for a unique appearance. The full-length center console removable front panel allows access to the electric door releases, ignition, headlights, turn signals, power windows and electric fan. The console also conceals the chrome emergency brake handle which is accessed with a hinged cover. The removable rear panels allow access to the fuse box and new NAPA Legend battery. The battery is connected to a power on and off knob for storage that's located behind the passenger seat. The adjustable and reclining bucket seats are extremely comfortable. It's equipped with modern seat belts and German Wool Square Weave Carpet throughout. Some of the custom machined billet aluminum interior pieces include the steering column, steering wheel, seat knobs, shifter and pedals. The trunk compartment was designed and upholstered to match the interior. The backside of the trunk lid, removable front panels and side panels were wrapped in Dark Tan leather. It's also equipped with a mounted fire extinguisher that's wrapped in matching leather. The gas filler is located in the trunk. There is an emergency driver's door release lever concealed in the trunk. The trunk lid doesn't have a latch and is opened with a handled suction cup. The trunk lid is supported with a metal rod.
The painted engine compartment is highly detailed throughout with all new parts. The backside of the hood was covered with an aluminum panel with an air intake design that fits around the air cleaner. The custom firewall was smoothed to match the exterior design. The engine cover side panels are removable. Some photos of the covers off are shown in the photo gallery. The car is powered by a very rare Hawks 406 V8 polished aluminum engine that was dyno tested with 420hp. The engine was built by well-respected John Buttera in collaboration with the Mr. Gasket Company. These engines were originally designed for ISCA Sprint Cars but the rules changed so a few engines were available and Fred Warren purchased both. From the information gathered the engine has a Callies Crankshaft and Brodix aluminum heads. The engine originally was setup with an Inglese 8-stack Electronic Fuel Injection unit that was painted Electric Blue to match the body color. Fred Warren decided to change the fuel injection system to a Tri-Power setup with three 2-bbl Demon carburetors. The original Inglese 8-stack fuel injection system is included with no computer. The engine
was dressed with a custom fabricated billet aluminum air cleaner and finned valve covers with matching oil breather. Some of the parts include an aluminum water pump, polished pulleys, Edelbrock fuel pump, Summit Racing fuel pressure gauge, Mallory distributor with Electric Blue painted cap, Belden Edge Premium blue wires, braided fuel lines and Powermaster alternator. The engine is cooled by a custom black radiator with electric fan and billet overfill canister. The engine breathes through custom ceramic headers and polished steel exhaust system. The exhaust system was fabricated to fit through the chassis with outlets directly under the rear end. The engine is coupled to a Turbo 350 automatic that was rebuilt by Tubs Automotive. The transmission was completely polished to match the engine attention to detail and is equipped with a transmission cooler which is mounted to the chassis. The engine oil pan and transmission oil pan are both custom aluminum with fins that were painted Electric Blue. The power is transferred to the custom fabricated modern Corvette POSI rear end that was completely polished. Countless hours were invested in polishing the engine, transmission and rear end.
The undercarriage is also highly detailed throughout with all new parts. The undercarriage of car has always been displayed with lights and mirrors to highlight the attention to detail. The floors were completely covered with custom fabricated aluminum panel. The chassis was completely custom fabricated by Hot Rods by Boyd. Yes, Boyd Coddington and his staff built the chassis for his car. The entire chassis was smoothed, prepped and finished in Electric Blue which looks beautiful. Hot Rods by Boyd also custom fabricated the independent front and rear suspension from aircraft aluminum. It's equipped with aluminum control arms and coil cover shocks with chrome springs. It's also equipped with power 4-wheel disc brakes. The brake booster was painted Electric Blue. The master cylinder calipers and rotors are all polished.
02-20-2026, 03:46 PM
Ridler-Award-Winning 1937 Ford 5-Window "Aero Coupe"
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