Doug and Carolyn Keener's circular drive is the perfect spot to display part of their collection of 1940 Fords. Pictured here: a gray convertible, a maroon coupe, a Vermillion Red pickup and a woodie wagon. Another coupe and convertible round out the lineup.
Link to image
| Buy this photo
Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
The classic curved lines of the 1940 Ford coupe even stir the admiration of people who aren't "into cars." The Keeners' Mandarin Maroon coupe with its wide whitewall tires is no exception to that rule.
Link to image
| Buy this photo
Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
This '49 Business Coupe is the only car with non-flathead power. The car is powered by a beautifully detailed 350 Chevy V-8, but even that engine is mated to the stock Ford 3-speed transmission and the Columbia overdrive unit that Keener favors for safe highway cruising speeds.
Link to image
| Buy this photo
Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Keener recaptured a bit of his youth when he built this gorgeous '40 DeLuxe Convertible to match the car he bought for $150 as a 20-year-old in Hutchinson. That first '40 Ford drop-top cemented his love for these classic Fords.
Link to image
| Buy this photo
Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Doug Keener calls their stately gray '40 Ford Convertible "Old Reliable" -- "We've driven it all over tarnation ... it's never let me down. It's my favorite car," he says.
Link to image
| Buy this photo
Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Doug Keener bought this 1940 Ford woodie wagon as a sight-unseen basket case from Allentown, Pa., in 1976. The car was lost in transit but found and spent 18 years undergoing an absolute ground-up, every-nut-and-bolt restoration.
Link to image
| Buy this photo
Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
The "baby" of the family, the Keeners' 1940 Ford DeLuxe pickup wears a brilliant coat of Vermilion Red with cream-colored highlights. They have owned the truck for only about a year.
Link to image
| Buy this photo
Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Another corner of the basement garage at the Keeners' home is reserved for this nicely restored 8N Ford tractor. One of Keener's favorite collectibles is an authentic Ford tractor cigar lighter accessory, still in its original box.
Link to image
| Buy this photo
Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Looking like an advertisement for Ford's brand new Victoria hardtop, the Keeners' 1951 is a vision in cool two-tone green. It shows 26,000 miles on the odometer, but Keener can't vouch for that being actual mileage, despite the car's nearly pristine condition.
Link to image
| Buy this photo
Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
The woodie wagon is powered by an 85 horsepower flathead V-8 wearing the rare commercial car-style side air cleaner.
Link to image
| Buy this photo
Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Doug Keener shows off a photo of his original black '40 Ford convertible. When he couldn't track that car down, he built a tribute version of it, complete with a hopped-up flathead V-8. "It was the fastest car around for the first block," he recalled.
Link to image
| Buy this photo
Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Finned aluminum Offenhauser heads and twin carbs make the black convertible quick and the flathead V-8 flowing through dual exhausts make it beautiful to listen to.
Link to image
| Buy this photo
Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Every 1940 Ford DeLuxe had the same sand metallic dash panel, with the iconic two-spoke steering wheel and Ford's first column-mounted 3-speed shifter. The secret to maintaining the stunning leather interiors of his cars is mixing 10 percent sunscreen with saddle soap, says Keener.
Link to image
| Buy this photo
Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
One corner of Keener's basement garage is devoted to this awesome display of Ford flathead V-8s, one completely stock, a pair equipped with massive 4-barrel carbs and the other wearing four deuces.
Link to image
| Buy this photo
Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Following a recent move to larger quarters, Keener has kept himself busy cataloging and storing all kind of vintage Ford parts, from a complete dashboard to a multi-carb intake manifold and hubcaps.
Link to image
| Buy this photo
Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Simple but elegant describes the combination of golden wooden inner door panels and the steel window and door mechanisms of the '40 woodie.
Link to image
| Buy this photo
Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
The maroon coupe's door trim shows just how much attention was lavished on Ford's top-of-the-line models in 1940. Note the beautifully rendered woodgrain on the window garnishes.
Link to image
| Buy this photo
Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Print edition: Subscribe | Manage Account | E-Eagle: Digital Edition
