The Karl Kustoms Crew Finished this Deep Blue Diamond 1940 Ford Coupe in Memory of Carl Moyer
When new, the beaming blue 1940 Ford Deluxe Coupe you see before you was the last ’40 Ford car to roll off the factory assembly line. Unfortunately, it was also the last street rod that well-known Chevy dealer and hot rod enthusiast Carl Moyer worked on.
Carl passed away in September 2024, leaving a legacy of hot rod and racing enthusiasm along with a number of cool classics, many that came out of his Karl Kustoms hot rod shop in Ankeny, Iowa. This 1940 Ford was a personal car formerly owned by Boyd Coddington that Carl purchased at auction in 2015. Progress on the ’40 was on and off for a decade but had gained a lot of momentum before Carl passed away. The Karl Kustoms team wanted to see the car finished, just as Carl had planned and talked about for so many years.
Carl always said he wanted the ’40 to be finished in a deep blue hue, so Karl’s painter Shane Vigil formulated a unique shade using House of Kolor paints and christened it Deep Blue Diamond – and it doesn’t get much more blue or vibrant for a street rod! Before any color was sprayed, the team had its hands full with getting the body into prime condition while rounding the door, hood, and deck lid corners, moving the door handles into the trim line, tightening gaps, and forming custom drip rails. Carl even lent a hand in forming the bumpers with Bob Massey, the shop’s general manager and good friend.
An Art Morrison chassis serves as a solid foundation while its coil-over suspension helped the team get the ride height just right over a staggered set of 17- and 18-inch Schott wheels. For power, Carl always wanted a Flathead and went all out with an H&H-built 278c.i. aluminum short block topped with a set of Ardun heads and three vintage-styled EFI throttle bodies. The entire engine, and the 700R4 trans behind it, was detailed and polished by East Tennessee Chrome.
Entering the custom leather-adorned interior provides a mind warping color transition from Deep Blue Diamond to striking red comfort. The Karl Kustoms team added comforts like a tilt Ididit column, power windows, Vintage Air climate control, and Dakota Digital gauges, along with designing and machining the handles, pedals, garnish moldings and other trim items.
The entire crew at Karl Kustoms put their blood, sweat, and tears into finishing Carl’s coupe, and we’re sure glad they did! In fact, we’d bet the house that Carl is just beaming over his crew’s talent and commitment to getting his fine 1940 Ford coupe across the finish line.
Photos: John Jackson, Damon Lee
