April 26th 1991, is a date that may sound completely normal to most but for many families this was a scary day. A total of 53 tornados broke out known as the 1991 Andover Tornado Outbreak. Four of these tornados reached an F4 status. F4 Status tornados are capable of winds from 207mph to 260mph and have the ability to level well constructed houses and turn cars into air born missiles. How is this relevant to Jason Moore’s 1946 Ford Coupe? This is the start of the 30 year build to get the car to what it is today.
Jason’s father first bought this 1946 Ford coupe in the early 80’s, taking on the project and building it until the mid to late 80’s. The car was custom with House of Colors Magenta paint and fluorescent blue, orange, and yellow graphics. Every weekend the family would pile into the car and travel to out of town car shows that would last the whole weekend. Jason and his sister practically grew up in the back seat.
Unfortunately, Jason’s family was one of houses that were demolished by an F4 tornado during the Andover Tornado Outbreak. They lost every thing in the devastating event and the car was severely damaged. Luckily, the family miraculously came out with only scrapes and bruises. It only took a few years for them to get back at the car and start rebuilding, unfortunately this timed with Jason and his friends starting to work on their own cars and with dad’s help, the Ford hardly got worked on.
The car, which was nicknamed “Christine” by this point, was having some work done underneath in 2004. While welding, a blanket inside the car caught fire and quickly took the car and garage with it.
“Chistine” would never disappoint and they didn’t really get working again on the car for another 10 years. Jason’s father had to have back surgery and this slowed down any progress he had made. With the help of a friend, the car was set up on a lift so he could still work on it from time to time and in 2015 the car finally ran again and was brought back home. Getting the car roadworthy was another story, with his limited mobility he was unable to get it done and the car sat until 2020.
In 2020, Jason finally took over the build and the first thing he did was appropriately rename the car “Frankencoupe”. Jason was also in the process of building a ’67 F100 and this was his main priority. Some weekends here and there where spent working on the car with his father, but in 2021, Jason lost his sister and this was when he realized how short life can be and he made it his mission to get the coupe back on the road so his father could enjoy it while he was still able to.
October 29th of 2021, Jason and his dad finally drove it to cruise night, over thirty years after the car was wiped out by the tornado. Over the next year the duo, took the car to as many car shows and cruise nights as they could but the car still wasn’t done. The car had been in bare metal throughout the past year and Jason’s father always pictured it with a smooth body and shiny paint, knowing that this wasn’t likely in a doable timeline, Jason went to his friends at Poppy’s Patina and after acid washing the car with a little bit of copper added in, they clear coated it with a glossy finish. As a surprise to everyone, Jason’s dad loved it and that is how the car sits today.
“Frankencoupe” sits pretty with a 3” chop in the front with rear laid forward. The trunk and was shortened and the bottom of the doors were cut to mold in custom ground effects and fenders. Suicide doors and frenched lights front and rear give the face a menacing look. The grill was also extended, and rear window post was removed to make it a hard top. Jason still plans to pancake the hood and clear coat it.
The interior has a custom built center console, rear seat delete, and a custom dash with plans to finish off the rest of the interior panels and the trunk area.
This ’46 Ford Coupe is powered by a Ford 351M with a C6 transmission and the combo has over 2000 miles on it since February with plans to put another 2000 miles on it before the year is up.
Some of Jason’s favorite shows this year were Battle in Bama, and Rods and Ribeyes, but one of the most memorable trips was when he was kid on a trip with his family for the very first time in the coupe. While waiting in the hotel for his father they noticed him doing laps around the parking lot and couldn’t understand what he was doing. The parking lot was a large slope and the pin from the brake pedal had fallen out so he couldn’t stop. The car would almost coast to stop and then pick up speed down hill again, taking him a long time to finally get the car safely stopped.
Although this 1946 Ford Coupe is Jason’s dream car, another one on the bucket list for him would be a Pro-street 1941 Willy’s Coupe with a large blower.
“Huge thanks to my Close Friend Aaron Slayden he has helped a lot over the years with the car, the Poppy’s Patina crew, great company and products, my daughter Jayden for being my ride or die sidekick much more fun cruising with company, My son Jacob lending extra hands when I needed them and my wife Jamie for supporting me through this hard push to get the car back on the road for dad.” Says Jason.
Make sure you check out Jason Moore on Instagram and follow along with this car and his others @jasonsgarage74.
Article by Brian Holzli
Photos by Rob Meler Photography
