All-New, All-Steel Factory Five ‘33!

[Dave Smith]

Introducing the first ALL-STEEL Factory Five body! The body costs $9,990 and is an option that can be added to the Factory Five ’33 Hot Rod. Now you can build the world’s best-selling and best-performing Hot Rod with an industry-leading, quality steel body just like Henry made!

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Last year after SEMA 2015, we made the decision to begin work on an all-steel ’33 Hot Rod body to compliment our world-class chassis and suspension. We carefully bench marked what was currently available on the market, and were shocked at prices (upwards of $25,000) and in some cases, the quality. Our goal was to match the Factory Five chassis with a steel body that would lead the industry in quality irrespective of price. That work is now done, and the very first all-steel Factory Five ’33 will be on display at the 2016 SEMA Show. Production bodies will be available in the first months of 2017, and we are accepting orders now.

Price: $9,990 with '33 Hot Rod Order!

The all-steel body comes complete with all panels including hood and louvered front engine covers. The parts are delivered E-coated black and require no panel trimming/fitment, and significantly less body work. The steel thickness is from 19 to 21 gauge steel depending on the part and location.

Hard top and fenders are still in process and will be available by the end of 2017. Estimated price for the fenders and hard top will be slightly higher than existing composite part prices. The current composite fenders (full fenders and bike fenders) and composite hard top fit with the steel body. Stage 1 Hot Rods can be ordered now and the steel body can be added to the Stage 2 order.

Click here to place your Hot Rod order with a steel body. (https://www.factoryfive.com/order-a-kit/33-hot-rod-complete-kit/)

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The Hot Rod body includes louvered steel side covers!

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The steel body includes steel liners on all panels and maintains steel inner structures.

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Stamped steel body ’33 #001 goes together in R&D with Factory Five Director of Engineering Jesper Ingerslev (left), President David Smith (center), and Director of R&D Jim Schenck (right).

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After 20 years of making high-quality composite car bodies, it is really fun to work with all-metal.

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The body shape was digitally scanned from our existing ’33 Hot Rod. The stamping dies were all CNC-made resulting in panels that have a perfect high-tolerance fit.

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The steel parts are delivered E-coated to protect against corrosion.

[Dave Smith]

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On our first steel ’33, we decided to go traditional with a flathead Ford V8 and period-style wheels.

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For SEMA, we left the chassis half built to show off the Factory Five steel and the fitment of the steel body pieces.

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One thing you won’t see on most expensive steel body hot rods is a rock star front and rear suspension, and a chassis that delivers proper sports car ride quality and handling.

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The louvered steel side panels add cooling to the engine bay and tremendous style to the car.

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The steel body option provides everything you see here on this roadster. Full body, rear trunk, doors, liners, louvered side covers, and one-piece hood with liner.

[Dave Smith]

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The steel body ’33 Hot Rod was loaded up and headed off to debut at SEMA 2016!

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The all-steel body costs $14,990 if you are buying it alone. It is an option if you buy it with the ’33 Hot Rod kit for $9,990 (includes deletion of the ‘glass body).

In addition to selling “Build-It-Youself” Hot Rods, part of the development of this all-steel body included consideration of the new Small Volume Manufacturers Law which will enable Factory Five to build completed vehicles of which the Hot Rod is a viable candidate. We will post a detailed video from the 2016 SEMA Show debut highlighting the features and construction of the newest Factory Five.

Click here to place your Hot Rod order with a steel body. (https://www.factoryfive.com/order-a-kit/33-hot-rod-complete-kit/)

[michael everson]

Wow. Nice work.
Mike

[ursa5000]

Looks stunning! Another home run from the boys in Wareham.

Mr. Smith, with the Small Volume Manufacturers Law finally enacted, will 2018 be the first year we could look forward to purchasing a completed FFR roadster or '33?

Da Bear

[GoDadGo]

American Exceptionalism Is Alive & Well At Factory Five Racing!

[mikeb75]

sorry, OT - anyone know what the dune buggy looking frame in the upper part of the trailer is?

[ehansen007]

That's the new coupe chassis. FFR, nice work! Love the old school look and the steel body. Can't wait to see it at the show. Suggestion: maybe make a steel roll pan for the back under the trunk?

[Derald Rice]

What is the country of origin for this steel body ??

[ben1272]

This day and age, one can only assume the stamping is done overseas in Asia somewhere, though how awesome would it be if the guys in Wareham have figured out how to economically bring this type of work back to the USA? Either way, this is quite an achievement. The photos show what look to be really stunning part quality! Great job!

[erlihemi]

I love the top loader behind the flathead!! I think I may have one of those in inventory...T85D maybe? Guess the next one won't be a Daytona coupe after all. Let's see, would a 427 side oiler fit in there...and oh yeah, with a set of cammer heads, bomber seats, old skool pin striping, some tired leather, and no freakin mufflers!

[RogerB]

Nice!!

[65 Cobra Dude]

Beautiful work Mr Smith et al and a great way to bring "Larry" to the next level!!!

Henry

[Barrel]

No steel fenders for at least another year! The '33 looks good without them, but if you have to have them to get your rod titled then the current fenders take a lot off work to look anywhere near decent. And it will be a lot more difficult for the average guy if he has to cut, trim and weld steel. With such a vast range of wheel and tire sizes out there many owners will have to deal with this at sometime during their build.

[erlihemi]

No steel fenders for at least another year! The '33 looks good without them, but if you have to have them to get your rod titled then the current fenders take a lot off work to look anywhere near decent. And it will be a lot more difficult for the average guy if he has to cut, trim and weld steel. With such a vast range of wheel and tire sizes out there many owners will have to deal with this at sometime during their build.
No worries Barrel! If I can get a Plymouth front clip on one then plenty of other opportunities exist, like a 5 window hard top or 37 nose etc. I like that the steel body is the same dimensions. I'll have a place for the left over pieces I didn't use on the first one. The steel should be more consistent dimensionally also. Given the base tubular chassis you could possibly put other bodies on it. I'm a little surprised I haven't seen someone put a 40 ford or Willys on one at this point...

[Dave Smith]

The time estimate on the steel fenders and on the hard top (in that order), I'm hedging my bets a little with 2017 a full year estimate. Based on our learning curve and the quality of the finished parts we have now, those parts shouldn't take a year. I can see them being done in 4 or 5 months, but I don't want to commit to that. The composite fenders and hard top are indeed interchangeable as is the hood with extra clearance but with luck, someone building their car will not have to wait long for the steel pieces.

In so far as country of origin, the parts are stamped over seas in Asia, but we designed the parts, we paid for the CAD scanning and tooling, we own the tooling ourselves, and I did everything possible to have these parts stamped in the US, but the deal breaker wasn't price, it was lead time. The soonest our US stamping houses could do was 2-3 years. 40 years ago, there were something like 3,000 companies, small, medium, and large, who did steel work like this. Sadly today, that number is in the hundreds, and those companies are actually quite busy.

We'll go into much more detail at SEMA and afterwards, but right now, we are taking orders for 2017 and the steel body is simply an option that can be added to an existing Hot Rod order, either complete or stage 2.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Really cool Dave! I know you were totally stoked about the project when we talked this summer (you realize of course that no one is worse at keeping FFR secrets than you ;) ). I'd love to be at SEMA for the official unveiling but alas... So, I'll ask here; are the photos showing the body "as delivered" or has it had work done beyond panel fitting and adjustment? Really looking forward to checking it out in person.! Good work:)

Jeff

[Dave Smith]

You can't really tell in photos, but we (because of time delay) sprayed the body with primer. The parts come E-coated in black so they actually look pretty much the same. We have samples of the steel parts as delivered, but the body work is pretty minimal and there is no panel fitment. So basically, it will look like, but instead of primer, it will be E-coated black. I wish I could tell you what E-coating is, but it's relatively standard in the industry and it protects the finish applied in a solution bath at the stamping facility.

[oldguy668]

This was obviously the next step for a very progressive company. Mr Smith and his associates never cease to amaze me, even after 13 years of watching them roll out one amazing project after another. Great job, Dave and company.

[68GT500MAN]

Now I wish (even more than before) that I could be at SEMA this year! Look's fantastic. Please bring it to HB this year...only 6 months away.
Doug

[Cobradavid]

Oh. My. Goodness. That looks great. I love how Dave and his crew are always improving. True sign of a great company with great leadership.

David

[RoadRacer]

Have you weighed the steel body? How does it compare to 'glass for weight?

[BlackSunshine]

Also very interested in the weight difference. Looks great though! Can't wait to see the hard top.

[tcarlson]

Fantastic, the 33 is a great car. Everyone at Factory Five is giving it everything they have... it really shows in the products being developed. Congrats!