Who Framed Roger Rabbit To Sell His Car? It's a 1939 Ford 91A V8

84 years. That is how old this car is. And it looks every inch like it just rolled off the assembly line. Suppose you look at it from a distance. A step closer, and you will see some dents and bents, some wear and tear, and a cracked steering wheel. But the celebrity factor must compensate somehow, together with the patina. It is the car that starred in the groundbreaking movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

This Ford 91A V8 rolled off the production line in the United States in late 1939, just in time to witness the beginning of World War II. Twenty earlier later, it somehow made it to the United Kingdom. It took the English owners another twenty years to put the model through a restoration.

The car, with only one previous owner registered in the United Kingdom, mostly kept its original parts, both aesthetically and mechanically. But over the years, it received several upgrades. For instance, it now features an Edelbrock intake and a larger aluminum radiator. The owner managed to stay away from the temptation of converting his classic Ford into a Hot Rod, as many did. Instead, his car shows patina and character.

It spent years after years in a museum, after the first owner's unfortunate illness, and before it actually became famous. The Ford made its debut on the screen in 1988 in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the movie that put animation characters next to real actors. A move that brought the production team four Academy Awards. No wonder.

Disney had brought executive producer Steven Spielberg on board, while Robert Zemeckis was the director. Spielberg’s first choice for the part of Eddie Valiant was Harrison Ford. But his price was too high.

The action of the Disney-back movie takes place in 1947, in Toontown, an imaginary place located near a real one: Los Angeles. But the movie was actually filmed at Elstree Studios in London. There is a famous image from the movie, with private detective Eddie Valiant, played by Bob Hoskins, and Roger Rabbit, the toon framed for murder, standing by the car, while Roger's wife, Jessica, looks at both of them from inside the Ford.

Prior to its screen debut, like any Hollywood star, it needed to be prepared. So it went through a bare-metal respray in the mid-1980s. It got repainted again, about a decade ago, and that work still holds on today. The seller says it was expensive. The original pressed steel wheels still display the V8 chrome caps and are shod in classic white-wall tires.

The car still retains the original chrome bumpers and the De Luxe chrome stripe down the coachwork. The only rain it ever experienced was when being caught out attending a show. Other than that, it lived a life of TLC in a garage.

Everything about the model gravitated around comfort and luxury. And everything is in brown and beige, but the headline suffered some discoloration. There are bench seats in plush in the rear, showing little signs of wear. Meanwhile, wood trim in rich, dark color shows up everywhere on the dashboard.

The dials have aged beautifully, but the steering wheel sports a crack at the end of one of the three spokes. The owner has never fixed it. Every imperfection is actually part of the history of this Ford that is showing its age and telling the story behind every wrinkle. Or crack. The four-door model even sports B-pillar mounted lights, something you did not see much in the late 1930s.

The over-eight-decades-old Ford still runs and drives exceptionally well. It is powered by a flathead V8 that delivered 85 horsepower when new. To bring engine temperatures down and make it drivable in summertime as well, the owner decided to change the inlet manifold and radiator.

The model has been in the possession of the current owner for the past 27 years, a regular show-goer. This is how the presence of club badges and window stickers can be explained. He purchased it in April 1995 and has been pampering it since. Now the time has come for the 1939 automobile to find another owner. To all those who grew up watching Roger Rabbit, Jessica, and Bob Hoskins, this one is for you!

The auction will start on August 19 and will last five days. The Ford goes with a comprehensive file of paperwork, bills, and MOTs. There is also an original Ford De Luxe instruction booklet, plus documentation to prove the car's experience on the screen. Car & Classic estimates that it could sell somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 pounds. ($25,400 - $38,100).