Aumann Auctions is offering one of the most desirable commercial Fords of the prewar era: a 1933 Ford V8 Roadster Pickup from the Don Henley Automobile Collection & Vintage Motorcycles sale. Finished in factory-correct Golden Orange and restored to concours standards, this open-cab Flathead V8 truck is one of only 306 Roadster Pickups built for the 1933 model year, and it arrives with a long list of national awards to back up its credentials.
Under the hood, this Roadster Pickup carries Ford’s legendary 221-cubic-inch Flathead V8, rated at 75 horsepower and paired with a three-speed manual transmission. The 1933 model year refined the revolutionary V8 that Ford introduced the year before, and the engine went on to become one of the most celebrated powerplants in American automotive history, beloved by farmers, tradesmen and hot rodders alike. Better still, the listing invites bidders to see it run and drive.
The story behind this pickup reads like a collector’s daydream. The current owner went to a local collector’s garage to look at a Harley Hummer motorcycle and spotted an unusual truck tucked into a corner. Assuming it was a Model A, he was stunned to learn it was a 1933 Ford V8 Roadster Pickup, a truck he immediately recognized as extraordinarily rare. A California truck for most of its life, it had passed from father to son before careful persuasion finally pried it loose, and it was purchased that very evening.
What followed was a meticulous, body-off restoration completed through a father-and-daughter partnership between Don Henley and Megan Henley Brown. According to the listing, the work preserved numerous original characteristics of the truck, including an exceptionally well-preserved metal bed floor and clearly identifiable frame serial numbers in multiple factory locations that confirm its authenticity. The result earned the Antique Automobile Club of America’s First Junior and First Senior awards in 2008, a First Grand National in 2009 and a Senior Grand National in 2013, along with multiple AACA Preservation Awards and the George M. Holley Excellence Award for the Central Division.
Perhaps the most telling honor is the Dearborn Award from the Early Ford V-8 Club of America, among the organization’s highest recognitions for accurately restored Early Ford V-8 automobiles. For a buyer, that kind of validation matters, and this Roadster Pickup has it in abundance. It is also a handsome piece of history: Ford’s redesigned 1933 trucks wore smoother, more streamlined lines while keeping the rugged durability commercial buyers expected, and Roadster Pickups like this one worked orchards, farms and light commercial routes across the western United States.
The bidding is already active. At the time of writing, the 1933 Ford V8 Roadster Pickup (Lot 3, VIN 18288886, with a clean Illinois title) stands at a current bid of $26,500 after 132 bids, and the auction closes November 9, 2026. Whether it ends up in a concours field, a museum display or a premier private collection, this rare, award-winning truck is the kind of prewar Ford that seldom comes to market.
Place a bid on the roadster pickup and see the rest of the lineup in the full sale: Don Henley Automobile Collection & Vintage Motorcycles
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