Legend has it that in the early 1930s, Edsel Ford was in Europe and saw some of the roadster designs being built by auto designers there and wanted one for himself. Being a Ford, of course, he couldn't just buy one. He had to have it made. So he returned home and commissioned Ford's chief designer at the time, E.T. Gregorie, to make him a speedster. In 1934, the one-off Model 40 Special Speedster was born.