And lo, it came to pass that there was despair and ruination in the fair city of Dearborn, for the chariots of Ford were stuck in a rut. In the year of our Henry 1948, hope was fading away, but in the spring eternal, a new model descended from the production line and the people looked upon it and said: “How much?” The rivers of rouge ink ceased to blight Ford’s bank statements, and the son of Edsel found salvation.
All kidding aside, the 1949-50 Fords were perhaps the most important in the marque’s post-model A history. Both in terms of its technical innovations and its styling, the Ford was a master stroke.
It’s obvious, but it bears being stated explicitly: we’re talking about the North American-made Fords. In 1950, the term “four-door Ford” could be applied to very different vehicles, including the French-built Vedette (top right), the West-German Taunus (bottom left) or the British branch’s ageing Pilot (bottom right). Ford would keep this up for the rest of the century, with regional Blue Oval-branded products being created here and there, like Argentinian Falcons or Australian LTDs.
The story of the postwar Ford is complex, as befits a company that was in quite a bit of turmoil at the time. When Henry Ford II took over from his grandfather in 1945, the place was bleeding money. Car production was restarting with slightly facelifted 1941-42 models, but the designers were very busy behind the scenes. One plan was to produce a new “Light Ford” alongside a new full-size Ford. In the end, the Gregorie-designed Light Ford became the French Vedette and the big Ford became the 1949 Mercury.
The designers went back to the drawing board, albeit with much tighter deadlines, to come up with a suitable middle way. Two proposals emerged and the one above, made by a team led by George Walker, was chosen.
It’s hard to overstate how thoroughly modern the new Ford was – not just compared to the 1947-48 cars it replaced (above), but even to arch-rivals Chevrolet, Plymouth, and even Studebaker.
Fully integrated fenders, front and back, a lower beltline, a much lower hood, running boards now completely gone and a splendid spinner grille – the Ford designers had worked miracles. But the cherry on top, without question, was the rear end.
Quite a few American cars still sported the fastback look – most notably GM products. Now, I’m quite partial to this look personally, but there is no denying that it was more of a 1940 styling gimmick than anything else. And Ford almost proposed a fastback variant for this 1949-50 design, too – they held back, guessing correctly that the three-box was good enough on its own. The killer detail here has to be those rear lights: it made Ford, along with Cadillac, instantly recognizable from this angle, which was certainly not something that could be said of the previous generation, nor of most contemporaries.
Ford carried over the 1941-48 generation’s engine options, namely the 95hp 226ci (3.7 litre) straight-6 and the 100hp 239ci (3.9 litre) V8 – both flatheads, of course. The V8 was a Ford trademark and the only one in this price bracket, a real asset for the time. Additionally, the frame was all new and now featured a coil-sprung independent front suspension, something that old Henry had resisted even more tenaciously than the 6-cyl. engine option and hydraulic brakes. Ford were the last major carmaker outside of Japan and the USSR to switch to IFS – not something to be bragged about, but at least now the Ford chassis had caught up with the rest of the automotive world.
Fine interior too, but then I have yet to see a dash from this era that I didn’t like. If anything, the contemporary Plymouth we saw earlier this week was even better on the inside, but that might be the only point that the Ford would concede to its Chrysler Corp. rival.
The ’49/’50 Ford was six inches lower than its predecessor, yet interior space was marginally improved, thanks to the new chassis. Trunk space, which was notoriously lacking in the 1941-48 Fords, was now bordering on generous. Nice little touches like the ashtrays, armrests and door straps were exclusive to the Custom Deluxe – plain Deluxe Fords were a lot more basic inside.
It’s no wonder that the 1949-50 Fords sold as well as they did. The 1946-48 Fords managed 1.3 million units, whereas the 1949-50 tallied just over 2.3 million. Granted, Chevrolet did a little better (2.5 million), but Ford were back in the game, and they stayed in it. Pretty impressive for a company that was on the verge of nationalization about five years before.
The 1949-50 Ford was the Rouge’s saviour, sent from above haloed with a blue oval. Not quite a Lazarus situation, but it was a close call.
Related posts:
Curbside Classic: 1950 Hot Rod Ford – A True Love Story, by PN
Curbside Classic: 1950 Ford Custom Deluxe Convertible – The Car That Saved Ford the Second Time, by Mike Butts
CC Capsule: 1950 Ford Custom Deluxe Tudor – It’s A Custom Custom, by Ed Stembridge
I had a similar 4 door. It had the six. With 9.5:1 compression it had a growl and in tests beat the V8 to 60.
Downside:
The starter would hang up. Locking the engine.
My local Old Car Guy advised “put it in 3rd and push it backwards. Their tractors did it too.”
CLICK. It worked.
Why was it always raining when that happened?
I traded it for a 64 Skylark convertible.
Sam :
Its because Ford stuck with the inertia typ starter ,
-Nate
These do look strikingly modern, not at all what comes to mind when I think “1940s car”. The next generation in ’52 in some ways regressed, with some suggestion of separate pontoon-style rear fenders again.
Interesting that Ford gave priority to a new postwar truck line over redesigned cars, with the first F-series truck arriving a year earlier in 1948.
The impact the 1949 Ford had on the continued existence of the Ford Motor Co. cannot be underestimated. At the outset of WW II the company was so poorly run and mismanaged that FDR considered nationalizing the company, as its production was needed for the war effort. It didn’t help that old man Henry was an admirer of Hitler, who kept a picture of Henry on his desk. There were few internal controls at the company and an antiquated accounting system. Old man Henry hated accountants and essentially operated this billion dollar company as if it were a small town general store. In 1945 a now senile Henry Ford was finally forced to relinquish power to grandson HF II, only when wife Clara threatened to sell her shares of Ford stock outside the family.
28 year old HF II proved to be a quick study. He cleaned house, firing Harry Bennet and other old Ford sycophants. He then hiried the whiz kids and Ernie Breech to resurrect the company. The ‘49 Ford was the first product of this new regime and it had to be a winner. It was, selling over 1.1million. HF II may have grown irritable and imperious in his later years, but his first decade at the helm Ford was nothing short of remarkable.
With you on this T87, and so were Ford. That rear end appeared d n the UK on the first Zephyr and Anglia/Prefect, through to the end of the 1950s
Lovely car, still looks good today.
Does anyone else look at the rear end of this car and think ‘Volvo P1800’? 🙂
Growing up in sixties Australia, Fords of this vintage were extremely rare. ’49-51 Plymouths Plodges and Plysotos were a reasonably common sight, but not these Fords. All worn out or rusted out by then, I guess.
Seen a few Spinner utes stashed in sheds about the place, never saw any on the road in OZ though.
The “mirror finish” is so impressive. The interior looks surprisingly, luxurious.
The 49 Ford was a huge leap for the company. Anyone who crawled under a 48 version would have been looking at a chassis with front and rear transverse leaf springs, a design that could be traced directly back to the Model T of 1908.
It should be noted that the 49 Ford, while a huge seller, gave Ford a terrible black eye on quality. The 1952 model was a vast improvement.
I’ve come across a few of these “Shoebox Fords” over the years and each time appreciated their simple good looks.
Earlier this year I appraised a restored 1950 Custom sedan and wanted to take it home with me. This one is staying with the family as it used to be “Grandpa’s car.” Very low mileage as I recall.
My wife’s parents had one of these back in the day (long before I met her). I believe it was also a ’50 and was the same color as the one in GarryM’s post above. My wife (the smallest child) is shown with her mother, brother, and older sister.
I never quite liked these Shoebox Fords, Id rather have a Pilot .
That being said theyve never gone out of popularity .
-Nate