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.