1949 Ford
When I was very small, we had a 1949 Ford just like the one in the illustration at right.
It was big and red and Dad drove it to work at the courthouse every morning. (Actually, it wasn't all that big, but when you're two or three, the world is built to a larger scale.) I knew from watching TV commercials that it wasn't a new car, because new cars were lower and wider and more square. I also knew that the letters on the front meant it was made by Ford. Since it was old, and red, and a Ford, that's what I called it: "the Oldredford," all the syllables run together into a single word.
I hadn't thought about the Oldredford in years, until I saw one very much like it at a charity car show on Labor Day weekend. As soon as I realized what it was, a flood of memories came over me. I remembered riding in the Oldredford. I remembered that when you put the key in, you had to push a starter button to crank the engine. Most of all, I remembered my great affection for it. The Oldredford was a happy car that produced happy memories.
Until I sat down to research this article, I had no idea what a milestone automobile the 1949 Ford actually was--Ford's first true postwar design was a critical event in its corporate history. In fact, no less an authority than the Henry Ford Museum calls it "the Car that Saved Ford."
When civilian automobile production resumed after World War II, Ford dusted off the tooling and blueprints of its 1941-42 sedan, made a couple of minor trim changes, and rushed it back into production as its 1946 model. This design would hang on through the 1948 model year with very little further development.
The "reissued" prewar Ford (and similar prewar-styled GM and Chrysler products) looked out of date in comparison with new postwar models from Studebaker ("First by far with a post war car!") and upstart Kaiser-Frazer. The Ford was further disadvantaged by its outdated engineering. While the Ford's engines were relatively modern, the beam axle front suspension and torque-tube drivetrain dated back at least to the the Model A. The competing Chevys and Plymouths didn't look any more "post-war" than the '46 Ford, but they at least had an independent front suspension! Ford was losing market share rapidly.
The 1949 Ford began with a clean sheet of paper. It had a new, stiffer ladder-frame chassis, an up-to-date independent front suspension with coil springs, new steering gear, and a "Hotchkiss drive" rear axle carried on longitudinal leaf springs. The available engines were a straight six producing 90 horsepower or a flathead V-8 rated at 100 horsepower, in both cases mated to a "three-on-the-tree" manual gearbox.
(By the way, that Ford V-8 has a pretty interesting story in its own right. The flathead V-8 design was introduced in 1932 and remained in production through 1954. Though not very powerful by modern standards, the Ford flathead was durable, conservatively engineered, and easily modified. Its adaptability, ruggedness, and distinctive exhaust sound made it an early favorite of hot rod builders. It also became a favorite of the French army, which adopted a large-bore version as its standard truck engine. The French appear to have been satisfied with the choice, as they only stopped using the flathead in the mid-1990s! French military surplus flathead V-8s are now being marketed in the U.S. as crate engines for hot rod projects. Vive la hotrod!)
The basic shape, with the slab sides, high roofline, and split windshield typical of postwar Detroit iron was established early on. Nevertheless, the styling went through a rather complex and tumultuous evolution which is detailed in this article. As the design was getting close to final, the stylists added the round chrome "spinner" which became the car's trademark visual cue.
The '49 Ford was produced in two- and four-door models, in Standard and Custom trim levels. By any measure, it was a raging success. More than 1.1 million were sold in the 1949 model year alone, pulling Ford out of its postwar slump and producing a profit of $177 million on this model line. It remained in production through 1951.
Seeing that old red '49 Ford at the car show made me wonder what became of the Oldredford. It was Dad's daily driver until 1964 or '65, when we got the Belvedere wagon. (I think that's how it went. There was a white '61 Ford Falcon and a blue Oldsmobile in there somewhere as well, but I don't remember the exact sequence of acquisitions and disposals.) My father sold the Oldredford to a friend of his, and the last I heard, sometime in the early 1970s, it was still in service as a daily driver. We lost track of it after that.
I would not be surprised to learn that the Oldredford is still someone's daily driver. It was always an honest working-man's kind of car. It wouldn't seem quite right to make it a car show "trailer queen," a hot rod, or a museum piece. I'd like to think that it's parked in someone's driveway awaiting tomorrow morning's call to duty, still the same shade of red, still the happy car it always was.
The vintage print ad at the top came from the Henry Ford Museum's web page on the '49 Ford. I took the middle two pictures this past Labor Day weekend in Medina, Ohio. The photo below dates from 1962-63; the one in the hat is my father, and the dog's name was Corky.
--Cookie the Dog's Owner
David Colborne on September 22, 2008 at 10:55 PM
On the one hand, it's great that Ford was able to make a memorable car. On the other hand, it's a pity that Studebaker and Kaiser couldn't take better advantage of their brief lead in the post-War automotive world.
This article definitely does help highlight the connection between nostalgia and cars, though. I have many a fond memory of my dad's old turbo Plymouth Champ. I don't remember if it was particularly fast, but I definitely remember it being particularly maroon.
Rob the SVX guy on September 23, 2008 at 08:15 AM
Your dad would make an excellent ninja.
Jim in KC on September 24, 2008 at 04:25 AM
Gordon Baxter wrote a story for Car and Driver titled "The Little Red Hen", about (I think) a 1951 Ford - same car, as noted above. It may be the finest car story EVER. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I'll be searching the microfilm down at the library today for this article - early 1970s or so.
Nikollas Ramos on January 14, 2009 at 06:24 AM
Great article. Such an important car and it is so hard to find good information about it. Why?
I was searching for the history of the 49 Fords and realize that there's very few info about them. I mean, out of the obvious. In this way your article is great. I will write a post about the 49 Fords to my blog and will use some references from your article, with all the credits, if you don't mind. Thanks in advance. And my blog is this one: http://carrosantigos.wordpress.com/
Bob Leftwich on March 11, 2009 at 12:19 PM
Although the 1949 ford may have saved the company after WWII it also cost a fortune in recalls because the front suspension was so bad it could not be adjusted. Ford actually lost money on every 49 ford sold!
frank fenwick 21340 20650 on July 05, 2009 at 03:14 PM
dear cookie's owner, the auto in the photo appears to be a 1950. doesnot make much diff. i guess.i love these old fords.there are still many out there, you should get one.in any event i enjoied your article very much.have a great day. sinc.frank
rmark on September 16, 2009 at 01:56 PM
I remember my dad had a tan Ford of similar vintage in the early 60's - the floor was rusting out and you could watch the road go by your feet.
Mike on October 02, 2009 at 01:21 PM
Dad had a gray '49 Custom two door sedan when he and Mom got married in Jan. 1950. I remember the sound of that v-8 when it started in the garage. I also can hear that old starter grinding away when he was too cheap to buy a new battery. He traded it for a 1957 Del Rio wagon with a T-bird engine, since by now there were three kids. The old 49 was bought by a local teenager who took out the grille and removed, apparently, most of the exhaust. Last I remember it was sitting alone by a barn outside of town sometime in the mid-60s, after the old Del Rio had become the fishing car and Mom had a new 65 Galaxie.
Mike Forbragd on November 15, 2009 at 10:11 PM
I have a car just like the one you wrote about. It is a 1949 2-door sedan. I bought it 23 years ago on the day before my son was born. It was painted Ford blue then, but upon further inspection of the firewall there was red behind the undercoating, so I had a local restorer check on the original paint and he came up with the original formula and I had him take the whole body down to bare metal and repaint it with the original color. "Midland Maroon Metalic". I also recently had the interior completely redone and it looks great! The only difference with this car is that is has the original 6 cylinder flathead engine. Also it was built in Kansas City, KS You can write to me if you wish if you have any questions. keymaker@prodigy.net
michael dickinson on March 10, 2010 at 05:24 PM
My '49 ford Custom was bought in summer of '57. I was a high school junior at the time. It was a 2-door sedan (not the coupe). I paid 125 bucks for it, and I think it had about 65-70000 miles on it then. I bought it from a friend of my Dad's.
It was blue (not navy blue but slightly lighter--the dealer where I bought touch-up paint called it "Rocky mountain sunset mist" I believe. The only thing unique about it was that it had a large fog light in the place of the grille "spinner" or "bullet. Must have been a dealer-installed option. It also had the flat head six, which was in pretty bad shape, and which I subsequently tore down and rebuilt, with a lot of help from more experienced neighborhood back yard mechanics. I am nearly 70 now, still fixing my own cars, thanks in no small part to my "49
Ford nicknamed "sputnik"--it made a motor head out of me, for life!
m.dickinson on May 08, 2010 at 10:12 AM
Ah...memories. In 1957-59 I had a '49 Ford sedan, with "three on the tree" and flathead six (Dad wouldn't allow me to have a V8).
One day I was challenged by another '49 Ford like mine except that he had the name "lonesome six" painted on his front fender. I figured that would be a fair race so I gave him the high sign. When
the light changed we both blasted off. he was already a block away as I got to the far side of the intersection. He pulled over and let me catch up. I demanded to see the "lonesome six". He flipped his hood and showed me his monster Cadillac engine. The "lonesome six" referred to the six carbs on top of the monster!! Glad we weren't dragging for title cards!!