In spite of its heroics producing B-24 bombers, Jeeps, tanks, trucks and lots of other hardware, Ford Motor Company was in tough shape during and after World War II, losing money at a rate of $9 million a month, $1.5 billion a year in today’s value. After the war FoMoCo was in third place behind GM and Chrysler. Something had to be done to save the company. Just as the hit 1928 Model A saved Ford from hanging onto the Model T too long, the all-new 1949-1951 Fords saved the day for a revitalized Ford. This 1950 convertible is a sweet example.
After his son Edsel died in 1943, Henry resumed formal control of the company he’d been running his way all along. At age 78, suffering from heart and mental problems, he was in no shape to run a major industrial corporation, and heavy losses proved it. But Henry wouldn’t let go. In a dramatic showdown, Henry’s wife and daughter-in-law threatened to sell their shares, half the company, if Henry didn’t step down. Finally he let go and in September, 1945, his grandson and Edsel’s son, Henry Ford II, took over as president.
In 1946 Ernest Breech from Bendix Aviation and before that GM was put in charge of operations, and Charles “Tex” Thornton, Robert McNamara and the rest of the “Whiz Kids” team from the Air Force were put in charge of planning. They took on the task of developing an all-new Ford. In the meantime production Fords, like this ’48, were just a continuation of the 1941 car, with some features like a solid front axle that dated back to the Model T. Sales in 1948 were way behind Chevy, and Ford nearly ended up in third after Plymouth.
The 1949 Ford was a radical break from the past. Its sleek “shoebox” style, without protruding fenders and hood, was completely modern, a full generation ahead of the new ’49 Chevy and Plymouth. The front grille’s nozzle evoked a jet fighter. The new Ford was mechanically modern too, with a ladder frame (X-type in the convertible), independent coil spring front suspension, and Hotchkiss drive directly to the rear leaf springs instead of the old torque tube. It weighed 250 pounds less than the ’48 and was three inches lower, on the same wheelbase and length. Those parking lights were new for 1950.
That “8” in the center of the grille indicates the 239 cubic inch Flathead V8 is under the hood. In ’49 the flathead got slightly higher 6.8:1 compression, and revised cooling and ignition systems. It was rated at 100 horsepower and 180 lb.-ft. torque.
I especially love this Custom convertible’s clean lines, long chrome streak and factory fender skirts. Just the right size and just the right shape, this had to have been the coolest ride of 1950.
The Ford’s interior is spacious and simple, with wide bench seats and a stylish steering wheel badge and chrome trimmed speedometer.
1950 saw the debut of Ford’s red, white and blue heraldic crest that was used through the fifties. According to the company it was “derived by Ford stylists from an authentic coat of arms which dates back to 18th century England.”
Tom McCahill raved about these Fords in this Mechanix Illustrated road test. “Today Ford is really out front, and by miles!” “Ford is again the King of the low-priced field.”
The new Fords certainly did their job and put Ford back into solid success. Ford sold 1.1 million cars in 1949, two-and-a-half times more cars than 1948, and pulling ahead of Chevy for the #1 spot. This 1950 Ford sold even more, 1.2 million, and over its three year run a total of 3.3 million shoebox Fords were sold. I’ve always particularly loved them. As Tom said, “It’s class, brother!”
I’ve been reading old Life Magazines via Google Books & I noticed plenty of ads for the ’49 Ford in the issues from this time 70 yrs. ago
Hooray, CC is back on the air!
Yes, great to see it’s back after the weekend!
I was starting to get very jittery after 2 days with no CC!
Paul, glad to see the site up again, I was worried for a bit!
Great article and photos. Thanks for the reproduction of “Uncle Tom’s MI article. Always enjoyed his auto reviews and his colorful way with words.
Yes, the 1949 Ford was a modern vehicle in every way except its flathead V-8 engine which was a 1932 prewar design. But still the engine had plenty of life left in it.
One correction: It wasn’t Robert McNamara and his “Whiz Kids”, it was Charles B. “Tex” Thornton who headed the group that included Robert McNamara.
Corrected, thanks!
For 1949 the flathead V-8 was given a thorough revamp by Harold Youngren, the former chief Oldsmobile engineer hired to head Ford’s expanded Engineering Department. The result was a much-improved engine.
Really great curbside example of a highly significant car. Got to love summer, when the classics come out to play and occasionally park where everyone can see them! Nice write-up.
The 49-51 Ford is obviously a landmark auto, both for saving Ford and being a design leader. I’ve mentioned before in my Scottsdale auction series that I am not fan. I’ve always felt like Ford was a little too out front in the design. They skipped an evolutionary step with the complete slabside look. Every other U.S. car on the market, including other new postwar designs and Mercury/Lincoln had at least some “prow” to the hood, with a little bit of dropdown to the front fenders, as an acknowledgment to the traditional separate-fender look. I also dont care for the grille “bullet” on the 49-50. Basically, I find the 49 Ford body a little too clean, without any connection to past design.
But that’s just me. Fortunately millions of customers disagreed and bought enough to bring Ford back to health and ready to make many great cars in the future.
I think the convertible and Tudor sedan wear it best; the coupe’s proportions are kind of…challenging, a harbinger of the industrywide abandonment of the long-deck business coupe after this generation, the rear door openings and roof molding of the Fordor are a bit awkward, and the wagon is just inexplicable with its’ nonstructural but real and high-maintenance wood and two door/three row layout.
But all that being said, it pulled off pure slab sides better than any other early-postwar car.
I hadn’t ever taken in that the ’49 was substantially lighter than its predecessor. I rather assumed the opposite. Which explains why its performance was still so goo despite the venerable flathead V8. Which of course would have been super easy to hop up. This was clearly the performance car of the time.
I like the simplicity of these–kind of a smooth transition to the ’52-’53-’54 I like so much.
I know the auto companies use the phrase “all new” pretty loosely, but bringing the ’49 to market involved zillions of new parts and assemblies. Henry Ford Museum has a sampling of line drawings online–including things as mundane as steering wheels: https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/435974#slide=gs-395250
Nice article, great pictures of the subject car.
Incidentally, the showdown was a literal High Noon showdown with guns drawn. Henry II hired former FBI man John Bugas to get rid of Henry I’s thug Harry Bennett. When Bugas ordered Bennett to vacate the premises, Bennett pulled a gun, but Bugas was ready with his own gun and Bennett stood down.
I didn’t know that but am not the least bit surprised. Harry Bennett was a thug.
The 49 US Ford echoes the styling of the UK Consul and Zephyr models slab sided clean designs and new independant front suspension both sides of the pond for Fords,
This car had to have been shockingly modern in 1949. The 47 Kaiser had done slab sides, but not very successfully. The 47 Studebaker had a blunt front end that was undoubtedly influential but the downsloped rear with separate fenders were not followed. It was like Ford took the best features of both designs and improved on them. This convertible is the best looking of all of them.
Ford seems to have a long history of getting behind the 8 ball and then bursting forth with a successful and influential design. Model A, the 49, the 65, the Mustang and the Taurus.
After all our discussion of Ford’s recent choice to quit making cars, I wonder what the next car to save Ford will be.
I wondered if Ford also borrowed a bit from Hudson’s 1948 “step-down” design?
I’ve read that the 1949 Ford had its share of problems – patchy fit and finish, poor door latches, and loose suspensions. Ford hinted at the 1950 corrections in its advertising.
Yes, it was the 57 Plymouth of the late 40s. Rattles, squeaks and lots of dust/water leaks. The difference was that Ford got to work and made a really good car by 1952. Chrysler, on the other hand, never completely recovered.
When I had my Model A I was in a club that did monthly outings. On one rainy Saturday many guys brought another car (one without a fabric roof and lots of wood in the body). One guy had a fairly freshly restored 49 Ford that was really nice. He was showing off the car and was upset about the little stream of water dripping down the inside of the windshield. There is sometimes no hiding rushed design no matter how carefully it is put together.
The 1950 models were also improved in many ways. From what I’ve read, Ford began working on – and implementing – improvements soon after the first of the 1949 models rolled off the line. The 1950 and 1951 models were a big improvement over the early 1949s.
Ford also benefited from the fact that people were desperate for a brand-new car in 1948 and 1949. It was still a seller’s market. Chrysler didn’t have that luck in 1957. People upset with their leaking, rattling 1957 Mopar had plenty of other choices.
Plus, the 1957 models obliterated one of Chrysler’s key strengths – quality construction and good workmanship. Chrysler products may have been dull, but they were well-built. Fords had been bought for the V-8 and styling prior to 1949.
Mopar loyalists were turned off by the bad quality. Customers lured from GM by the styling simply went back to GM when it brought out the 1959 models, which matched the Chryslers for style while offering far better build quality and rust resistance.
I’d read the same thing too about the ’49 Fords.
Whereas in contrast, Nicholas Dreystadt, who came from Mercedes first and then Cadillac, was running Chevrolet Motor Division.
Period road tests, including by Mr. McCahill, noted how well the ’49-’50 Chevies were screwed together.
If I were a Ford guy though, the ’49-’51 would be at the top of my list. Timeless beauty and a milestone for a company with serious problems prior to 1949.
She is gone now, but Grandma Bertha once told us her favorite car was her 1950 Ford sedan:
“My that little car sure did have a lot of pep!”
I was born in March, 1948. My Dad, who was an insurance salesman, had a used Hudson that he was able to buy during the postwar car shortage. He badly needed a new car. To give you an idea of the seller’s market of the time, he was given a lead on a slightly used ’49 Ford Deluxe Tudor sedan, and had to pay $2,800 for a car that had sold new, months before, for $1,800. I have vague memories of the car, as I was age 3 (and already a car nut) when he traded it in 1951 on a new Pontiac. Years later, we had a ’49 Woody for about a year. I still have a soft spot for ’49-’51 Fords, with all their faults. Above all else, these cars had a distinct identity, and although they looked like no Fords that had come before, there was no doubt what they were when you saw them driving down the road. Fred Infantino
JP Cavanaugh stole my thunder, with his thought about the ’49 Ford and ’57 Chrysler changing the industry and added to it with the ‘64.5 Mustang. I’d add the ’60 Corvair, ’63 Riviera, ’66 Toronado and Chrysler’s first minivan to that list.
Of all those, I thought the ’49 Ford was the most dramatic industry-altering styling change since streamlining. It was the automotive industry’s definitive statement that The War was over.
I seem to remember Ford had a concept model based on the ’49 back in the early ’00s, when retro styling was all the rage. I wish that one would have gone into production.
Yes, glad you reminded me. Ford brought a concept car, The Ford Forty-Nine, to the 2001 North American Int’l Auto Show. I’ve always liked it, but I think I like the original a little better.
My mother has long told the story of “Screwloose”, her folks’ 1950 Ford sedan—so named because the turn signal lever started coming off, and when her father retightened it the whole car seemed to perk up and go better. She, with her new licence, was driving that car when another driver barged into it…in full broad-daylight view of a traffic policeman. The other driver jumped out of his car in a rage, bellowing about “goddamn teenage drivers”. His temper didn’t improve when he was given a ticket and a scolding for not looking where he was going, and neither did his logic, nor his chances in traffic court: “I’ve got a wife and two kids at home to think about, and you expect me to look where I’m going?!”.
This was a nice, short story about the ’49 Ford (and the improvements in subsequent years).
I would only add a bit to make it more comprehensive. The stylist of this car was George Walker and he was, at the time, from outside Ford. The chief Ford stylist was Bob Gregorie. His design for the ’49 Ford was what became the ’49 Mercury (and in about 7/8 scale the French Ford Vedette). This explains the radical difference between Ford & Mercury body styling for the years of this body style.
Neither the Ford or Mercury of this era has ever made a big impression on me but I’ve always been a Ford fan and do admire how this car was crucial to the longevity of the Ford Motor Company.
Yes, in fact George Walker first offered the design to Nash and George Mason loved it. They both left the meeting believing this would be the 1949 Nash. But someone at Nash dropped the ball and never got in touch with Walker. Not hearing from them he took it to Ford and the rest is history. When he found out Mason was furious and started his own in-house studio. More details at the Shoebox Ford blog. Ed Stembridge covered this ground in his CC of a customized ’50 Ford so I left it aside in my story.
Imagine this rear-fender-skirted ’50 Ford convertible with skirted front fenders. Its chrome streak lines up perfectly with the front parking light trim. That’s the Nash that might have been. Here’s what they did build for comparison.
The 1949 Ford was ultra-modern at the time. The 1949 Nash looked like it fell out of a flying saucer.
Lots of different ’50 Ford ads on eBay–the variety surprised me.
So did this two-page spread of all the Ford-to-dealer publications, ads, promotional films/records, and so on for 1950:
First page:
Second page:
Nice commercial for the ’50 convertible on YouTube. “There’s a Ford in your future!”
Very trim and tidy styling.
The first car I have a memory of was my dads 1950 Ford Tudor V8, OD and R&H. It was dark blue and is the only car I have a picture of just the car that I took it with my old 620 box camera. It was sold in 1959(I was 8) and replaced with a ’59 Chevrolet SW which I didn’t like then and still don’t like.
I’m so glad this site is here and available even to the novice! I learned a few weeks ago that my husband fell in love with the 1950 Ford Custom Convertible in the 1960s while attending the University of South Carolina in Columbia. A few weeks ago he found his dream car in Indianapolis, Indians. We drove 676 miles to take a look at the beauty and it is now in our garage. I have never seen a man so taken with a car. It thrills me to see him so happy. I’m so glad this site is here so I can read about the beauty of the car and its many features …as well as reading the history of the Ford Company!
My first car was a 1951 Ford Deluxe, the entry-level model. It had a flathead 6, one sun visor, no armrests, but it did have a heater and a radio. I was the second owner, bought from a nice older lady.
From Harley Earl’s reign on through the ’70s, I would say that, generally, GM held a styling edge. But the ’49-’51 Ford styling was superior to the Chevy/Pontiac design language of the same era, at least in my opinion. I liked it so much, that I would sit in my parent’s front yard and just stare at it; it was so clean and efficient.