Today’s gallery of vintage dealers pays a visit to Ford in the late 1940s early 1950s. Most of these images date from 1950 to 1952, capturing Ford dealers, their lots, and plenty of shiny new Fords at the height of the “shoebox” era. The 1949 generation was a big deal, ushering in Ford’s first truly postwar design and setting the tone for the early 1950s. There are also some 1951 Ford trucks in the mix, adding some variety to today’s display.
Our first image is at Wilson Motor Co., in Columbia, SC.
1950 Fords on display.
Swearingen-Armstrong Ford, Austin, TX.
Ford “shoeboxes” in the showroom.
1951 trucks at Beaudry Motor Company in Atlanta, GA.
Another key exchange at Wilson Motors.
Rivard Bros., Warren, MI.
Fords being serviced, ca. 1956.
Saw a ’49 convertible a few weeks ago, lowered and modded but running and sounding like a Ford!
My Dad had a ’52 Mainline V8 Overdrive Fordor (he sold it several years before I was born). Seems it was as basic as they got, but It’s a long shot to imagine these dealerships with such variety of new, shiny cars. Would it be so easy to get the color you’d like, options, etc ? (of course, there were many less options than 10 or 15 years later, 2 engines, 2 or 3 transmissions depending on year and a few bodies) Excellent gallery, as always!
When I was 1 Dad bought a ’51 ford in a copper color that he kept until ’54. It’s the first car I remember, and one recollection is of standing on the back seat looking out one night coming home from somewhere and being fascinated by the instrument panel lights and the reflectors in various colors along the side of the road. It was traded for a ’54 Chevy, then a ’56 Chevy, neither which he liked, so it was Ford wagons from then on.
Everybody’s trousers were enormous back then.
He he he!
It would be damn nice to be able to walk into a dealership today and buy a “shoebox” that’s simple to operate and maintain.
Wonderful pictures here .
The ’49s were full of problems but still looked the business and had that rip roaring V-8 that Chevy didn’t .
-Nate
“50 ways new” meant that they fixed the quality glitches of the ’49’s?
My parents had a couple of Ford sedans (one was red and white, called candycane) before we came along then it was wagons. The 65 Country Squire was my graduation present, had a 390 in it and it ran! Took it across the country in 70 and it ran like a top. My dad had 2 more wagons before he quit driving. Always a Ford family
Rivard Ford on Van Dyke Avenue about two blocks north of 8 Mile Road (yes, Eminem’s 8 Mile) in what was, at that time, Van Dyke Township. This area became part of Warren, Michigan in 1957. The GM Tech Center is exactly four miles north of the site of this former dealer. The dealership is long gone. But I remember seeing the Ford Mustang on that side lot in spring/summer 1964. I grew up a couple of miles from this location.
Interesting to see that last photo of a ’56 on a twin post hoist. At our Ford service department, the most senior mechanics got the twin post hoists. Junior & apprentice mechanics like myself got a single post hoist like the one in the same photo with a station wagon on it just behind the ’56. It might seem counterintuitive, but the twin post hoists improved under car access. It was also faster to position the lift points – a more important issue than you’d suspect for mechanics trying to make or beat flat rate job time. Today many service departments seem to prefer electric hoists over these hydraulic ones. Since it has been many decades since I turned a wrench for pay, I’m not sure if the adoption of electric hoists is because of cost, environmental issues or whether they offer some other advantages of which I’m unaware. Anyway, these old service department photo always remind me of my time in a Ford garage.