[A Must See] '49 Ford Documentary 🚗 Amazing Ford Historical Reel

[@Paramount531]

When I was a kid in the mid to late 60s, there were still plenty of these on the road and I always loved to see them!

[@wallisparnell4464]

Had a 49 4 door. From friend grandfather, odometer been over 3 times, only ever switched carb. Bought $49. Drive 2 years. Had to be careful putting hands out door frames. On a large bump, doors would fly open, get your fingers.

[@tommurphy4307]

@@wallisparnell4464 window sash welded to door shell

[@galiffrey1]

The 1949 Ford was a huge styling advancement of its time. Nothing else looked like it on the road in those days, I appreciate it and I'm a GM guy 4th generation. I would love to have one of these. Nowadays I can't tell tell the difference between a 2021 ford and a 2021 Kia.

[@buckhorncortez]

So, you think a Mustang GT500 looks like a Kia...interesting...I don't see it...

[@galiffrey1]

@@buckhorncortez ok, muscle cars aside. But all of the crossovers and cars......

[@AF_1892]

There is a big difference. I have to drive rental cars for work. I beg for an American car, do not care about stupid gas mileage. Micky Mouse dinky cars are not agressive enough. I will put up with a Nissan or Hundai that I can score 15mpg and it has an audio aux jack! If I can't score less than 15 mpg it is a rolling pile of trash. Edit: I push the vehicles very hard on purpose. Corporate made us sign an agreement "cannot take bluetooth calls while driving". But an 80 yr old expects you to call her drive warp speed. 3pm? Nope I am driving hard af might clip in by 3:20pm. Can't tell you that. But really to be a jerk and cancel after the ipad navigated me here. Hey! anyone over 65! Don't be mean to the traveling Dr your insurance sent. You get health insurance. We don't. We will die or switch fields.

[@AtomicReverend]

@@buckhorncortez the new Mustang is reminiscent of a 1960s Mustang that is why it has style it's because it's essentially copying a winning design from 55ish years ago, the same goes with the Camaro and the Challenger, they are not new ideas they are modern takes on a old idea. Luxury cars historically have been where innovation first gets tried out a new Cadillac CTS is not a bad looking car nor is a BMW 5 series but the reality is they look very similar to a non gearhead minded person as they have very similar features and they are two competing makes. Now the Mustang MACH E as an example pretty much looks like every other suv thing it competes against regardless of the galloping pony in its grill or its electric powerplant, it is pretty innovative in the technology department but the body style is pretty much tried and true by every other manufacturer for the last 15 years Ford has attempted to hide this by using the Mustang moniker as a selling point because the Mustang is probably one of the most fan loyal cars in the history of the automobile with the only exception maybe the pickup trucks from all the popular makes who everyone is generally brand loyal to. . I don't hate new cars but Styling is not as important as it used to be, today it is about safety and fuel mileage and there are many risky somewhat different cars that have came out over the years that did not hit the mark and cost manufacturers hundreds of millions of dollars. A great example would be the Pontiac Aztec from 20 years ago or the Nissan cube both stylistically got it wrong and cost their respective companies millions. Now the next thing that us gearhead people complain about For good or bad could argued to the end of time but a vehicle's body style now will run 5 to 10 years as a general rule where little changes, I think anybody would be hard pressed to tell the difference between a 2000 Cadillac and a 2007 as an example that weren't Cadillac fanboys, where as back in the 1950s it was a 3-year body style cycle with revisions in between each year and whole new cars about every 3 years. A 57 Cadillac certainly looks different than a 1959 and a 59 definitely looks different than a 60. You could argue if you bought a new car in say 1955 you would be mad by 1958 because your car looked very outdated but still had plenty of life left in it but it looked old in comparison this is actually why the manufacturers went away from the yearly changing body styles because they were losing sales to imports and that is factual at least according to a early 1960s motor trend that I literally read a few weeks ago. Today, cars have fallen out of favor for the most part here in north America especially in the larger roomier vehicle category They have been replaced with SUVs and 4 door pickups. I for the most part understand it, they have a bit more room they have a better view of the road not to mention many models have a four-wheel drive version that can go off-road or that is really good in snow country, plus most SUVs are more powerful in the power to weight ratio than cars are of the modern era now obviously there are exceptions to that rule but I'm not talking about Honda Civic SI type R's or Ford Mustang GTs but the average vehicle that most people would buy. Today if you are not in the know you would say that a 2002 Dodge ram pickup truck still looks pretty modern when compared to say a 2018 ram pickup, the same goes with Chevrolet and Ford obviously there are differences but the old trucks body style is holding up very well whereas a 1980s pickup truck looks very dated by the late 1990s. I guess my point is to make a really long story short this new cars are more about function than three generations ago, there is also more increased competition from imports, there is also increased safety regulations and emissions requirements Plus corporate average fuel economy requirements. So by default when you look at all those things together cars are going to become more utilitarian and act more like a toaster oven that is just designed to transport you around and not do anything real special. On the plus side is every vehicle made since 1996 and newer pretty much always start and our trouble-free for at least 100,000 mi more realistically 150,000 MI whereas a car in the 1950s was good for about 5 years or 60,000 miles of trouble-free driving so technology isn't all bad and when you drive up in a 15-year-old vehicle it really doesn't look that old on the road especially here in the American southwest where older cars tend not to rust out and can be on the road for decades.

[@sking2173]

@@AF_1892 - You need long-term health care insurance to help you with your Alzheimer’s.

[@brianlinke1856]

These worker's (at Ford) most likely purchased a home and furnished it, their family lived off that single income. Their jobs were in no danger of being sent 'off shore'. Their incomes (and later benefits) were in part achieved by their union membership. They would later be offered a pension as well....funny, things workers use to have?

[@buckhorncortez]

Yeah...get those rose sunglasses out, and everything looks great. I can remember 1958,59,60 when many of my friends' dads were permanently laid off at GM, Ford, and Chrysler and had to look for new jobs...aahhh the good old days...

[@brianlinke1856]

@@buckhorncortez This was what economist called the "Eisenhower Recession" (am not making this up). It killed the Edsel launch as well Think what America's overall industrial position was at that time (as Churchill said "America bestrides the world as an industrial colossus." ) compared to 2008. However, when you lose your job, the unemployment rate is not 5.2 %; it's 100 %. That was my percentage in 2008.

[@sonoranrain2330]

Spot on observation. It must also be noted that this only occurred as it was an era that preceded wholesale looting and corruption by the UAW. We also had unprecedented economic growth with very little inflation in the USA. Yes, it is incredible to think that a man could buy a home, car and raise a family with Mom at home and still maintain complete job security until retirement. My how the world has changed!

[@brianlinke1856]

@@sonoranrain2330 Hard to believe the U.S. actually slapped mainland China with a trade embargo also in 1949 (after the creation of the PRC). It was illegal to do any business with the PRC for many decades. All this would later be overturned as two Am. corporations would lobby hard to reverse this law...Taylor Made (golf clubs) and Lands End. Both had plants in the ROC (Taiwan), cost of labor had risen there. They were eager to get at the cheap labor in the PRC (on the mainland)...and open plants there as well.

[@timothykeith1367]

Many of the working class nighborhoods have since become ruins

[@johnrideout7124]

I had a '50 Tudor, parked out side of my local hostelry in the uk, when a homesick U.S. airman burst in calling out "Who's is the '50". I raised my hand, and he begged me to let him have a drive in in it. Reluctantly I gave him the keys to my prize possession, not really worried as I knew the Yanks could drive from an early age. But did remind him to keep to the left. He came back 20 minutes later, thrilled to bits. Even more so when I told him that the previous owner was a boxer named Randolph Turpin, that had brought the beautiful Ford back from The U.S. After a big fight.

[@SuspenseESCAPEremastered]

A couple of years after WWII my dad became a Ford dealer. The '49 Ford was a Godsend for his dealership!

[@Rumpleskin]

Had to been a great time to be an American. King of the world manufacturers by Americans for Americans. Not made substandard by people that hate us. Why did we stray from that...o I remember..corporate greed

[@SuspenseESCAPEremastered]

@@Rumpleskin So very true.

[@raylocke282]

@@SuspenseESCAPEremastered j

[@ronaldoscomazzon8345]

I love Ford's 49. Shoebox is my Dreams. I have one 49 thu 51 Ford and 51 and 52 Studebaker Champion. From Garibaldi RS Brazil.

[@larryrowe5259]

Trying to imagine buying a new 1948 Ford, and then these beautiful '49s come out the next year. Carmakers hid there new designs as best as they could. As a kid, 70 now, they were all covered up in transport. No peeking!

[@coiledsteel8344]

Research what the TUCKER Was Like.

[@adoreslaurel]

Did you notice how they put the 49 front independent suspension in the old design just to try it out first.

[@carlhawks2915]

Kind of like buying a 54 and then the new styling of 1955 came out!

[@rodrogers6895]

Happened to my dad’s neighbor in rural Wisconsin.

[@tommurphy4307]

what's really hilarious are some of the disguise tactics these auto guys come up with... and thinking theyre actually fooling people.

[@samphillips8322]

It was a special day when our Dad came home with a 1950 Ford. We took a lot of family trips in that Ford. Those cars required much more service than today's cars, just one of many improvements over the years. Later on that series with the old "Flat Head V8" engine was popular among young men looking for a reliable first car.

[@tommurphy4307]

you mean "a reliable and slow first car"

[@samphillips8322]

@@tommurphy4307 Hi Tom, this was an era when those old flat heads would easily exceed existing speed limits but I appreciate your humor. Some facts you may like: replacement transmission from local junk yards was $20. Valve job on that engine ran around $30 and might include new head gaskets. A recurring problem on those old 6 volt cars was dead batteries and generator and/or starter repair. For about $200 you could pick up a fairly good running/driving old Ford back then.

[@bferguson9277]

Back then all cars required more service. Points every 6k miles, zerk fittings needing greased, kingpin front suspension (pre-ball joint), mechanical fuel pumps and water pumps (typically replaced around 60-80k miles). Add to that oil bath metal mesh air filters and the absence of oil filters (sometimes an option), you had an engine that would be considered "tired" if not smoking at 120k miles.

[@yelyab1]

The Torpedo Body. I was a design analyst starting in 1969. The standards for the critical sections like A pillar, Rocker Panel, Windshield Header all used the 49 Ford as the standard to show basic requirements for the next 20 years. My grandpa had a Tudor that I always hoped I’d inherit. Never did. It would have been a pain to bring brakes and other systems up to what was required in the 60s and 70s. It had the flattie V8, 3 speed stick.

[@oldgysgt]

I remember when my parents traded our 1940 Chrysler in on a new 1949 Ford. It was a gray four door with a flat-head V8. There were 3 of us kids, and as the youngest, I always had to set in the middle.

[@capriracer351]

The '49 Ford was my Dad's first car in 1962. It was quite out of date by then, but it was cheap and all he could afford at the time. Later on he had a Falcon and then a Galaxie, then a Fairlane. All indicative of his increasing financial success as the 60's came to a close.

[@carlhawks2915]

I am assuming the Fairlane was much newer than the Galaxie, because Galaxie replaced Fairlane at the top of the Ford line in 1959, and Fairlane was a mid to low end line thereafter.

[@capriracer351]

@@carlhawks2915 I just know he had a Galaxie first, then a Fairlane. I was not in the picture until the Fairlane. My only memory of it was having to be removed by force at 2 years old from the Fairlane when they traded it for a new Maverick Grabber. I was a smart kid apparently, lol.

[@bobdillaber1195]

I was 9 years old when this came out. People were stunned at it! Dealerships were overflowing with people who just came out to look at it! I still love it!

[@glbaker5595]

Wow with the whole 95 horsepower, I was born in the sixties, but I would have loved to have been able to gauge the feel of people back in the late 40s right after the war, I bet it seemed like anything was possible.

[@bobdillaber1195]

@@glbaker5595 Yes, unless you were a person of color in the late 40's and 50's in the United States, there was an overwhelmingly positive sense of possibilities! I was born in 1939 so I was there. People were united and shared equally in their sacrifices to protect and build communal life. It was a safe time for children. Society protected and supported children and families. My father had an average middle class job and mom occasionally worked a part-time job, not because she had to, but because she wanted to. All three of us kids were able to grow up and ultimately graduate from college with ZERO debt hanging over our heads for a lifetime. You could work a summer job and that earned you enough to pay your tuition for the coming year. Tuition at the University of Michigan was $40 per credit hour. People weren't plunged into debt with overwhelming medical bills. It was a time of great optimism. The middle class in America thrived. So I know what it was compared to what it is today. It's like two totally different countries. It is very sad.

[@marklapirow5473]

It is so easy to forget what a huge effort to build these things was made by the men and women on the production line, their supervisors, the engineers, the tool makers etc. There were no robots then. Maybe the Fords of that time were not as "good" as those 7 or 10 years later, and maybe they did dissolve into rust in the northern states, but each one of them is a marvel of their time.

[@tommurphy4307]

in the words of neil young- 'rust never sleeps'

[@jwelchon2416]

The 49 is the car that saved Ford. They were so advanced compared to the 48's. Two leaf springs on the rear axle and fully independent front suspension compared to the 48's Model T suspension. It's hard today to grasp the WOW factor when these rolled out.

[@pawsnpistons]

49? Damn i have to wait another 28 years for those great cars to arrive.

[@robertchristie9434]

My Dad's first new car after WW2 was a '50 Hawaiian Bronze 2-door sedan with super wide Firestone white wall tires. I swear when he washed it, he spent more time scrubbing the white walls than cleaning the rest of the car. Even with curb feelers, my mother would still scrap the tires something terrible. Other relatives, aunts and uncles owned '49s or '50s. They were very popular. But the hot rod of the family was my Uncle Bob's '50 Olds Rocket 88 club coupe. I still remember going north through Flint on US23 doing over 100 mph.

[@IcelanderUSer]

It’s so interesting how you can see the 30’s and 50’s in this car. I’ve always looked at 50’s cars as big bricks but in reality they’re smooth and aerodynamic looking compared to earlier models.

[@tommurphy4307]

the key word is '-looking'..... until we started using low-speed wind tunnels for automotive design in the late 40's- we didn't know how wrong we were.

[@michaelwebb8771]

I'm 68 and our first family car was a 49 ford. Great memories!

[@robc8468]

My Dad bought a 49 Ford he said it was terrible with a lot of quality issues. He kept it only 1 year and bought the nearly identical 1950 version which he said was great. That was the car he drove me and mom home from the the hospital in when I was a new born in 1951.

[@gcfifthgear]

There was a reason why the 1950 Ford was billed as being "50 Ways Finer for '50." The '49 had major quality issues, as you've already described--and those improvements helped correct the problems with the '49 models...

[@jimgallagher2979]

My Dad bought one new and followed it up with a '51 Victoria coupe and '53 Mercury Monterey. The Vic was my first car. Fatal flaw was the flathead Ford V8 engine that was notorious for cracked heads and blown head gaskets. The problem started with the '49s and Ford didn't fix the problem until '54 production.

[@gcfifthgear]

The Y-block V-8 "fixed" the problem in 1954, because it replaced the flathead. Canadian buyers didn't get the OHV engine until 1955!

[@adoreslaurel]

@@gcfifthgear Same for Australia in the new style body, and what a cock up the gear shift linkage was when converted to RHD, they had the LHD linkage running under the box then up the other side, can you imagine how sloppy it got when the rod holes wore, first and top were in your lap and second and reverse position went sky high.

[@CJColvin]

This is when cars were truly made of metal.

[@michaeljohn9263]

The girls ALWAYS sat in the middle...we use to call it "skiing"...😁😉

[@jamesstuart3346]

Unfortunately in an accident that metal was not very friendly to human bodies

[@brosefmcman8264]

^^^ found the Joe Biden supporter!

[@Retroscoop]

And made in America by Americans for the American market, making everyone profit of it somehow; those who made it had cash to spend in the stores, those who sold it by the thousands had the cash to buy big houses, making homesellers happy too etc....

[@CJColvin]

@@Retroscoop Right.

[@thomasconci3930]

Dad bought a 51 Victoria 2 door hardtop. My much older cousin put fender skirts and glasspacks on it and just like that I became a car guy!

[@joesprague1464]

This new technology is not going to make me give up my '48 ford f1 pickup.

[@Rumpleskin]

Don't blame you. The 48 is road tested. The new 49s maybe a splash in the pan.

[@timothykeith1367]

'48 was the first of the F series trucks

[@billjackson1317]

My father bought a 1950 Ford 2dr sedan dark metalic blue, came with extras of a radio & heater, life was good. The music in the end sounds like the Spartacus soundtrack.👽

[@dementedweasel1]

Got a neighbor who's got one. I got to work on it and learned a lot. It is really quite a car. Not much of a fan of the flathead but you still can get speed parts for it. You'll never see a car like this built again. Sadly.

[@boathead22000]

why did you dislike the flathead ?

[@dementedweasel1]

@@boathead22000 The cost of machining the head. I dare not do it myself as a mistake on the valve grind could cost at least a valve seat insert. The oiling system is inferior as the stock setup the end main cap does not get filtered oil and in my opinion can cause premature failure.And the air flow window has to do an abrupt 180 that in my opinion robs horsepower potential.The valve lifters are not adjustable and one Stromberg 97 in my opinion is not enough carburetion. Thankfully, this engine enjoys a lot of aftermarket parts. I was able to get an updated oiling system and some machining into an existing passage takes care of the rear main. I found adjustable lifters but required more machining on the block. The intake can be replaced with one that has bosses for three Stromburgs or you can get one for modern carburetors and I was able to still get an Iskyderian three quarter race cam. The heads on this engine in my opinion is a bit overkill and aluminum heads would be needed and also to boost the ridiculously low compression. Of course all this extra costs money. The engine was advertised at 100 horsepower with the Mercury flathead at 110 horsepower. Even if I were to get everything I thing I need the horsepower wouldn't be that significant enough to move that heavy shoebox very fast. In my opinion, the over head valve configuration is a far superior design especially if your looking for decent horsepower. Keep in mind i'm not badmouthing the flathead. I just don't favor it.

[@keithhumpherys8343]

We had a 49 Ford 4-door that my father got when he worked for local Ford dealership in 1949. We kept it until 1961 as my grandfather would occasionally drive it. I drove many times as a teenager. I wanted to keep it but my father had gotten us a 60 4-door corvair not thinking we wanted to keep it. Had the flat head eight with the overdrive transmission. Missed it a lot. The radio still worked.

[@michaellowe17]

There very first car that I remember was my father's 1951 Ford Victoria, it is responsible for making me a car nut.

[@BuzzLOLOL]

Want to buy one?

[@rocling4]

The first one to comment 😎😎😎 nevertheless, beautiful cars with a class that speaks for itself!

[@fob1xxl]

My Mom had a friend whose husband worked at Ford in 1950 and had a new FORD. I remember they took me to go see SANTA in her new car. I was 5 years old !

[@skatesneakerlover]

Remember the one time when I was just a lad, my pop had just bought a brand new 4 door '49 Ford V8. From day 1 it always gave starting problems, and they never could tell why. Probably about 6 months after pops got it, we parked up outside at the railroad station to drop Grandma off for her train. When we came out, that Ford just refused to start and man did my pop get mad! The trunk and hood was eventually up in the air and he was cursing and swearing so loudly and smashing that gas pedal down into the floor over and over, you could just hear the banging sound it made and the whole car was shaking. Had half the engine in pieces to try get it to start. When it did eventually start, he took every bit of frustration out on it that he had in him - he revved its absolute guts out so hard and long most of the folks came out to see what was going on and stand and stare. There was clouds of smoke everywhere, flames and sparks shooting out the tailpipe and a such a loud noise, but he just kept on gunning that motor as hard as he could. I remember an old timer with his pipe came up to my pa and still nodded his head and said, "that'll fix 'er real good! Yeah! Now don't you let up on her now, else she's gonna be a real pig to get started again." Being as furious as he was, he beat on it and gunned it even harder with the old timer looking on with approval, and the massive crowd of train folk just gasped and looked at us kids. My old man started shouting at them over the screaming of the engine, told the lot of them to go about their business or else lend a hand. Telling us lads to get back in the car, he slammed the hood and trunk closed, hit the gas flat again and slammed it into Drive and we roared off with the Ford's nose pulling high up in the air. Grandma never did hear what had happened outside the railroad station. For the next 2 years my pops beat the living life outta that Ford and eventually wrapped it around a tree where it caught alight aswell. We ended up driving around in a beat up, rusted and dented old Buick till the '57 Fords came out and he bought a brand new Fairlane which he taught a lesson the very day he got it from the dealer.

[@herrunsinn774]

It sounds like your dad had real anger management issues. He never should have piled you kids back in the care and tore off down the road in such a hyped up mental state. 😅 😂 🤣

[@skatesneakerlover]

@@herrunsinn774 Absolute rubbish! Don't be ridiculous! Have you lived in, grown up in and experienced the 1950's? Do you know what life was like back then? Good luck telling a man he has anger issues or he is in a mental state - you would have been beaten into the ground for doing that and not lived to tell the tale. I'm talking about days when men were hard working, real men and boys were tough little boys. Not fragile little snowflakes that need counselling and therapy for any and everything. We didn't "manage our anger" - we did what we needed to do, and if venting your anger was one of them, then so be it. Back then, things got done, and done properly, regardless of what it took. We got our hides tanned with a leather belt - exactly how it should be, and we learnt our lesson and life carried on. When a car gave trouble, it got beaten hard, murdered on the way home and then fixed.

[@drjcwardjr]

My first car when I was in high school was a green 1949 Ford 2-door with a flathead V8. Loved it…drove great!

[@garytorresani8846]

I had a 2016 Fiesta. At 70,000 miles, it started breaking apart. It was in the shop for a month, then broke down and it was a stick shift, not an automatic (one of the worst transmissions ever built). No wonder they couldn’t sell cars. At about 75,000 with more work needing to be done, I finally said that’s it,I’ve had it. Traded it in and brought a Honda Fit. One of the bast cars I’ve ever had. No problems, excellent gas mileage and fun to drive.

[@nickgeorge2176]

My grandfather had one , wish it was still in the family.

[@4321grp]

I remember when I was about 5 years old in late1948, Our family drove past a Ford dealership and I saw the new 1949 Fords in the showroom window, I thought they were the most beautiful cars I'd ever seen. That was the very first time I ever got "car fever", I hoped my dad would buy one, but he had already bought a new Pontiac just one year earlier. He probably made a good choice because his Pontiac lasted for about 17 years. A Ford wouldn't have lasted that long.

[@4321grp]

@Jed Clampett , I'm a retired mechanic, I agree with you, but some cars are just engineered and made better than others.

[@hcombs0104]

I don't know about that. I drove my 1986 Ford Escort for fifteen years, with 222,000 miles, and she was still running when I got a new one. Original engine, original clutch.

[@howardcoursey7105]

My father bought a new 1949 Ford when i was a 3 year old kid, he traded it in on a new 1953 Ford. , then got a new 1962 Ford, He liked Fords.

[@garyjones1252]

My first car back in the sixties was 50 two door sedan,wish I could have kept it

[@canabox7112]

a leap forward for Ford

[@Johnny53kgb-nsa]

My late Mom drove a 1949 Ford but it was used, around the mid 1960's. It had been run hard and put up wet by then.

[@SpockvsMcCoy]

The 1949 Ford saved the entire company which was very deep in debt in the late 1940s.

[@BuzzLOLOL]

What happened to the fortune Ford made off WWII? Used for the new '49 design?

[@SpockvsMcCoy]

@@BuzzLOLOL An audit was performed when Henry Ford's grandson took control which concluded FoMoCo was losing money. The founder Henry Ford did not believe in standard accounting practices.

[@BuzzLOLOL]

@@SpockvsMcCoy - Prolly didn't want everyone to know how much money the family was sucking out...

[@SpockvsMcCoy]

@@BuzzLOLOL FoMoCo did not become a stock corporation until 1956...Henry Ford died in 1947. General Motors and Chrysler Corporation were much better at money management than Henry Ford.

[@BuzzLOLOL]

@@SpockvsMcCoy - Henry Ford wasn't poor, ever see his Fairlane Estate? Chrysler files bankruptcy about every 20 years...

[@georgelawson2663]

Memories,Thanks NZ

[@lelandfranklin3487]

Can you imagine a 40 minute movie about a new model these days?

[@73beetle19]

I like that 49 station wagon.

[@73beetle19]

I remember in the 60’s my neighbors ordered a basic car with no radio to save money.

[@BuzzLOLOL]

I always ordered without radio because for the price of a factory radio I could put a full stereo radio tape 4 speakers system in...

[@MK-fc2hn]

My grandmother did that as late as 1990, when she bought a new honda civic hatchback.. She said it was to prevent the radio from getting stolen. But we all knew it was because she was frugal!

[@oldbiker9739]

no codes to read or a hundred computers going hay wire .

[@jimmyhuesandthehouserocker1069]

My dad bought a '50 Ford new, and that was our family car when I was in grade school. It used to vapor lock, and Dad had a rigged-up gas cap so he could pressurize the tank with a tire pump. One time my mom had to pump up the tank, and it was funny watching her try, like Lucy Ball

[@Retroscoop]

This is really interesting, and the presentation is so energyzing and optimistic, which is underpinned by the music. This is from when cars still were elegant and stylish, not the "get outta MY-way"-arrogance of today's SUV's. Why can't they make cars with the elegance of then, combined with the safety and energy-conscienceness of today ? Cars with style, with frivolous colors, with exuberant chrome or ersatz-chromium parts, in stead of those ugly SUV's ? I love the first Tesla, it has smooth lines for sure, but is misses the frivolity and optimism of post war cars.

[@dam4274]

My Dad’s first car was a black Club Coupe with the flat six and the three speed OD. He bought it new. Years later he bought a 54 Ford Customline sedan.

[@milesdufourny4813]

Back when the factory did the R & D, not the consumer!

[@tommurphy4307]

i see what you 'did' there!

[@herrunsinn774]

20:31 "It was relatively easy to sketch the original idea on paper, but now that it's a motorcar going into production, now that its plans and specifications must pass through hundreds of minds and hands, it's being translated into precise mechanical lines on thousands of sheets of paper." While it must have been a nightmare keeping track of all of that hand-written information, engineers today would die to have a task so simple as to develop a "49 Ford" with no electronics, emissions, or safety equipment to deal with. Having said that, you have to hand it to the people "back in the day" for working with slide-rules (not even hand calculators, let alone computers) yet they were able to create such durable and beautiful cars.

[@eddylauterback1312]

I have to have that new 1949 Ford! Does it come with batteries??? Fresh air ventilating? So I can have beans before our trip. Living the dream.

[@TheRealBrook1968]

Never liked bucket seats in a daily car. How can your main squeeze sidle up to you Without a bench seat?

[@adoreslaurel]

Wow, he even pronounced it right, Coo Pay.

[@smolville]

I had a teacher who drove a black one into the 80's. He was a WWII veteran.

[@CJColvin]

This looks like the end of the 40s and beginning of the 50s.

[@BuzzLOLOL]

Yeah, GM stayed 1940's look through 1954...

[@CJColvin]

@@BuzzLOLOL True.

[@claudiocavasin5037]

Just imagine if we all started buying only domestic cars….think about it

[@herrunsinn774]

That's why they called it "the '49 Ford". 😅 😂 🤣

[@CJColvin]

@@herrunsinn774 Yep you got it brother.

[@FarmerDrew]

The engineering achievement supreme! Yes indeed but it looks like a startled fish from the front

[@TheRealBrook1968]

The federal government mandated the same size and shaped headlights from the 1930's to the 70's.

[@vinnydaq13]

“Introducing…the new 1949 Ford Fishface !” 😎

[@sking2173]

If you think the front of this looks like a fish, what do you think the grille of the 1957 Edsel looks like ? Note: This question does not ask for an opinion. There is ONE correct answer ...

[@vinnydaq13]

@@sking2173 Everyone knows the Edsel grill resembles a certain piece of female anatomy…need I say more?

[@dennislower1280]

The little. " shoe box "

[@TigerDominic-uh1dv]

I Enjoyed The Video 😊

[@craigjorgensen4637]

Actually the 1949 Fords had a lot of sloppy workmanship problems. They leaked water and dust and had lots of rattles. They were rushed to market and it showed. Thev1950’s were much better.

[@johnmcmullen456]

My late father was a service manager at a Ford dealership when the 1949 model came out. I remember him saying how problematic they were since rushed to market, and the 1950 models having most of the bugs worked out. He had a new 1949 Ford convertible and hated it, trading it a couple years later for a Hudson Hornet, being impressed with Hudson's performance in stock car racing.

[@eutimiochavez415]

Yea yea so

[@hcombs0104]

Same thing with the 1957 Chrysler Corporation models...rushed out to capitalize on the new look.

[@jamesmoore9511]

Had one - seafood green, red plade uspolstery, flathead 6, 3 speed column shift. Cost $14 in 1959 from my aunt who bought it new in 49. Sold it for $100 in 1969. Not a bad car at all.

[@BigEightiesNewWave]

I built a model as a kid of the Yellow Ford. Revel models.

[@tonychavez2083]

it was and is still a very handsome car, they made a ton of them!

[@senseofstile]

"...translated it's specifications on to thousands of sheets of paper." No computers.

[@BigEightiesNewWave]

I remember tire tubes , dad had some stored in barrels.

[@billjackson1317]

The 1948 Ford coupe .made a great hot rod also 👽

[@UhOK327]

Amazing!

[@prestoncheapbtheadphoneste3010]

Wow 😮!

[@davenettlesmusic2954]

I owned a '49 Coupe in about '60, Great car, but I owned many great early Fords, a '56 Crown for one. But I worked as a body tech, owned my own hot Rod shop for over 20 years, so early Fords came easy. We now own a Fusion Energi, which I believe is the best Ford we ever owned. But Fords big mistake is getting out of the Sedan business, by doing that they gave it to Toyota, Nissan & Honda, I didn't see any of them quite building sedans. I'll be surprised if Ford survives.

[@galiffrey1]

I love those shoebox fords!

[@shicoff1398]

Me too!

[@stephenwilliams5201]

Hi got my '52' when 16. And glad to at least EXPERANCE the flat head power plant,and auto xmision, she ran and got tired then got her second wind the old man was jealous. But he drove mine to remind him selfe that Ford is#1

[@OldDood]

I like to think that Tucker had a lot to do with the styling in the early 50s. Tucker had that center emblem plate but they wanted to put a headlight there. The government wouldn’t allow it that time. And of course, Tucker had safety features like seatbelts

[@vernonfindlay1314]

Just before the frozen car,the music came right from It's a wonderful life,sounds like.

[@19553129]

Thanks!

[@raylocke282]

Love the sound of a flathead with Hollywood Mufflers.

[@HarborLockRoad]

Everybodys gangsta until the 53 studebaker comes along.....

[@carlmontney7916]

Ford really got the jump on everybody else with the 49 Ford. The Wiz Kids put together a great looking automobile unlike anything else around at the time.

[@jeanbonhacher6016]

Gotta love the radioactive speedometer needle

[@stephenspilker9334]

we had a 50 in the family for 30+years, i learned how to drive in it lol.

[@sking2173]

When did you have to rebuild the engine the first time??

[@billbright1755]

The Fabulous Hudson Hornet.

[@jimholmes2555]

I had a '49 Ford Tudor Custom and a '49 Ford F1. Both needed a lot of work but they both ran. I should have kept them.

[@robkunkel8833]

So classy. And in colors. And the cost was less than a couple of thousand dollars.

[@Rumpleskin]

That old ford rode better than any new car now.

[@CJColvin]

Here's the old Flat Head V8.

[@sking2173]

That flathead V-8 was getting long in the tooth by then. They were kinda pitiful power-wise.

[@shicoff1398]

@@sking2173 Still they where faster and more HP then the even older Chevy 6 design and old Plymouth 6 design in 1949, at the time, Chevy had a 216 Cubic inch 92 HP six, Plymouth was a 217 cubic inch 95 HP six, both older in the tooth then Ford V8 from 1932, Ford's 1949 V8 Flathead was 239 cubic inch V8 and had 100HP and more torque and a bit more top speed, and lots of speed equipment cheap for old Ford V8's back then. I've had both since I'm in my 80's, learned to drive on my parents 1950 Chevy 3 speed stick , but my first car was a 49 ford used in the 1950's, would blow the Chevy off the road stock on top end, and also thee Plymouth but also in 49 lots of cop cars where ford, cheap and Ford squad cars where really slightly larger Merc. flatheads in Fords, Olds in 1949 had the rocket V8 135 HP and Caddy the 160 HP Overhead V8 both faster then Ford was but for less money Ford did out run both Chevy and Plymouth in the low priced 3 until 1955 when Chevy caught up with a V8 and so did Plymouth in 1955 also.

[@sking2173]

@@shicoff1398 - Yeah, you’re accurate. I had a ‘49 Olds (with an automatic!) that would smoke those Fords. As you said, the Caddie was also sporting the OHV engine. It amazed me that Ford hung on to that flathead design for so long. The advantages of the OHV head were no secret, especially the cross flow design. You mentioned the ‘50 Chevy. If memory serves, the 235 that was used in their cars for the first time in ‘50 would give that Ford V-8 all it could handle on top end. You’re saying the Ford was faster, but that ‘50 3-spd. your parents had was the 216 if it was stock, which was certainly slower than the Ford. To me, Ford was behind in the 50’s because of the flathead, and then that raggedy Y-block engine of theirs that they introduced in ‘54 was loaded with problems. And on top of that, the thing wouldn’t breathe at all until they force-fed it. It wasn’t until the FE engine came out that Ford had anything respectable under the hood ...

[@stuart8663]

It almost sounds like a young Lorne Greene as the narrator.

[@raylocke282]

Love my Fords From 1974 F100 to 77 T bird to 2020 Ford Ecosport.

[@walterweddle7644]

Styling beats the all look alike SUV'S today, and no problem with shortages with computer chips.

[@STARDRIVE]

There was a time when the Rouge made every part themselves.. I fail to see why a ECU needs the latest in computer chips. I´m quite sure a 10 year old wafer stepper will suffice.

[@clutchkicker392ison5]

Very watchable, and i'm a mopar man.

[@timkis64]

i love how they talk up the lighted instrument pannel then show a speedometer where the only thing you see is a red needle.no numbers are visable, just a needle that points at darkness.multiple light bulbs mustve been an option in 49.1 bulb was standard feature?

[@swarfmaster]

I had a 4 door ‘50. I dropped a 1954 DeSoto hemi in it.

[@oldgysgt]

Now that would make for a nice car.

[@oldgysgt]

Did you use the DeSoto fluid drive tranny?

[@swarfmaster]

@@oldgysgt no I bought a bell housing adapter and used the Ford tranny. Stupid move because I kept blowing my cluster gear.

[@swarfmaster]

It was in the era of naming cars so I named it the “Chevy Eater”. I’m now driving a performance Tesla and the kid in me has never really left.

[@pl5624]

The 50 ford will forever be known as the car that killed james dean.he saw the front fender up close...really close.

[@buckhorncortez]

Luckeeee...

[@boathead22000]

mercury i believe

[@billjackson1317]

James was killed in a Porsche spider

[@stephenkeebler732]

It's the car that hit Dean's Porsche...

[@p47thunderbolt68]

Not even that big of a Ford fan but the 1940, 1949 and the 1963's are some of the best looking IMO . My first purchase if I'm ever capable of doing it will be a 63' convertible or 2 door HT with a 390 CI , 4 barrel or bigger V8 .

[@garybezner6774]

49 Ford was ahead of its time,GM And Chrysler, caught up in 53, Ford brought out another advanced design in 52 and it wasn’t till 55 the others caught up.

[@SuperLittleTyke]

The styling of those '49 Fords left much to be desired in comparison to modern cars. I worked for Ford in Cologne, Germany for 10 years in the 1970s, initially in the prototype department at Merkenich. The Capri was a fabulous looking car. Later, we worked on the new Fiesta. But those 49-ers just look so chunky and the very opposite of sleek. Also, death traps in road accidents with too many sharp surfaces in the passenger compartment and not even collapsible steering columns. Car design made massive leaps from 1949 to 1969.

[@motorTranz]

There's a Ford in your future!🇺🇲

[@asteverino8569]

I’ll take your entire stock of convertibles and woody wagons.

[@funsweed]

My first car was a 1950 Ford , used from my older brother

[@jedk9523]

i would rather buy this brand new than a ford now day.

[@randallmiller8238]

Amen! I'm only 52 but just quit a long time service advisor job at a Ford dealership was embarrassed beyond words when I Walk in and saw the new Lightning electric POS. Then looked at the 12 cars/SUVs with either engine or transmission failure, got tired of the GM basically telling us to lie to our customers who many were older folk riding around for several months on end in our loaner cars then many I. Used cars off the lot of different makes. Looked real bad so I told em' to stick it and walked out. I miss my antique FoMoCo vehicles,the 57 Fairlane 500.was my favorite

[@eddiegardner8232]

We had a ‘49 2-door Sedan when I was 5 years old. Pretty basic car. Later my dad added a ‘52 Buick Super 4-door w Dynaflow. My mom never drove the 3-speed manual Ford again. lol

[@autodidact537]

Funny, that '49 Ford looks like a shoe box to me.

[@gcfifthgear]

That's exactly what those first postwar Fords were called!

[@autodidact537]

@@gcfifthgear What ever happened to your sense of humor? LOL

[@robertdoherty2001]

Had one of those things in 1962, which my dad affectionately called ‘the shitbox’.

[@jjd1239]

I liked the fact that people looked very professional the way they dressed, in the research and development they worked with pride those days, not like today very sloppy looking in their jeans, t-shirts and shorts. In this documentary it seems black workers didn’t exist then and no black children either