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Sometimes the launch of a single car can save a company's fortune.
The original Mustang stands out as one of Ford's better-known home runs; the 1949 range is more obscure yet it’s the superstar that saved Ford.
So now we’re taking a look at how – and why – Ford developed its 1949 range in record time. Without it, there would likely be no Bronco, Mustang or even F-150, which is why the story is important to Ford-fans everywhere:
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Sailing in choppy waters
Edsel Ford (left), the only son of Henry Ford (right), became president of the family business in 1919, though most historians agree his father continued to make important calls behind the scenes. In the early 1940s, he worked closely with E.T. 'Bob' Gregorie, the company’s head designer, to create a new model line tentatively scheduled to reach showrooms for the 1943 model year.
The car never saw the light that awaits at the end of a production line. Ford quickly shifted its full attention to national defense when the United States entered World War Two and Edsel Ford unexpectedly died of stomach cancer in 1943, aged just 49. His father again took over the company he founded but his health was failing, partly because he suffered from a series of strokes in the 1930s.
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Ford and the Whiz Kids
Henry Ford II (pictured center with Ford workers in 1946), Edsel’s oldest son and Henry’s oldest grandson, became president of Ford on 21 September 1945. He was 28 years old and knew he lacked the experience needed to turn the family business around. He started by overhauling Ford’s executive structure and notably hired several men (including Ernest Breech) from General Motors (GM).
He also recruited the Whiz Kids, a group of World War Two veterans who were part of the Army Air Force’s Statistical Control operations. If they could orchestrate America’s involvement in a global conflict, they might know how to keep a carmaker healthy as it retooled for civilian production.
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From war to peace
Ford, like all of its rivals, released warmed-over pre-war models when peace returned. It was too late to bring the planned 1943 model to showrooms so work began on new projects. Executives envisioned a small, entry-level model and a bigger car positioned above it.
The development process accelerated in 1946 and product planners aimed to release both models in time for the 1948 model year, beating arch nemesis Chevrolet to the market by a comfortable margin. It helped that the men Henry Ford II hired from GM had a valuable insight about that company’s future product roadmap.
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What’s old is new again
In the meantime, Ford continued selling pre-war models updated with a handful of visual tweaks. Its 1946 range included the Deluxe and Super Deluxe series each available with a six- or an eight-cylinder engine and in a variety of body styles. Sales were relatively low and Ford’s finances began crumbling.
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The full-size car gets axed…
Ford’s new-for-1948 range remained on track for an introduction that would have likely taken place in 1947 until Ernest Breech, one of the executives poached from General Motors, decided to delay the full-size model. He worried such a big, heavy car wouldn’t be competitive.
The project had reached an advanced stage in the development process so canceling it wasn’t an option; it was instead given to Ford’s Mercury division where it gradually morphed into the Eight released in 1949.
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…and the small car gets canceled, too
Ford canceled the smaller car, too. According to Consumer Guide, executives realized it would cost only 17% less than the bigger model that had just been canned. Their options included releasing it and positioning it above its rivals, pricing it lower and selling it at a loss and delaying it to make it cheaper.
They instead chose to give the design to Ford’s French division, which turned it into the Vedette, and start from scratch. By this point everyone knew nothing would be ready in time for the 1948 model year.
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Ready, set, draw!
Ford launched an internal design competition to speed up the development process. Stylists E.T. 'Bob' Gregorie (who still ran the firm’s design department, pictured), Joe Oros, Elwood Engel, George Walker, Richard Caleal, Bob Bourke, and Bob Koto all participated in the various designs submitted. Precisely who did what – and who styled the winning design – remains a highly contentious point today.
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Gregorie vs Walker
Stylists who wanted to participate in the contest had 90 days to submit a 1/4-scale model made of clay. Decision-makers selected Caleal’s proposal (submitted in Walker’s name) in August 1946, a surprising move that angered Gregorie. In part to appease him, Ford organized a second contest and this time asked for a full-size clay model. Gregorie and Walker were the only designers invited to participate, though neither men worked alone; making a car out of clay required a tremendous amount of time.
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Getting it right
Here again, mass confusion ensued about who did what, and which designer deserved credit for which styling cue. What’s certain is that Walker’s proposal was again chosen over Gregorie’s on the condition that its front end receive a comprehensive redesign to make it more eye-catching.
Ford’s first new car in nearly a decade needed to be a home run, the kind of clearly all-new, modern car motorists would rush into showrooms to buy against Detroit rivals that were clearly still from the pre-Pearl Harbor period.
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Testing starts
With the final design selected, if not locked in, Ford launched the next phase of the development process. Engineers began testing the 1949 models in early 1947 by concealing the new mechanical components under existing bodies, and the first full prototypes hit the road a couple of months later.
Time was running out, delaying the car until the 1950 model year was not an option, yet road testers managed to put over one million miles on the various test mules built in a little over a year.
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Ford’s star-studded debut
The development process took 10 million man-hours and cost Ford an estimated $72 million (about $1 billion in today's money). It culminated on 18 June 1948 when the company introduced its 1949 model range at a no-expenses-spared event held at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City.
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Shaped like nothing else
The 1949 models were about four inches lower than their predecessors and they looked considerably more modern. Most agreed the propeller-shaped chromed grille was the car’s most distinctive design feature but the smooth, slab-sided body was revolutionary as well. The sheet metal hid an independent front suspension that improved the ride quality and a spacious, comfortable interior.
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Ford’s victory
Henry Ford II completely silenced the critics who claimed he didn’t have the experience needed to lead Ford by successfully bringing the 1949 models to production in about 18 months. He personally drove the first example out of the Rouge factory in Dearborn, Michigan (pictured).
Millions followed; Ford received over 100,000 orders for the new car on the first day it began selling it from a public ravenous for a new car to buy, with money to pay for it from a booming economy.
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The 1949 range
Ford’s 1949 line-up included a base trim called Standard Series and a more upmarket variant named Custom Series. Each was offered in a variety of body styles including a two- and a four-door sedan and a six-seater coupe. Standard customers could select a three-seater business coupe with a vast storage space in lieu of the rear seats while Custom buyers had the option of ordering a convertible or a wagon (pictured).
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Ford’s 1949 range, by the numbers
The Standard and Custom models were further divided into six- and eight-cylinder variants. Both came equipped with a 3.7-litre straight-six rated at 96bhp in their most basic configuration. Buyers who needed more could order Ford’s venerable 3.9-litre flathead V8 with 101bhp on tap.
The rear wheels received power from a three-speed manual transmission regardless of how many cylinders were under the hood. An overdrive function was offered at an extra cost.
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Life aboard
The 1949’s interior was just as modern as its exterior. Most body styles offered space for six passengers on a pair of bench seats, though the business coupe came with room for three on a single row of seats and the estate could hold eight people. Ford proudly highlighted the model’s “lounge car interior, luxurious appointments and picture window visibility” in period ads.
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How much did the 1949s cost?
The cheapest 1949 Ford was the business coupe. Aimed largely at professionals, it was priced at $1333 (around $20,000 today) when equipped with a six-cylinder engine. At the other end of the spectrum, the V8-powered wagon cost $2264 (about $31,000 today). To add context, the average annual wage in America in 1949 was $3,000 (approximately $41,000 today).
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Reaping the rewards
Bringing the 1949 range to the market in such a short amount of time was an extremely difficult and stressful job. Many assumed it couldn’t be done but Ford pulled it off and reaped the rewards.
It built 1.12 million cars in 1949, a significant increase over 1948’s total and about 100,000 more units than Chevrolet manufactured that year. Crucially, historians estimate the new 1949 range earned Ford a handy $177 million profit (approximately $2.4 billion today).
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The 1949’s aftermath
It’s not far-fetched to claim the 1949 range saved Ford. Healthy sales in the early 1950s gave the company the confidence and the credibility it needed to go public in 1956, a move Henry Ford wanted to avoid at all costs, but he was no longer around to object. Some of the profits generated by the 1949 models and their derivatives also funded the development of new models, like the original Thunderbird (pictured) released in 1955.
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From Michigan to Washington
Many of the men Henry Ford II hired when he became Ford’s president to work on the 1949 project quickly moved up in the automaker’s hierarchy. Robert McNamara (1916-2009; pictured), one of the ten Whiz Kids, notably became the company’s president in 1960, a major accomplishment considering all of his predecessors belonged to the same family tree as founder Henry Ford.
He didn’t spend long at the top; president John F Kennedy appointed him Secretary of Defense that same year and he kept this position until 1968. He helped America peacefully navigate the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis – but also escalated the country’s involvement in Vietnam, under first Kennedy and then Lyndon Johnson.
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The 1949 Ford today
Even over 70 years after their introduction, the members of Ford’s 1949 range aren’t terrifically rare - the company sold a good amount of them as we've seen. The most difficult part is finding one that hasn’t been modified or driven into the ground. Many were transformed into hot-rods with varying degrees of skill and thousands ended up rotting away in fields or barns. Plan on spending no more than $10,000 for a project that runs, drives but needs work and closer to $25,000 for a turn-key, never-modified car in good condition.
Some body styles are more sought-after than others; wood-sided wagon models sometimes trade hands for nearly $100,000. Also, keep in mind a vast majority of the production run stayed in America so that’s your best starting point if you’re in the market for one in any condition. But you'll be getting your hands on an important part of the Blue Oval's history.
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