Automotive American – Classic Vintage & Modern
Tag: 1949
In 1949, the Chrysler Corporation introduced a new disc brake system, but it was nothing like the disc brakes we know today. Here’s how it worked. 570 more words
A Completely Different Kind of Disc Brake: 1949 Chrysler — Mac’s Motor City Garage
THE ICONIC 1949 FORD BRINGS AWARD-WINNING DESIGN TO THE LINE-UP AFTER THE END OF WORLD WAR II.
Following World War II, Ford Motor Company transitioned itself from a military manufacturing hub back to the consumer vehicle builder it had been previously. The 1949 Ford was the first post-war vehicle the company produced featuring a completely new design, under Henry Ford II’s leadership, and created by famed industrial and automotive designer, George Walker.
The 1949 design was molded along functional lines, resulting in its low sweeping silhouette. The iconic front end was distinctive, the hood large but smaller than prior vehicle models. The vehicle came in two lines, the Ford and the Ford Custom. Body styles in both lines include the four-door sedan, two-door sedan, club coupe. Convertible and station wagon models were obtained only in the Custom line and the three-passenger Coupe only in the Ford line. There were eight new exterior colors offered including Bayview Blue Metallic and Arabian Green.
The vehicle sales reflected the popularity of the car. In 1949 Ford Motor Company sold over one million Fords, Mercurys, and Lincolns to the American people. Their new popularity was reflected in Ford doubling its profit, emerging from the years of meager gains and disheartening losses to success and strength.
A total of 1,118,762 1949 Fords were produced. Historians refer to the car as the vehicle that saved Ford Motor Company as it was the 1949 Ford that started the company on the track from losses in the immediate post-war period to profits in the 1950s. The vehicle was only produced for a few years but it was crucial to the return of the company from wartime manufacturing to vehicle production. The 1949 Ford was the vehicle that proved that Ford Motor Company would remain strong in the new, post-war world.
Source Ford Motor Company
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While this 1949 Spartanette 24-foot travel trailer listed for sale on Hemmings.com has been thoroughly upgraded, the trailer’s lost none of its vintage charm as a result. Almost all of the upgrades—including new lighting, new electrical, and even a modern bathroom—remain hidden or in keeping with the trailer’s original aesthetics. Additionally, just about everything that one might see or touch while using the trailer still has either an Art Deco or a mid-century jukebox look and feel, largely due to the reuse of the original paneling and fixtures. As a result, it should be reliable and comfortable enough to take on a good long road trip this summer without hesitation. From the seller’s description:
Complete restoration. Trailer, single axle. Looks brand new, new tires, maintained very well, clean title. Approx towing weight: 3,800lbs. Replaced all interior birch paneling. Saved & restored all wood cabinets. Removed all windows, frames – complete rebuild with nickel plating finish. Polished and stored indoors. Original awning steel frame with new sunbrella fabric. New stabilizers. New LED running lights. New SS 50 amp inlet, 50 amp electrical service. New 12V and 100 amp sub panel. New LED puck lighting in cabinets. New 30/40/50/60 amp converter/charger. All new electrical wiring throughout. 50 amp power cord. New LP/CO detector. New A/C – Coleman low profile. Original stove completely restored – re-chromed, re-enameled, new interior parts. New Fantastic vent fan. New 12 gallon electric hot water heater. Restored & repainted original 1949 GM Fridgedaire refrigerator. New LP lines & regulator. New insulation installed throughout. Added a wet shower/toilet room – full stainless steel walls and floor pan. New Marmolium flooring throughout. New upholstery on original Click Clack dining seating. Restored original dining table. New wood venitian blinds
Bob “Bones” and Carolyn’s 1949 Cadillac is a beauty, but often leaves them stranded. So we helped build them a cruiser that could go coast to coast while leaving the body alone and focusing on drivability and comfort.
Modifications-
•LS3 w/ 6speed 6L90E transmission
•Roadster Shop Chassis
•Custom exhaust system utilizing Magnaflow components and 4 mufflers
•Custom fuel tank from Rick’s Tanks
•Baer Brakes
•Rewired electrical
•Fixed top and windows
•Repainted firewall and hood
•Vintage Air system
•Custom 18″ wheels designed by Chip, machined by Mike Curtis/Curtis Speed Equipment
Briggs Cunningham prepared his stable of entries. Luigi Chinetti and Alfredo Momo looked over the Ferrari they would drive. John Fitch, Jim Kimberly, Fred Wacker, Phil Walters, and Bill Spear, they all circulated through the pits as exhaust notes from Jaguars, Astons, and MGs rapped, roared, and rumbled. The former Hendricks Army Airfield buzzed with activity as American sports car racing’s most well-known names of the time gathered for the first race of what was billed as America’s counterpart to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, each driver and car owner as confident as the rest of their abilities to win the race.
Even the trio gathered around a 1949 Crosley Hotshot way down at the back of the 28-car field, a car that had only been entered in the race a day before and that had an advantage the far more powerful cars ahead of it didn’t: math.
Alec Ulmann had taken part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans many times before World War II and after immigrating to the United States looked for a place to replicate the famed race. Though its surface was bumpy and better suited to the B-17 bombers that flew out of the base during the war, Ulmann decided to focus his efforts on the runways and access roads of what had become Sebring’s municipal airport. His initial effort, slated for December 31, 1950, didn’t have the length of Circuit de la Sarthe (3.5 miles versus 8.4) or the duration (six hours versus 24) but it would have a Le Mans-style running start, the blessing of the SCCA, the aforementioned drivers and owners, and an index of performance.
At many other endurance races before and since, overall winners completed the most laps in the given amount of time. Different classes of cars might take to the track at the same time and have their own separate class winners, but the method of winning still boiled down to the same criteria of distance covered. With the index of performance, which set a target distance to cover based on the vehicle’s engine displacement and which would be the sole deciding factor for the overall winner of the race, Ulmann intended to level the playing field and ensure that smaller cars could compete against larger cars. As Sports Illustrated explained the index a few years later, the index actually favors small cars.
The small cars … can generally exceed their set minimum average by a wider margin than the big ones. Thus, if you are driving a 66 cu. in. machine and have to average 58 mph, it is easier to up this average by 10 mph than with a 330 cu. in. car which must average 70 mph, all pit stops included.
Nobody at the race seemed to realize the full implications of Ulmann’s decision to declare the overall winner based on the index of performance until Tommy Cole laid eyes on a most unusual car. Cole, who had entered a Cadillac-powered Allard J2 in that inaugural Sebring race and who had raced at Le Mans earlier that year, needed tires and called around Florida Cadillac dealerships until somebody at Vic Sharpe’s Cadillac dealership in Tampa answered the phone. Sharpe also held the local Crosley franchise, and his son, Vic Sharpe Jr., volunteered to drive the tires down to Sebring in a Crosley Hotshot on the dealership lot. Almost as soon as Sharpe arrived, according to Ken Breslauer’s account of that first Sebring race, Cole looked over the Hotshot, questioned Sharpe about its cast-iron overhead-camshaft 724-cubic-centimeter four-cylinder, and asked to take it around the track that Ulmann had laid out.
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Parked on AutoHunter, the online auction platform driven by ClassicCars.com, is this restored 1949 Ford Custom two-door sedan up for auction.
During the Ford’s frame-off restoration, it was repainted in a maroon color, the wiring was replaced and the car was fitted with a new interior
We all love a bit of nostalgia, don’t we? Especially if it is a classic from the yesteryears. And every automobile lover has their own favorite classic car. Some adore the likes of Ferrari P4/5 for its rarity while others are admirers of the likes of GTO 250 purely because of the moolah they generate in today’s times.
Almost every big automobile company boasts a super-rich legacy in terms of classic cars. And so is the case with Ford. The American multinational automaker produced a bunch of timeless classics back in the day. And one of its classics was the Mercury Eight – a part of Ford’s Mercury brand that was established to bridge the price gap between Ford and Lincoln models. While the Mercury Eight enjoyed a successful 13-year reign, it is the 1949 Mercury Custom that gets us nostalgic.
After sticking with its well-received previous model through model year 1948, Ford completely redesigned its namesake car for 1949. Save for its drive train, this was an all-new car in every way, with a modern ladder frame now supporting a coil spring suspension in front and longitudinal semi-elliptical springs in back.
The engine was moved forward to make more room in the passenger compartment and the antiquated torque tube was replaced by a modern drive shaft. Ford’s popular 226 CID (3.7 L) L-head straight-6 and 239 CID (3.9 L) Flathead V8 remained, now rated at 90 hp (67 kW) and 100 hp (75 kW), respectively.
The 1949 models debuted at a gala at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City in June 1948, with a carousel of the new Fords complemented by a revolving demonstration of the new chassis. The new integrated steel structure was advertised as a “lifeguard body”, and even the woody wagon was steel at heart.
The convertible frame had an “X member” for structural rigidity. From a customer’s perspective, the old Custom, De Luxe, and Super De Luxe lines were replaced by new Standard and Custom trims and the cars gained a modern look with completely integrated rear fenders and just a hint of a fender in front.
The new styling approach was also evident in the 1949 Mercury Eight and the all-new Lincoln Cosmopolitan.
The Flat Spot is here
Here’s more about the ’49 Mercury from Rebel Without A Cause and where it is now…
The Mercury Eight line was brought forth by Ford’s now-defunct Mercury division; however, the nameplate tasted sweet success between 1939 and 1951. In 1955, the world mourned the death of the rising star James Dean in an automobile accident. Naturally, when the movie Rebel Without A Cause was released just a month after his demise, it became an instant hit. And James Dean was mourned even more after his acting skills made it apparent that he could have been the next big thing in Hollywood.
Everything Dean touched was gold at the time, so his 1949 Mercury from this very movie became a sensation as well, adopted by the hot-rodding generation with instant ease. Was the Mercury always destined to be a hot rodder hit or did the movie’s success further take it to great heights?
Since time cannot be turned back or altered, we can’t say. Perhaps it was a bit of both, further compounded by Dean’s untimely death. Either way, his 1949 Mercury became a huge hit and has carried on being a classic hot rodder to date.
