Retrotisements — The 1949 Ford
I’ve never been a big car guy. Sure, I love to go to car shows and look at all the chrome, fins, and white walls, but I couldn’t tell you the difference between a flathead V8 and a glass of V8 if my life depended on it. But I do know this much — I love the 1949 Ford full-size car and have for years. When it was introduced it gave Ford the shot in the arm they so desperately needed, and that freshness of design is still evident more than 60 years later.
One of these days I’m going to own a ’49 Ford, but until then I’ll just have to gaze lovingly at these classic advertisements.
(To see other car lineup advertisement galleries, click here. Got a request for other years and makes? Let me know in the Comments section.)
Ooh, vintage video bonus time! Here’s a twelve-minute excerpt from a Ford-produced promotional film for the 1949 model, called The Human Bridge. It traces the history of the ’49 Ford, from concept and design to production, with appropriately melodramatic flourishes and paeans to American industry.
People found this post by searching for:
- "1949 ford"
Paul Duca
It was more than a shot in the arm…it literally saved the company, Ford was losing money and in management disarray. It was felt Henry was no longer capable of running things, and he failed to adequately develop people to take over–including his only child, son Edsel, who died during the war. Henry only stepped aside when wife Clara threatened to sell all the company stock in her name (it was privately held by the family, and would remain so until the mid 50’s) if he didn’t let Edsel’s son Henry II take over operations. After doing so, Henry II hired a group of former military management people collectively known as the Whiz Kids–one of them, Robert McNamara, would become company president before stepping down to serve as Defense Secretary to JFK and LBJ. They brought the ’49 Ford to life–from scratch, as the version originally developed was felt to be too large and heavy for its market (it became the 1949 Mercury)