The Ford shoebox is the model that brought Ford clearly into the post-war modern era when it was introduced in 1949. Produced for three years, today’s find is the caboose, the one that closed things out in 1951. This Deluxe, two-door sedan is located in Denver, North Carolina and is available, here on eBay for a BIN price of $3,695. Thanks to Larry D for this find!
The 1951 Ford was a continuation of the work in progress of refining the inaugural model. Body styles included a two-door sedan, four-door sedan, two-door station wagon, two-door business coupe, two-door convertible, and, new for ’51, a two-door hardtop. Other, new for ’51 features included the Ford-O-Matic, automatic transmission. Total production volume drifted downward from 1950s 1.2M to just over 1.0M copies – still a strong showing.
Engine choices for ’51 were consistent with prior years, a 90 HP, 226, CI, in-line six was standard and the 100 HP, 239 CI, “flathead” V8, such as our subject car possesses, was optional. The seller states that this Ford “runs and yard drives” but it does it via a fuel bottle connected to the fuel pump – the tank must have a problem. Other than the air cleaner, the engine appears to be mostly original. The mileage reading is listed as 76K miles but there is no claim to that number – no telling how many miles are actually on the engine. Gear changing happens via three-speed, manual transmission.
The body of this Ford is fair at best – the passenger side, in particular, is having its struggles. The seller states that the frame is nice with “super solid floors“. Some of the trim is missing and the bumpers have taken flight too. The wheels are interesting, I can’t say that I can place them. The seller suggests more than once that this Ford needs to be restored and adds, “REMEMBER CAR NEEDS RESTORATION !!!!!, REMEMBER THIS IS A 1951 . NOT A 2020.” There is no confusion on my part, I assure you.
As with the exterior, the interior is fair at best. It has been reupholstered in red velour and it looks OK. The seller mentions that the carpet is faded in spots but it’s hard to get a glimpse of it. The instrument panel is about what you would expect though it appears something is missing from the lower left position. The upper portion of the door panels are pretty wrinkled and the windlass is shot. Of note are the crusty-looking doorjambs, there is a lot of peeling paint, and perhaps surface rust, that is visible.
So yes, a restoration would be in the cards but I’m hypothesizing a hot-rod conversion instead; it is the correct two-door body style for such an undertaking but I don’t think that I would include the flathead as part of that solution. Would that be tantamount to ruining an original? I don’t think so, there was an enormous number of Shoebox Fords built and many, in much better shape than this example, are still in existence. How about you, which way would you take this 1951 Ford Deluxe?
the empty spot in the dash is where the ignition should be and i think it’s a coupe not a sedan .
Another $ 700. car needing everything,,,
That is a 2 door coupe not a sedan!
I’d be inclined to go the hot rod part for sure but with the flatty worked over a bit.
Hot rod for sure. Use the 2 openings in the round grill chrome holes for air inlets for the twin turbos or custom air cleaner. Probably end up being a parts car since there are so many other nicer shoebox Fords out there. Too bad bumpers are gone. That would have helped this car.
51 Fords used radium in the instruments for night-glow.It eventually faded after about 10 years but the guages will still set off a geiger counter.This is a cool business coupe but looks like it has about a 5 gallon pail of Bondo on it.Value..in the range of $2,000,still has potential.
Yup, it’s a coupe, not a sedan. The wheels are outdated, ugly when new aftermarkets. Stock-ish steel wheels, full wheel covers and wide white-walls would work much better. If the flat-head runs it’s the best choice for a nostalgic re-do with a T-5 right behind. A set of Porter steel packs and dual exhaust would set a nice tone. I’d follow a “mild custom” theme personally. Nosed, decked, shaved, slightly lowered with skirts. Since the body is pretty roached anyway, a 3″ chop with frenched lights fore & aft wouls suit me just fine. The interior needs a complete restoration or a nice rolled & pleated custom job would be the icing on the cake, as it were. Then… go cruisin’!
Yes, as others have said here, this is a coupe, not a 2-door sedan, easy to spot because of the wide body panel between the rear window and trunk lid.
I suspect this car was a business coupe without a back seat, and the seat was installed at a later date. I say this because of a lack of rear seat armrests that were included if you got a back seat in the coupe. Plus, the panel behind the rear seat back is not to be seen in the photo of the trunk area,
Unless the buyer needs a back seat, I would suggest it be returned back to the business coupe, as they are much rarer today.
Car has 49-50 tail lights. I think the 51 actually had the same rear fender as the 49-50 but the 51 added a chrome piece over the tail light bulge which allowed the 51 to have larger tail lights.
My brother had one back in the late 60’s he paid $50 for.We painted it with house paint using brushes.Looked a lot nicer than this one.
I bought a ’51 Club Coupe in 1957 (at age 15), added Mallory dual point ignition, dual exhaust w/ Smitty steelpacs, Gabriel adjustomatic shocks set exra-firm, lowered it 6″ in front, 4″ in back (“dagoed”), could out corner rich kids in their MGs, and rattle windows in the neighborhood when backing off from 40 in low gear. Didn’t need a tach; I could shift without using the clutch just by the sound of the engine revs. Nosed and decked it, added a straight bar grill made of highly polished aluminum electrical conduit, moved the radio antenna to the center of the long rear deck, pinstriped the dash, and added an FM converter. Drove the sh*t out of it for 4 years, sold it to a younger kid who continued to do the same; it was indestructible!