Like most U.S. automakers, Ford dusted off its pre-World War II designs in 1946 and began satisfying the pent-up demand for automobiles. The first all-new designs arrived in 1949 and were dubbed “Shoebox” Fords for their slab-side styling. Ford sold three million of them through 1951, after which another makeover was done for 1952. The seller has a 1950 Ford, model unknown, that has been in the same family for nearly 70 years. You could fix it up and drive it or go for a restoration. Located in Mom’s garage in Gooding, Idaho, this Shoebox is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $4,500.
The new post-war Fords benefited from front and rear fenders that were integrated with the rest of the body. A giant bullet dominated the expansive chrome grills. And running boards were a thing of the past. Suddenly, it was 1950. As time went by, the Shoebox Fords became popular with hot-rodders and other racers who would often customize and lower the vehicles. A 239 cubic inch “flathead” V8 was available that produced 100 hp in stock format.
No mention is made of the model of this 2-door coupe, but the basic Tudor Sedan would be likely (Ford built 275,000 copies in 1950 alone). If it’s a Custom Tudor Sedan, Ford cranked out almost 400,000 of them. If this one had a flathead V8 when it was new, the family replaced it in the 1970s with a 260 cubic inch small-block, keeping the “3-on-the-tree” manual transmission. We’re told the car has 69,000 miles, but we don’t know about the powertrain.
The seller thinks the car might run on a new source of fuel. The interior has been redone and used very little since. The seller drove the car during these high school years, back when Y2K had everyone’s attention. The windshield and seals were replaced about 30 years ago. The seller will scrounge up some spare parts, maybe the Ford’s radio for the next owner. If you’d like to add a solid Shoebox project to your force, how about this one?
Probably a good car under all that dirt but we’ll never know.
There was a small outfit that took the Shoebox Ford, cut off the roof and grafted one from an ’89 T-Bird in its place. Then the whole assembly was placed on the complete donor T-Bird chassis. There are a few of these oddball customized Fords (Frauds?) around.
FWIU they used custom molded fiberglass front and rear fenders, hood and trunk lid to fit the T-bird hard points. If there were any original ’49-51 components they were limited to the grille and bumpers. I’m not sure if their business was kit only or if they made any “factory” ones besides their own demo.
They didn’t cut the roofs off Shoebox’s. Look at the roofline of one of these “kit” cars. That’s all T-Bird. And there still are guys out there, that are asking $20k for these things.
a lot of wheel time to wear that paint off it.
That might be spilled paint over the years sitting there in the garage.
Seems to me if one wants to sell a car one would take an hour to clean up said car.
That being said, at $4500 this is a steal. Wish it were closer to me.
Why didn’t they show us all the mice and hornet’s nests under the hood?
A question for anyone.
I recall my grandfather’s 51 Ford Deluxe with a six cylinder engine had a red lense indicator in the middle of the dashboard. It was a very dark red in a shallow bezel and I never saw it light up.
What was it?
Sure looks like it was originally red. I like this version, almost as much as the ’52 – ’54. Sure wouldn’t kick it off my driveway. Personally, I’d rather see a flathead V8 under the hood but at least it’s still in the family.
Good cars. Lots of parts available, although I’ll bet you could find parts for the flatty easier than a 260…
Nice, but if I were a buyer then I’d stretch it as far as I could, finance if I had to, but spring for a Merc. Such a vast difference in esthetics: mediocrity vs. masterpiece.
About 2 weeks ago I bought a 50 club coupe like this one, the seller could not get it to run. I told him I would take a chance and offered him 4 K and he took it. Towed it home and took the distributor cap off and everything was new. Looked at the points, brand new, however never been set. Setting the points made a big difference, it ran like a sewing machine, you could barely hear it run. You win a few and you loose a few. This one was in the win column for sure. Problem was I had no room for it so I let my friend who went with me have it. Which is great he will make it an awesome driver and keep it,and not flip it. I will get to ride in it!
Nicely done, sir!
No engine pics?
Didn’t clean off the Honda Trail 90 sitting next to it either.
Curious as to the gauge with the hose on the dash behind the spotlight handle, and the newer looking wires underneath there.
Undoubtedly has a lot of potential for the right gearhead.
GLWTS
Looks to me like a vacuum gauge.
This is what was in our carport when I came into the world in 1954. I’d love to bring this one home but Idaho is a bit far from Alabama. Lots of little boy memories here.
I never liked the body style of these. I liked the next ones alot. BUT, these are starting to grow on me. Maybe they aren’t so bad after all!
Senior year high school friend had a red ’49 convertible with all white interior his dad restored as a graduation present. He had no problem getting girls to ride with him.
My ’55 Chev Convertible worked the same way! My regular girlfriend liked to ride around with the top down in the rain.
Wish I was 20 years younger. I would drive the 125 miles and scope it up. My 1st car was a 1950 2dr I bought when I was 14 years old. We could start driving at 14 in Idaho. At 82 I require a chauffeur but I can still dream.
OMG I do feel old now!! In 1965 I bought a 50 Ford four door for $10.00. I talked my Dad into towing it home and by the time I was 16 I had gotten it running and took my license test in it. Worked on it in our dirt floor, single car garage using books I checked out from our local library. How I wish kids these days could do something like that without all of the AI and YouTube.
Just looked, it sold.