The Ponton 1949–51 Ford Stays Afloat in Modern Times
The ponton style of car design made a significant impact on modern automobiles, but the name itself didn’t last very long in automotive history. Pontons, with their smooth uninterrupted body lines and elimination of running boards and articulated fenders, first became relevant with the 1923 Bugatti Type 32 “Tank,” but they weren’t a mainstream affair until after the Second World War. The likes of Crosley (1946), Frazier (1947), Nash (1949), and Hudson (1951) embraced the ponton aesthetic, but it was brought it to prominence in the United States by the manufacturing (and retailing) powerhouse known as the Ford Motor Company in 1949. This year is the 75th anniversary of that FoMoCo milestone, though it hasn’t made many headlines. Three-quarters of a century on, what is the significance of these postwar cars, and how does that classic car market treat them?
The modest looking Ford ushered the ponton school of thought into our collective consciousness so quickly that the old way of making cars was left dead in its wake. Speaking of wakes, perhaps a little back story is needed to bring the point home.
The best way to explain ponton car design is by looking at cars and boats before the ponton became popular. Examining boats with V-shaped hulls isn’t terribly convincing, but prewar cars with exposed fenders and running boards show the dramatic differences. So compare these two with the pontoon boat and ponton car (both words have the same meaning) below and it’s clear a significant change occurred for both forms of transportation.
The classic “V” shape hull survived and thrived, leaving pontoon boats for specific tasks akin to their initial use in the military. But the old ways of automotive coachwork clearly met their match, as the march of progress demanded sheetmetal as advanced as the powertrain improvements under the skin.
The modern pontoon boat was likely created by Captain Carl Carlson in 1933, intended to optimize wartime transport for the US Navy. The initial launch of a retail-spec pontoon boat happened 19 years later, one year after (1952) Ford’s ponton body style was mothballed. The 1952 Ford shrugged off some of the original’s clean ponton surfacing on its sides, and perhaps that’s why the name has only been successfully applied to Mercedes-Benz vehicles from 1953-63 by most enthusiasts. Maybe Americans have a love/hate relationship with this design?
And that’s unfortunate, because the 1949 Ford’s legacy is far reaching, just like the Ponton Mercedes Benzes of the same era. I once postulated Ford’s legacy lasted until demise of the Crown Victoria in 2011, as the Vic’s long, continuous lines and proud overhangs embrace the ponton aesthetic much like a 1949 Ford.
Perhaps that isn’t a big deal, as Americans gave the 1949 Ford a nickname of their own design: it was called a “shoebox” many moons ago, and that was also applied to the similarly ponton design of the 1955-57 Chevrolet. Shoebox has become part of our automotive vernacular, and the 1949 Ford deserves some credit for the popularity.
Possessing six years of streamlined, shoeboxy advantage over Harley Earl and General Motors is no small feat for a then-struggling Ford Motor Company, and the 1949 Ford was all new behind that aviation inspired grille. The cabin sat lower than its predecessor, the trunk was 57 percent larger, and it even had an optional manual transmission with overdrive that provided a 25 percent boost in fuel economy.
The smooth, effortless overdrive cruising of a sleek 1949 Ford is a good analogy for the largely flat values of this now-classic Ford in the market. The median value for all body styles in #2 condition is up 5 percent over the last five years, averaging $24,100. A modest 10 percent deduction is needed for examples with the L-head six cylinder engine, but this overall increase is clawing back previous gains: the shoebox Ford lost 9% over the past 10 years.
Curiously the “woody” station wagon experienced the most significant change, and not for the better: values are down over 40 percent in the past 5 years, though their values are still more than double of other shoebox body styles at $58,500 in #2 (“excellent”) condition.
But looking at Ford’s revolutionary shoebox by itself is a bit disingenuous. Chevrolet made their own shoebox just a few years later, and is significantly more famous in the hearts of enthusiasts and in pop culture in general. Can the 1949 Ford hold a candle to Chevy’s iconic shoebox?
Resignation might be too harsh of a term, but the shoebox Chevy (1955-57) are, on average, significantly more valuable across all body configurations. Add them all up, and the Chevrolets in #2 condition are $31,260 for the 150 trim level, or $7160 more than the average shoebox Ford. Things get worse as you move up Chevrolet’s heirarchy, as $33,486 is needed for the mid-line 250 configuration, and $55,991 for the top spec Bel-Air. You’d be hard pressed to buy a Chevy Nomad for the same price as a Ford wagon, as they start at $57,900 and skyrocket to $105,000 for a fuel-injected example from 1957.
While the 1957 Ford outsold the 1957 Chevrolet by a narrow margin, the Chevy shoebox is generally more popular than any Ford from this era. Perhaps the shoebox Ford will always be an underdog for good reason, no matter the time period we discuss.
Quotes to Hagerty for the 1949-51 shoebox Fords skew as you’d expect for a lesser-known post war classic, as 13 percent come from Preboomers, 43 percent from Boomers, 26 percent from Gen X, 14 percent from Millennials, and a paltry 4 percent from Gen Z. Quotes for shoebox Chevy and the 1949-52 Chevy are similar but skew slightly younger, with Gen X taking up a mid-30 percent share for each.
Be it a ponton or a shoebox, the 1949-51 Ford offered innovations and advancements for all future motorists to appreciate. But sleek and subtle aren’t necessarily the things of popularity in the realm of classic cars. While the future is always up for grabs, we openly wonder if the shoebox Fords will ever get the respect they deserve. Or at least garner the same levels of respect given to its Chevrolet counterparts.
Might I also add, from a significant historical perspective. While the 49 and Mercs. are considered the quintessential lead sleds, these are right there with them. Gave birth to that movement.
(ps) not to overlook the “fabulous” Hudson Hornet.
Definitely not! I added Hudson now, the only reason I didn’t was because it was after 1949 in that specific sentence. But that’s a silly reason, Hudson deserves credit for being so daring.
Catch up to the tri-5s? Doubtful. The Fords had flat-glass divided windshields, no turn signals, obsolete flathead engines, and vacuum wipers. My father bought a new 1950 Custom. I vaguely recall him in the side yard installing turn signals, fog lights, and seat belts. When he sold it in 1958, he told me that he had to have the engine “overhauled” (his term) once and it now needed to be “rebuilt.” It had something like 88,000 miles on the clock. It’s not on my list of collectible cars.
Chevrolets did not have turn signals standard in 1950, they had antiquated “Stovebolt” sixes (with Babbitt bearings and splash oiling), and vacuum wipers remained a staple at GM until 1958.
A truer comparison of collectibility would be values of 49-51 Chevies compared to shoebox Fords as the tri-fives are in a class of their own.
I, for one, am immensely grateful that the mid-50s chevies are so much more popular than my 49 Ford. You can go to just about any car show and see several mid 50s chevies. I like having some more unique. Also, parts for the 49 are more reasonably priced.
I don’t see too many of these Ford’s around but they are around. More likely to see a ’51-ish Mercury in my area.
I had a ’51 Ford 2dr Custom Deluxe for four years which had a rear window wiper. Never could figure out how the thing worked though. Also had a ’51 Chevy 2dr Deluxe(?), no comparison to the Ford engine, spun a bearing in the Chevy. Made about $4000 profit when the Ford was sold.
An off-shoot to this line of Ford was the Canadian made Meteor (exclusive to the Canadian market), which used the same body but had its own unique styling cues and used parts from the Mercury line. They were sold through Mercury dealers and their target was to compete with Pontiac at an identical price point.
Absolutely true. Thanks for flying the Canadian flag. Also note the Monarch, unique to Canada. As I recall, the dealerships were (1) Ford/Monarch and (2) Mercury/Lincoln/Meteor.
R Merrow- Those old vacuum operated wipers never worked well. And the faster you went the worse they worked. So probably didn’t do such a great job from day one. Still a 24 bolt 100 horse flathead is a thing of beauty.
At 14-15 I learned to drive in a 4-door 1949 Ford Custom, V-8 with Over-drive. The engine was so quiet that I recall my mother hitting the starter button to restart the engine. My father used to brag that never did a wrench touch the engine! He sold it, eventually. Ran into the new owner some time later who told him: “I never had a better drag car!” Dad obtained the car from a dealership which had used it as a “Demonstrator” vehicle. It had a sun visor, a cup holder and a Kleenex holder. Down the road in my 20s, I purchased a 1950 Ford Coup, Custom V-8 with Over-drive. Nice vehicle–If I could, I’d own it again. Great vehicles!!!
I currently own a 51 Ford custom deluxe tudor flathead v8 with three on the tree and O/D. Runs like a top with dual exhaust glasspacks. Sweet fifties sound. It gets more looks at car shows than 80 percent of other vehicles there. Can’t tell you how many times people have told me they learned how to drive in a shoe box Ford.
I remember my dad buying a new dark green 1950 Ford 2-door sedan. I was four years old and a car buff even then. It was a flathead V-8. He traded it in on a 1953 two tone green 4-door with a 6 cylinder with overdrive. I believe it was the first year of the OHV 6-cylinder and he swore it would outrun the flathead.
My Bro. dismembered a 1949 Ford Custom deluxe 2 Door ,the whole power train was laying on the floor to be rebuild, the chassis was sand-blasted and nickkeled in a bath, body washed down and refubished super-factory-style and after reconstruction added electric accessories, and looked fabulous.Yes why Ford gets things done in secondary countries is beyond my quality oulook.(call me)
My dad was a Ford man through the mid-sixties and the proud owner of a 1951 Custom two-door when new. Stationed at Ft Leonard Wood in Missouri at the time, he would return to Chicago whenever he got a three-day pass. Those trips in part paid for the car: he’d load the car with four or five other soldiers wanting to go to Chicago, charging them train fare but beating the train by hours each way. He talked about running 80-85 mph (overdrive rules!) on the mostly three lane Route 66, and marveled that he never got stopped by the police. The car went over 100K miles with the heads never off-no rings, no valves, no bearings, though on its last trip (Florida to Chicago in 1961) it was at 50 mi/qt on oil.
I’ve wanted a shoebox Ford since I was a kid. Once I could seriously shop one (early eighties) my dad warned me that the body integrity of the ‘49s was not great-leaks and rattles, he said. I never did find the right one though.