Customs 1950 Ford coupe ~ Outside my comfort zone

Saw this one last night at a cruise! It was nice.

 

Did anyone else notice the the black car in the above picture has internal trunk hinges? I have heard of this before and I guess it's a lot harder to do than one would think. I think it really adds to the car's appeal.

 

Mark,that car is a lot nicer than the one I'm going to look at but it is inspiring. HRP

 

........Might be a '51........although the tail-lights are '49-'50. They do look cleaner with the hidden hinges.

 

Prefer the look of a club coupe, but my Uncle Bud had a nice red and black Crestliner. He and Aunt Joan used to take me to church in it, skirts, ww's, gl*** packs and ashcans! Yeah, I have a soft spot for 'em. Let us know if you add to the 'fleet', Carp.

 

You are going to be tying up future 1932 Ford money, how quickly can you get out of the '50 if you need to? Bob

 

As lothiandon1940 said, it most likely is a 51 as they all lacked the external trunk hinges. Removing he chrome spears and filling three attachment holes permits the use of 49-50 tail lights.

 

Those cars are prone to rust in the rockers, both inner and outer. I bought one the someone had put a 1/4 over the old rusty 1/4. Had to take the new 1/4 off and cut off the old one to eliminate the hacked up repair. Really like that model Ford.

 

I considered that, but look at the side trim (the '51 Custom trim wraps around the whole rear of the car and has a completely different profile). Do you see what appears to be a small third brake light in the middle, just ahead of the trunk? That suggests to me that someone has been working in that area of the body. Also, my '51 Club coupe has a stainless "apron" about 2" wide below the rear window. The door handles appear suspect to me also, but I can't see them clearly enough to say anything definitive. One last thing; after looking carefully at the picture, the hood has a wide "bullnose" trim piece that was offered only for '49-50's. I highly doubt anyone would change all of these details.

I would bet good money that it's not a '51. Maybe I should check first with "50Fraud".

 

Good call on the door handles. By '51, I think they had push ****ons instead of the pull handles. I think that "3rd brake light" might be a reflection. Further scrutiny is required.

 

I think you're right about the reflection, now that I look at it again. And you are correct about the '51's having push ****on door handles. The car in question definitely has the "pull" handles. When I look at the blown up picture, the dash appears to be '49-'50 as well.

 

I just got home from checking the car out,it does need some work to get it back on the road,new tires,a battery,clean the gas tank & a tune up,the body is in pretty good shape, the side trim has been removed and filler in.
Some of the chrome is very nice and some is showing rust.

I made what I thought was a generous offer but not near what he wants and he said he would have to think about it and let me know next week.

I told him I like the car but I don't have to have it.

So that's where we are at,hurry up and wait!

Bob,If he meets my price it won't stop me from buying another Deuce. HRP

 

Well, again I said what my brain wasn't thinking. I was just referring to all "51's having the interior trunk hinges after Tubman stated that it is harder to replace the exterior hinges than you would think and that he had never seen that. Also that you can simply install the '49-'50 tail lights by eliminating the chrome spears. Actually the spears look kind of hideous to some and and appear to be a last minute factory update to differentiate the '51 model year from the previous two years aside from the door handle change which can be missed at a quick glance. No immediate side body differences or rear views differentiate the bodies other than the addition of the spears missing trunk hinges and tail lights. Frontal views are discernable with the solid front hood and two bullet grilles. Front fenders, quarter panels, bumpers, and doors are all interchangeable along with headlight buckets and trim rings. All of these details were a change for Ford as a company as they were entering the post war years and attempting to update and continue morphing away from old Henry's ideas which while established the company stymied it's growth pre-war.

 

Did all 51's have the chrome spears?

 

...here's a club members car...

 

That coupe is a beauty. HRP

 

Yes.

 

"warhorseracing" - Actually, there is a difference that can be easily discerned from the side and rear. If it's a '51 DeLuxe, there is no side trim all, a quality shared by no other "Shoebox Ford". If it's a "Custom", the side trim wraps all the way around under the trunk and up both sides of the car. The profile of the side trim is also completely different. Having had both versions, I can tell the difference at a glance. Also, given Ford's penchant for extra shiny trim in 1951, there is also the stainless apron under the rear window.

It's kind of ironic that when I had a '51 in high school, the first things I did were to ditch the taillight spears and grille. When I got my current car over 30 years ago the first thing I did was to go out and find a good set of taillight spears , a set of grille extensions, and had the grille replated.

 

Tubman, I agree with all of your points. My point actually was any and all of that could be changed easily on the three year specific shoe boxes to make any year and specific model.

 

I had a tan '50 'Custom Coupe' I bought from a wrecking yard, 1963. Wrist pin thru a cyl. wall, smoked like an old bus. $65.00 cash, drove it home. Body was flawless; someone had cut the front coils, and it had that sagging, negative camber stance. Not pretty.
I installed Station Wagon springs front & rear, (we were 'raising 'em up' then) oversize rear tires, and a SBC, (almost new 327 slipped right in there, steering linkage was 'tight', but didn't have to use that 'dropped' center bar some used back then)
Tight, sanitary little ford, blew one Ford ******...Went to Chev Saginaw 3 speed and Corvette shift linkage, and the stock '50 Ford driveshaft! 2 years later, sold it for a fortune!
$900.00 LOL

 

I am not as much of a die hard custom guy as many on here, but I really like the looks of my exposed rear trunk hinges.
Other than the bumper & rear gl*** stainless, there is no chrome at all on my 50.
It looks a little plain compared to all the chrome on the front, I will even leave the rear bumper guards to add a little chrome.

 

The coupe I am looking at has had the side trim removed, looks like everything else is stock as far as the body goes. HRP

 

With all that modern comfort you might be spoiled and never drive an old '32 again!

 

49's and 50's had some troublesome issues with door latches, trunk locks, hood hinges and latches, and sealing. '51's are the best iteration, Ford having had two years to work out some of those bugs (and some were downright dangerous, like unlatching doors). Having spent five years churning out War machinery and three retooling for civilian production left them behind the eight ball and getting the "All New" 1949's to market meant cutting a LOT of corners when they really shouldn't have. All the manufacturers had teething issues with their "new" postwar designs, but Ford seemed to always be playing "whack-a-mole" with the design. IMHO it wasn't perfected until 1954, a very looong time in Detroit years.

 

I bought my first Deuce at 12 years old and I have been infatuated with them for a very long time so I really don't think that will happen. HRP

 

I have had a good bit of experience with '54 Ford door latches and I even have a extra set of NOS ones on the shelf,I would probably replace the '50 Ford door latches with the newer '54, I don't know if they area direct fit but I feel certain I can make them work. HRP

 

I think it was some sort of sensor.

 

Here's my '49 Coupe.. maybe you can get some ideas..Covered pretty much every aspect of the last 7 years. Hidden hinges, Hood Hinges, Business Coupe back windows, lots of stuff to digest...
https://49fordcoupe.smugmug.com/

 

Following along here, it reminded me I had a 51 Ford coupe in high school for a short time, had wrecked my beautiful 56 Chev rag top, mild custom from California, traded my 57 Chev for it, no insurance of course and had to get something to drive, So...... found a 51 Ford in newspaper, estate sale, ad stated, rough, but runs good, first $50. Cut school, took my sister to work so I could use her car, grab a buddy and we go to get the Ford. It looked bad from paint oxidizing, but not much rust, chrome OK, V8 stick, interior OK, ran great, had a sun visor, skirts, peeled off $ 50 and now I'm a Ford owner. I went to Arlens,( like a Kmart) bought a dozen cans or more of flat black,( couple of trips) 2 cans red for wheels, painted car, put narrow white port a walls with baby moons, $20 floor shift kit, and magic, car looked pretty good for a total investment of under a $100. while driving this around a opportunity showed up to buy a 57 DeSota, rust bucket, 2x4 Hemi engine, torqueflight, ran good, another $100 car, while cruising Ford with 4 sale in window, a guy offered me $350, countered at $400, he buys it, same story with DeSota, a man offers $300 for engine/trans, my counter was $350, you get the whole car, buys it.I took that profit of $550 add some, and bought a 58 Impala rag top that I kept for awhile, did quite a bit to it, painted in driveway, traded that for a Kustom 60 Ford ragtop. For me, the best part of the HAMB are the different threads/posts that bring memories up from my car life. It's a shame kids today don't get the opportunities that us Babyboomers had/created as the car game has changed dramatically $$$ and otherwise IMO. Thank You HotRodPrimer !

 

Hopefully I will know something this week. HRP