Folks Of Interest Changes from '49 to '50 Ford?

What were the 50 changes for '50? I'm picking up either a '49 club coupe or a '50 2 door sedan. Was the '49 that much worse or will the '50s changes not be missed? Both are completely original as far as condition, have v8s and have overdrives

 

Bodies were the same. Drivetrains as well as far as I know. Automatic transmission didn't come along until '51 so they both would be manual transmissions. Biggest noticeable differences are grille and some trim. '51 got hidden trunk hinges as '49 and '50 were exposed.

 

49 had "pull out" door handles, 50 had push*****on,49 had a gas cap on the rear quarter, and 50 had a door. Front park lights are different, I like the 49's better. The Ford lettering on the hood for '49, and not in 50. 49 had a lift up trunk handle, 50 had a sheet metal hood over the license plate.

 

Here's a sweet '49 !

 

Thanks for the responses so far. I knew about the exterior trim changes and stuff like that. The '50 looked like it had modern control arms but I didnt get a good look behind the tire. Did the suspension or steering change at all or no?

 

...Not sure about that.

 

1949 is the first year for non solid axle front suspension.

 

^^^^Excellent^^^

 

I see ‘club coupe’ and that is more important than the year to me.

 

Supposedly the door latches were improved on a '50 but the latches on the '49 I used to have seemed to work just fine.

 

No major mechanical improvements. Go for the coupe!

 

You guys are fantastic! I'm definitely going for the coupe. This one had me sold. It's taking the place of my '51 Belair as my daily driver so I just wanted to make sure it would handle as well as the '50 and all.

 

Try this :


As I remember it, the main problems with the '49's were the exterior door handles and the upholstery (which deteriorated quickly). Other stuff was styling related and up to your personal taste.

 

Even though the two cars look similar, they are very different. Front fenders are different because of the parking light housings. Not one part of the grilles interchange, the 50 parts are ever so much smaller. Hoods will not interchange, I understand that the 49 would come open at speed sometimes so the 50 uses different latches and hinges. Although they look different, the 50 an 51 hoods will fit each other except for the 50 cut out for the grille . Apparently, because of the switch to better latching and hinges both hoods will swap which makes customizing a 50 can be easy. In the early 70s, I bought out several old Ford dealer stocks and was educated the hard way. An example is the 49 and 50 grille bullets, the 50 will fit inside of the 49. As mentioned before, door handles, gas cap vs gas door, and trunk lid handles vs licence plate surrounds too. Fenders can interchange if you fill and red ill the parking light mount holes. As an added note, 49 convertibles with overdrive have almost no clearance around the X but 50 and 51 have somewhat better clearance.

 

So can I swap the 50 latch and hinges onto the 49 or is there a fix for the 49s latch?

 

The coupe is for sure cooler, Sedan has a bit more head room for back seat passengers if you figure that you might be having adult size rear seat passengers on a regular basis.
First new car and the last Ford my dad ever owned was a 51 two door that I am not sure was a coupe or sedan. I know I went to the dealer with him to pick it up when I was four and later that summer my family took a road trip to San Diego in it. I don't remember seeing a photo of it in the photos I have, not even the one at the scenic attraction with family standing in front of the car.