Always interested in little factory options on cars. I traded items with a gentleman a few hours north of me today. He drove his beautiful '49 Club Coupe down to make the trade..Pictures on a different thread. Of particular interest to me was the factory windshield washer including original under hood fluid bottle.. Just way cool to me...
I have several pieces of 50 Crestliner side stainless, along with turn signal switches, and a NOS a full right quarter panel.
If you are interested in factory approved options for shoebox Fords, check this thread out : https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=270067&highlight=accessories. (It's from a brochure I found under the back seat of my 2 owner '51 club coupe.)
Before about 1954 everything that the car absolutely didn't need to make it run safely down the road was an extra cost option. Many that became standard in the early or mid 50's. The wipers are an obvious one but heaters were optional up to the early 50's on a lot of cars. Dealers and salesmen made a lot of their profit off the dealer installed items at time of purchase. One reason why you can look at a lot of older cars and trucks and they don't have a "factory" heater but they have a heater that they have had since the day they were sold new. Also you see rigs with heaters that may actually be from an earlier model that the dealer pulled off the shelf and installed. A lot of the 46/48 cars have a lot of extra dealer installed fru fru simply because at that time the dealer would load them down with accessories because it was a take it or leave it deal when your number came up to go pick up your new car. If you didn't like the one they had you went to the back of the line unless they had more than one there.
Actually that winged ornament is one of the few things that are not factory on this car.. He made it from something else. But yes it does light up
Somewhere, NOS in box, I have a Pres-a-lite cigarette dispenser/lighter. Load cigs, pull down little trap door, and out rolled a lit ciggy for your cancer pleasure. Think it has 51 part number. Mounted to steering column. Prolly go in my 52 Marmon Herrington Ford pickup when done.
Stacy - over at Antique Auto Supply in Arlington - RIP - always had some neat old NOS stuff. He supplied me with a lot of the valve ***embly's I used on my flatheads. He had a display of - automatic cigarette lighters that went in place of the regular cigarette lighter. You put the cigarette in and it lit it up I'm thinking. It's around here somewhere.....
I just remember that somewhere in my stash, I have a rear window wiper ***embly for '49-'51 Fords. I bought it shortly after I bought my '51 in 1987. It came in its original Ford box with a ford part number printed on it, and I have no doubt it is an original part. It had an instruction sheet much like that shown in the previous post, which is what jogged my mind. It contained the wiper ***embly, a coil of vacuum hose, and a few bits and pieces. Unfortunately, it was missing the vacuum switch that mounted under the dash. That was probably a good thing because if it was complete, I probably would have tried to mount it. Now, I can't imaging drilling a hole in the pristine panel above the decklid.
In the '70s, I stripped half a dozen '46-'48 Pontiacs. I can't remember a single one that didn't have rear wiper, backup light, fog lights, the fancy bumper guards, big heater, radio, w/s washer .... Pontiac front office must have really pushed the dealers to load them up ...
Actually got one of these from Stacy who ran Antique Auto Supply there in Arlington - he had a Ford display with them one and I bought oneas I had my Shoebox at the time.
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