Vehicle Description
1951 Ford Custom Sedan
For Ford's first introduction after WW2 they rolled out the
commonly referred to shoebox design, a slab sided, pontooned car
with its frowning chrome grille with the single bullet and Ford
crest, which would appear throughout the 1950's on numerous Fords.
Their new streamlined design with its integrated fenders and more
would usher in the modern streamlined design and beat the other
"Big Two" to the punch. This would help satisfy the voracious
appetite for something new in the post war recovering country and
make Ford a wildly profitable company.
Approaching this car it's difficult not to be taken in by its sleek
design, nice paint, and overall good looks. This 1951 4 door has
great chome,redone suspension and was the winner of 2 rather large
trophies at the Ocean City, MD Endless Summer car shows. A
beautiful interior, all new Ron Francis wiring, lowered look, and
very smooth-running Flathead V8, this is a standout in our halls,
and is priced right to move out of said halls...quickly!
Exterior
Bathed in deep dark black paint, these rounded fenders, roofline,
and chromed grille, all present very well. Just a few small spots
of some bubbling and chipping of the paint are seen, but nothing to
detract from the overall beauty. Chrome is near perfect, and up
front we catch the twin dagmar center grille with the pinstripe
highlighted Ford crest above and simple chrome bumper below. The
design flows to the fenders with chrome bezel single headlights
within rounded integrated fenders where the beginnings of a trim
spear are seen. From here the spear flows rearward below the belt
line above the rockers, and above are nice handles, a round side
view mirror, real deal Appleton S-552 spotlights, and locks for the
doors fully functioning. Another set of doors are aft, and then we
move rearward to the rounded rear fenders with a small bump out
which eventually ends in the horizontal opposing blue dot oval tail
lights. Below is another fine bumper, and on the big round trunk
lid is another Ford crest with a chrome framed license plate light
fixture and more pinstriping. The roof is near perfect and
surrounding the confines of the passenger compartment are chrome
trimmed windows in keeping with the aero design. Smooth chromed dog
dish wheel covers are wrapped by wide whites on all 4 corners and
have body matching powder coated steel wheels peeking out from
underneath the dog dishes.
Interior
Very soft supple key lime vinyl with some stitching and square
texture is abundant on the front and rear benches and covers the
original upholstery. Door panels are smooth ivory vinyl with a
touch of tan marbling as well as shiny handles and cranks and a
painted upper sill. Feasting our eyes on the beautifully restored
metal dash it keeps all its original charm with a single round
gauge in front of the original steering wheel fashioned from
bakelite and on a simple metal column. Plenty of knobs and pulls
made from more bakelite in black are fashioned within a chrome mesh
insert. This mesh runs through the center of the dash with more
black pulls, a clock and the factory AM radio. Below the dash right
next to the steering wheel is a nicely restored temp/fan controller
and in the center bottom resides a foursome of Mooneyes gauges.
Beautiful black carpet floods the floors, and above is a slightly
sagged marbled ivory vinyl headliner.
Drivetrain
A lift of the Ford crested hood, and we have revealed to us the
original rebuilt 239ci flathead V8 topped with higher compression
EAB heads. The block is shown in blazing red and is topped by a
pair of rebuilt Holley 94 2-barrel carburetors on an Edelbrock
intake manifold. On the back is an original to this car 3-speed
manual transmission with overdrive which pushes power rearward to a
Ford 9" rear axle. We note the upgrade to a 12 volt electrical
system and a Mallory Unilite distributor and all looking good under
the hood.
Undercarriage
Showing some surface rust on the frame although it remains sound
and tight to support the undercoated and solid floor pans. The
rockers remain solid as well and mix nicely with the factory frame.
Drum brakes with a new master cylinder, wheel cylinders and
hardware are seen all around, as well as independent coil springs
for the front suspension with 4.5" total of lowering thanks to Moog
coil springs (2" drop), Monroe Sensa-trac shocks, and Fatman 2.5
drop spindles. Fatman dropped steering arms, and a Jamco heavy duty
swaybarare also on. In the rear are Jamco 3" drop leaf springs and
3" steel lowering blocks and Jamco shocks. Red's stainless steel
headers with Smithy mufflers and dual exhaust are on for the exhale
and end in chrome pencil tips. Our consignor states that all the
seals in the suspension were replaces and the bearings serviced
with Mobile-1 synthetic grease.
Drive-Ability
Simply put a pleasure to drive, it fired right up with little
coaxing, and ran like a dream through our test track. Smooth
acceleration, bias free braking that worked very well, and good
handling for a turn of the 5th decade car. All functions were
working save for the brake lights, heater blower and radio, and the
smooth vinyl seats were very comfortable.
A wonderful restoration of the 1951 4 door from Ford. A walk around
and you too will be impressed with its nice paint, wonderful
interior, and drivetrain that is all buttoned up. Start re-enjoying
Sunday drives to car shows, where you can turn heads, win awards,
and just have a great time hanging out with the like-minded.
B1RH113730
B-V8
1-1951
RH-Richmond, CA Assy Plant
113730-Sequential Unit Number
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 650 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display.
This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown,
Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia
on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is
www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914.
Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the
vehicle in person.
