Vehicle Description
Beautiful, high-quality restoration, multiple Dearborn Award winner, proven reliable tour car. First-year automatic transmission, loaded with options and accessories. Everything works!
This lovely 1951 Ford Custom Deluxe sedan is one of the best there is. It’s a multiple Dearborn Award winner, which is arguably the highest honor a V8 Ford can receive. It not only means it’s pretty, as is the case with many club awards, but that it’s correct and functional, as the Dearborn process takes hours of intense scrutiny by a team of knowledgeable judges. Owning a Dearborn car means you’ve got one of the best. The restoration is several years old and since it was retired from active competition, it’s been driven about 10,000 miles, so it’s no longer perfect, but it’s very, very nice. The dark blue paint is the car’s original color, called Culver Blue, and it’s dark enough that it sometimes is mistaken for black. This was a super straight original car before the restoration, and it was completely disassembled, the body was stripped to bare metal, and it was completely rebuilt from there. The clean “shoebox” styling remains elegant and modern, but a few well-chosen pieces of trim accentuate this high-end look. All the chrome and stainless trim on this Custom Deluxe sedan has been restored and remains in top-notch condition and to be honest, we’d have a hard time finding something to point at as a flaw. It’s also nicely accessorized with fog lamps, a very sleek-looking windshield visor, spotlight, and fender skirts, along with optional back-up lamps built into the body. This Ford is anything but basic.
The gray cloth interior is quite correct, and if you don’t feel compelled to slide behind the wheel of this comfortable-looking Ford, then maybe cars aren’t your thing. Everything works, all the gauges, the clock ticks away reliably, and even the AM radio pulls in stations loud and clear. Of note, the cigarette lighter knob has been re-tasked as a switch for the electric fuel pump, which is a clever update that works rather well. In familiar Ford tradition, the front seat passengers get durable rubber mats, while rear seat passengers get gray carpets that offer a slightly plusher feel. You’ll note the column shifter and only two pedals on the floor, because this car carries the first-year Ford-O-Matic automatic transmission, and it works surprisingly well, adding to the car’s polished feel. And for road trips, there’s a massive trunk fitted with a proper rubber mat and full-sized spare that’s never been used.
The engine is familiar, a 239 cubic inch “flathead” V8. If you’ve never driven one that’s properly sorted, this one will be a revelation for you: once it’s running, you can’t feel it. There’s a nice mechanical whirring sound from somewhere far up front and a meaty V8 burble from the single tailpipe, but from behind the wheel, without revving the engine, you’ll think it’s stalled. That’s how the great ones run. This one is nicely detailed in proper Ford Copper engine paint, which extends to the intake manifold and air cleaner, which is how they were delivered new. The only notable modification is a 6-volt alternator, which powers up the battery more quickly than a generator would, and it’s easy to reverse if you want to go back to 100% original. It starts quickly by using the electric fuel pump to prime it, and thanks to a recent and extensive fuel system service, that includes a re-lined tank, fresh lines, rebuilt mechanical pump, and a rebuilt carburetor, it runs superbly. It’s most recent outing was a trip to the Ford National Meet in Atlanta, Georgia a few years ago, a trip it made on its own, not on a trailer, cruising at 65 MPH for more than 3000 miles. That’s the sign of a great car!
Of course, the Ford-O-Matic makes it easy and it works just like any other modern transmission and thanks to the torque multiplication of the fluid coupling, it has lower 3.31 gears than the manual transmission cars, which allow it to cruise at modern highway speeds without working hard. Both the engine and the transmission were rebuilt when the car was restored, about 10,000 miles ago, and they need nothing today. The exhaust system is recent the brakes and suspension were rebuilt, and while it does show evidence of use, there are no problems or issues that should concern a new owner. It has also been fitted with brand new 215/70/15 Firestone blackwall radials, which are the right look and complement the simple hubcaps perfectly.
Take another look at sedans and you’ll realize they offer a great deal of style, fun, and practicality, all at a very affordable price. This is one of the best-running V8 Fords we’ve ever featured and despite its subtle look, it generates more than its fair share of interest on the showroom floor. Call today!
For more details and photos, please visit www.HarwoodMotors.com
