Excuse me but does this new Ford "Concept Car", the 49, look anything at all like a real 49 Ford? I don't think so!!
And what is with this trend to build a car someone can go down and buy brand new & think they own a 'street Rod"?

Erbssr, Relax will ya! This car is not a 49 ford and will never be! But it is pretty cool though! If you had a 49 you wouldn't want them to build an exact duplicate would you?
People that own these cars don't think there streetrods and if they do who cares!The PT cruiser is not a streetrod but it took a lot of guts for TOM GAYLE and CHRYSLER to say lets build it and this car brings smiles to everyones face that see it. Just remember in the 80s the cars were square boxes who wanted them! 90s they were trying and 2001 could be the year for STEETROD influence.
I'll take a PT over a TAURUS anyday
SEE YA, "WHEELS"
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I'am interested in the Early 40s style
look !

couple weeks back wife and I were watching the evening news and there was a short [way too short] clip on the Detroit Auto Show and the retro look cars from Ford. New T-bird and a 3-quarter rear shot of the 49r. My first thought was that the roofline looked like a 56 ford vickie, wife instantly remarked that it looked like a shoebox to her. then they flashed off to something else and called the ford the 49r. wpuld love to see a lot more of this car. and as the owner of a 51 Ford mild custom actually kind of flattered that ford is realizing that as I've always believed that the 49-51 fords are second only to the 57 ford in their timeless design and beauty. And no matter what ford builds today its not going to cheapen or downgrade my 51. just my humble opinion.

Zapato, We live about 2 hrs. from Detroit and get Detroit TV so we get about a week and a half of news coverage of the Auto show. There was an article in Automotive News(the industry rag) on the new T-Bird and Ford 49. They said that Ford was guaging the response from the visitors to the show as to whether they would consider producing the "49". But you wanted pics of the 49 so I'll email them to you

as beautiful as the 49ford was/is its amazing that it was really the second design built for that year and actually was a mad rush to come up with. some of you might not be aware that the 49 MERCURY was originally designed to be the Ford. And no change planned for the Merc till 50. Lincoln/mercury dealers screamed and Ford listened. and two classic designs were born in 49. just a bit of trivia some of you might have not known.

Its nice to see the car companies coming out with some interesting, fun cars for a change. When I was a kid in the '50s, my dad would take us down to the car dealerships when the new cars came out to check out the new models. We would look forward to this every year and it was always an exciting, fun day. Dad was a Pontiac man so we would always go there first. I remember in '57 he was so turned on by the new Pontiacs that he actually bought a new Star Chief 4dr hardtop on that trip to check them out. That was his first new car and he was so proud of it. That was a fun era to be a kid and I'm sure it helped develop my interest in cars.

Looking back thru the years, from the '20s thru the '60s, there were exciting changes in cars every year and people looked forward to seeing the new models. I'm not sure what happened in the '70s & '80s, but it seems that we hardly noticed the introduction of new models. Now we've got the new VW Bug, PT Cruisers, T-Bird, Prowler, cars that stand out from the crowd and grab your attention, and whether we like them or not, they've got us talking. I hope the carmakers continue to build the kind of cars that let us express ourselves again.

If you check the news releases and the video on the Internet you will see that the 49er was introduced as an honor to the real 49 which was the first new post war Ford and sold something like 1.2 million. Comments about the timeless design of the original and the interest in buyers for something different is what has prompted Ford to put this concept in front of the public. On the same stage was a restored 49 plus a radical 49 custom which I believe is the 1st time any major manufacturer has had a non factory built/ordered show car on stage like that.
I would seriously consider one but it appears that it is destined for the new Ford "upscale" division which means out of my price range. Guess the Taurus will have to keep running a bit longer as a daily beater.

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Carl
Automotive gold is everywhere; you just have to learn how to dig for it