Ford’s first completely new postwar car became available for the 1949 model year during June 1948 — far earlier than the usual fall introductions. Those 1949 Fords helped the company survive and even recover from severe financial mismanagement by company founder Henry Ford following Edsel Ford’s death.
The basic 1949 body and chassis design remained intact through 1951, but with substantial improvements along the way. Among the 1949 Ford’s new features was the company’s first modern suspension with coil springs in front and parallel leaf springs in back, which replaced the very outdated transverse leaf springs used front and rear by Ford through 1948. In 1951, Ford’s first hardtop, the Victoria, hit the streets, along with the new Fordomatic automatic transmission. After selling approximately three million copies of the initial postwar offering from 1949 to 1951, Ford unleashed a new lower, longer, wider body design for 1952. This design served Ford for the next three years at which point it received a makeover so complete, the result appeared to be an all-new car for 1955. The original 1952 design was finally replaced for the 1957 model year.
Beginning in 1952, Ford’s series offerings were expanded from four to five. Replacing the Custom and Custom Deluxe six- and eight-cylinder series were the Mainline in six- and eight-cylinder series, Customline six- and Customline eight-cylinder series and Crestline, which was offered only with the V-8.
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