What do you guys think of this concept?

Sometime in 2001 while my head was apparently buried in the sand like an ostrich, Ford came out with the” Forty-Nine” concept. It was a way of tipping their hat to the great success of the 1949 Ford. Apparently in 1949, Ford had 1.3 million orders for the newly redesigned cars before they even arrived at the dealers. Yeah, that’s pretty decent and all, but we aren’t here for sales numbers, we are here to talk about this cool “Forty-Nine” Concept.

For me, I wish I had seen this car in 2001 before the 02-05 Thunderbirds came out. The “Forty-Nine” is a great looking car from every angle (especially the convertible), but it strongly hints at the 02-05 Thunderbird, which forces me to give it a major attitude and a healthy dose of mean muggin’. We all know that very few people actually like the 02-05 Thunderbird because of its high price, “blah” suspension, mid 1990’s interior, automatic transmission, and “meh” horsepower numbers. I have to assume that if this “Forty-Nine” actually did go into production, it would likely have been a Thunderbird on all the same levels. A heaping bucket full of “blah”, with a complementary side of “meh”. No thank you.

But let’s be more positive now, because nobody likes a negative Nancy…

Fact: This “Forty-Nine” car concept is great looking. Look at how straight the body is, and how clean all the edges of the glass are. I wish my cars had the kind of smooooooth that Ford brought to 2001 with this car (A+ on that). The wheels are little dated now, but in 2001 they were probably the hottest thing on the block. The roof is clear, which is great for a multitude reasons that I won’t dive into. Other than the intake pipe decal, the engine bay is a work of art that looks delicious. With the engine bay that nice, who cares what the rest of the car looks like? The interior overall is pretty nice looking. It really brings a simple, sporty, and classic look to the table. Well done on that.

Now, build this car with a new supercharged 5.0L and a 6-speed manual transmission, loud exhaust, and new wheels, and it will be eternally great. I’ll take mine 4 inches lower too.





Images from:

http://www.seriouswheels.com/