This is an installment in a series of posts looking back on show cars that we feel deserved a little more attention than they got. If you have a suggestion for a Forgotten Concept topic, please shoot us a line or leave a comment below.
Ford Forty-Nine Concept
First Seen: 2001 Detroit Auto Show
Description: Retro-themed midsize coupe
Sales Pitch: “The Forty-Nine Concept harkens back to the romance of a Friday night at the drive-in…”
Details:
First seen at the 2001 Detroit Auto Show, the Ford Forty-Nine Concept was an homage to the brand’s revolutionary 1949 model lineup. Penned by hot rod and custom car designer Chip Foose—star of the automotive reality show Overhaulin’—the Forty-Nine was based on the same Ford DEW98 architecture as the contemporary Ford Thunderbird, Lincoln LS, and Jaguar S-Type.
The pillarless coupe was powered by a 3.9-liter V8 mated to a 5-speed automatic transmission and rode on polished 20-inch alloy wheels. Ford executives hinted at the time that the Forty-Nine would be relatively simple to put into production, though a plans for a retail version of the concept were never realized. A convertible version of the Forty-Nine (pictured below) was also built as a static display vehicle, but was not shown as regularly on the auto-show circuit as the coupe was. The Forty-Nine Concept convertible was sold at auction in 2019 for $51,700.
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CG Says:
It is at least a little ironic to pay tribute to a ground-breaking, game-changing vehicle with a mechanically conventional retro-themed concept, but good intentions count for something. That said, the Forty-Nine is a great-looking car, though the sales potential of a production variant was likely limited. With its revived Thunderbird on deck for the 2002 model year, Ford already had one neo-classic ride arriving in showrooms… which, as it turned out, proved to be plenty.
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Listen to the Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast
Ford Forty-Nine Concept Gallery
(Click below for enlarged images)
I am surprised that the 49 didn’t go into production! As I recall, everywhere it went, the public was enamered!
Instead, what Ford came out with was the Ford 500! Puke!!!
Yeah, seems like Ford had something here. Would have had to have been a sedan, but that would still have been pretty cool.