Ford must have had a heck of a year in 1946 because we keep coming across Dearborn products of all different models and body styles from that first post-WW-II production year. And upon further review, it appears that Ford did indeed build about 371K cars, in total, 74 years ago. One of the more common body styles to roll off of Ford’s assembly lines in ’46 was the Super Deluxe sedan and here is a very original example, located in Parkesburg, Pennsylvania, and available here on craigslist for $6,900. Thanks to Ikey H. for this tip!
And is so often the case with a car of this originality, there is a story included. Turns out that the second owner of this sedan purchased it in the late ’50s from the original owner and drove it for about 30 years and then parked it in 1987 due to leaky wheel cylinders. That seems like a minimus reason to park a car; leaky wheel cylinders are a way of life with old drum brakes, but nevertheless, that’s the story. The seller elaborates that this Ford was only used as a spare car by the second owner; perhaps that was motivation to just park it when trouble arose. So now the seller, who has possessed this Ford for some unknown amount of time, wants to find a new home for it.
So what do we know about the overall condition of this Super Deluxe? It’s been stored inside and it’s all together; as the seller states, “it’s all there and not in 37 baskets and 189 pieces like most cars its age.” Well, that’s true, though as of late, I have come across quite a few considerably newer cars that are in 37 baskets and 189 (or more) pieces while some of those recently discovered post-war Fords are in a similar shape to this example. Nevertheless, the not-assemble-it-yourself state of this sedan is welcome. And the body/trim would seem to be intact on this Super Deluxe. Even the small “Super Deluxe” badge is still in place between the bumper and headlight on the driver’s side fender. The body panels show no sign of crash damage or rust and there is still a bit of a shine to Henry Ford’s favorite shade of lacquer though the seller does state that the inner wheel well shields are missing. Another good sign is that the window glass is not revealing any cracks or delamination, or worse, outright missing pieces. The chrome bumpers have lost a bit of their luster and the hubcaps appear to have met the business end of a mallet or ham-handed Hank one too many times but this is all small, typical stuff.
The interior shows a bit discolored and worn. The seat upholstery, what can be viewed of it, still looks pretty good (the rear one in particular!) but the armrests are frayed and decomposing and the door cards are stained and torn in places. While the headliner is intact, it just looks old but at least it has not succumbed to gravity. Again, these are all typical and expected issues for a 74-year-old vehicle that has experienced 91K miles of operation.
Under the hood is Ford’s venerable flathead V8, which for 1946 should be a 100 HP, 239 CI version. This is a non-running sedan and the seller claims that “I have not had time to put a battery in it to try to crank it over, and I have not had the time to go over the brakes. It will need to be fully gone over before hitting the road….” I have to say that I’ll never understand that line of reasoning unless the seller doesn’t want to know what might be wrong with the engine. That same statement is encountered time and time again and I would really want to know the truth of the matter. It’s especially beguiling when there is a battery in plain sight under the hood. Come on, charge it up, hook it up and let fly! Just like the bank robber perp. in the first Dirty Harry movie says when confronted by Det. Callahan’s .44 mag. at very close range, “I gots to know”. The brakes are supposedly what put this Ford in the doghouse 33 years ago so, yes, by all means, get to the bottom of that potentially one-and-done test-drive event. As is the case with Fords of this era, the transmission is a three-speed manual unit.
Moving forward, what to do? Being a four-door sedan puts this Super-Deluxe partially behind the eight-ball. No prejudice here, but that’s the reality of old car preferences, the two-door coupes and sedans are the first picked for the team. So the body style, coupled with the originality of this example, one would think, steers the entire matter towards making this sedan a road-worthy driver in the same basic flavor as it currently exists. As always, we want to hear what you think, suggestions please; what direction would you take this nice, old ’46 Ford Super Deluxe?
This content was originally published here.