The Ponton 1949–51 Ford Stays Afloat in Modern Times

The ponton style of car design made a significant impact on modern automobiles, but the name itself didn’t last very long in automotive history. Pontons, with their smooth uninterrupted body lines and elimination of running boards and articulated fenders, first became relevant with the 1923 Bugatti Type 32 “Tank,” but they weren’t a mainstream affair until after the Second World War. The likes of Crosley (1946), Frazier (1947), and Nash (1949) embraced the ponton aesthetic, but it was brought it to prominence in the United States by the manufacturing (and retailing) powerhouse known as the Ford Motor Company in 1949. This year is the 75th anniversary of that FoMoCo milestone, though it hasn’t made many headlines. Three-quarters of a century on, what is the significance of these postwar cars, and how does that classic car market treat them?

The modest looking Ford ushered the ponton school of thought into our collective consciousness so quickly that the old way of making cars was left dead in its wake. Speaking of wakes, perhaps a little back story is needed to bring the point home.

The best way to explain ponton car design is by looking at cars and boats before the ponton became popular. Examining boats with V-shaped hulls isn’t terribly convincing, but prewar cars with exposed fenders and running boards show the dramatic differences. So compare these two with the pontoon boat and ponton car (both words have the same meaning) below and it’s clear a significant change occurred for both forms of transportation.

The classic “V” shape hull survived and thrived, leaving pontoon boats for specific tasks akin to their initial use in the military. But the old ways of automotive coachwork clearly met their match, as the march of progress demanded sheetmetal as advanced as the powertrain improvements under the skin.

The modern pontoon boat was likely created by Captain Carl Carlson in 1933, intended to optimize wartime transport for the US Navy. The initial launch of a retail-spec pontoon boat happened 19 years later, one year after (1952) Ford’s ponton body style was mothballed. The 1952 Ford shrugged off some of the original’s clean ponton surfacing on its sides, and perhaps that’s why the name has only been successfully applied to Mercedes-Benz vehicles from 1953-63 by most enthusiasts. Maybe Americans have a love/hate relationship with this design?

And that’s unfortunate, because the 1949 Ford’s legacy is far reaching, just like the Ponton Mercedes Benzes of the same era. I once postulated Ford’s legacy lasted until demise of the Crown Victoria in 2011, as the Vic’s long, continuous lines and proud overhangs embrace the ponton aesthetic much like a 1949 Ford.

Perhaps that isn’t a big deal, as Americans gave the 1949 Ford a nickname of their own design: it was called a “shoebox” many moons ago, and that was also applied to the similarly ponton design of the 1955-57 Chevrolet. Shoebox has become part of our automotive vernacular, and the 1949 Ford deserves some credit for the popularity.

Possessing six years of streamlined, shoeboxy advantage over Harley Earl and General Motors is no small feat for a then-struggling Ford Motor Company, and the 1949 Ford was all new behind that aviation inspired grille. The cabin sat lower than its predecessor, the trunk was 57 percent larger, and it even had an optional manual transmission with overdrive that provided a 25 percent boost in fuel economy.

The smooth, effortless overdrive cruising of a sleek 1949 Ford is a good analogy for the largely flat values of this now-classic Ford in the market. The median value for all body styles in #2 condition is up 5 percent over the last five years, averaging $24,100. A modest 10 percent deduction is needed for examples with the L-head six cylinder engine, but this overall increase is clawing back previous gains: the shoebox Ford lost 9% over the past 10 years.

Curiously the “woody” station wagon experienced the most significant change, and not for the better: values are down over 40 percent in the past 5 years, though their values are still more than double of other shoebox body styles at $58,500 in #2 (“excellent”) condition.

But looking at Ford’s revolutionary shoebox by itself is a bit disingenuous. Chevrolet made their own shoebox just a few years later, and is significantly more famous in the hearts of enthusiasts and in pop culture in general. Can the 1949 Ford hold a candle to Chevy’s iconic shoebox?

Resignation might be too harsh of a term, but the shoebox Chevy (1955-57) are, on average, significantly more valuable across all body configurations. Add them all up, and the Chevrolets in #2 condition are $31,260 for the 150 trim level, or $7160 more than the average shoebox Ford. Things get worse as you move up Chevrolet’s heirarchy, as $33,486 is needed for the mid-line 250 configuration, and $55,991 for the top spec Bel-Air. You’d be hard pressed to buy a Chevy Nomad for the same price as a Ford wagon, as they start at $57,900 and skyrocket to $105,000 for a fuel-injected example from 1957.

While the 1957 Ford outsold the 1957 Chevrolet by a narrow margin, the Chevy shoebox is generally more popular than any Ford from this era. Perhaps the shoebox Ford will always be an underdog for good reason, no matter the time period we discuss.

Quotes to Hagerty for the 1949-51 shoebox Fords skew as you’d expect for a lesser-known post war classic, as 13 percent come from Preboomers, 43 percent from Boomers, 26 percent from Gen X, 14 percent from Millennials, and a paltry 4 percent from Gen Z. Quotes for shoebox Chevy and the 1949-52 Chevy are similar but skew slightly younger, with Gen X taking up a mid-30 percent share for each.

Be it a ponton or a shoebox, the 1949-51 Ford offered innovations and advancements for all future motorists to appreciate. But sleek and subtle aren’t necessarily the things of popularity in the realm of classic cars. While the future is always up for grabs, we openly wonder if the shoebox Fords will ever get the respect they deserve. Or at least garner the same levels of respect given to its Chevrolet counterparts.