1952 Ford Walkaround

Although there are other candidates, I've repeatedly chosen the 1949 Ford design as marking the end of the post-1930 evolution from distinct components to cars with largely integrated body shells.

Having accomplish that, what would Ford Motor Company do next as the time approached for a replacement design?  That was revealed for the 1952 model year.  I wrote about 1952 styling of the company's brands here.  Today's post discusses 1952 Ford brand sedan styling in more detail.

In brief, the "four box" theme of the '49 design was elaborated, refined in the direction of emphasizing visual length along with touches of jet fighter details that were becoming fashionable on American show cars such as General Motors' Le Sabre.

It happened that 1949 and 1952 Fords had similar wheelbases and body lengths.  Sedan wheelbases for '52 Fords were one inch (25.4 mm) longer, and lengths were 0.8 inch (20 mm) longer.  Yet the '52s did indeed seem longer than the 1949 models, as we shall see below.

Gallery

1950 Ford Custom Fordor Sedan - Mecum Auctions photo
For reference, a 1950 Ford 4-door sedan.  Aside from a few small trim items, it looks the same as its 1949 counterpart.

1952 Ford Customline Fordor Sedan - Mecum Auction photos
Automobile glass forming technology had improved to the point where the 1949 two-piece flat glass windshield was replaced by one-piece curved glass.

The extended ("frenched") headlight assemblies and lengthened rear fender taillight assemblies added visual as well as a tiny bit of actual length to the design compared to 1949.

The curved backlight window reduced passenger compartment greenhouse sheetmetal.  This made the car seem comparatively airier.

Simple rear design.  The license plate holder doubled as a gasoline filler lid.  This was stressed in advertising as a benefit when refueling -- it didn't matter which side of the car the pump was on.

My recollection is that the most controversial detail seen here is the false air intake on the aft side door.  That, and the sculpting trailing behind it served to help relieve the slab sides of the flow-through fender.

Actually, that chrome item is clearly non-functional as an air intake, but the three ribs on it seem to have been added to suggest the illusion of an intake.  Mercury, which shared the basic body, had side trim that more explicitly looked like actual intakes.

The grille retained the "spinner" motif introduced for the '49 Ford.  Here two auxiliary spinners have been added at the grille's edges.

The largest instrument panel feature is the speedometer.