I remember riding in my parent's '47 Ford, almost the same as this one. It was dark blue with the grey interior. I used to ride standing up on the transmission hump in the back seat.
@@kfl611 Wow, good job mate. I was just wondering since what you said kinda coresponded with you having to a bit older than us, younglings. Hope all is good!
I learned to drive in a '49 Ford in '62. Also flat head V-8, push button starting and three speed. I helped rebuild the engine. My brother bought it for $25 in '59.
Brings back a lot of good memories from when I worked at my dad's Humble Gas Station in Corpus Christi, Tx, in the 50's. Love your video. Too many of the other guys just show you their feet and the dash during a drive-around. Thanks for making this 48 look good.
This is really my favorite era of classics, before they had their first post-war redesigns. You're lucky to have found such a well-kept example. Great color too!
One feature you may have not known about is. The inside door handles when pushed up lock the doors from the inside to the outside. Pretty cool feature I must add!
WOW! What a neat piece of history! My Grandpa had a very similar faded, dark blue '48 ford deluxe his whole life. There isn't much I remember about him. Sadly, he passed when I was very young. BUT I do remember him shifting his 3-on-the-tree, and singing while driving his '48. Thanks Saabkyle04. this was a real treat.
I bought my first classic car a few months ago---a 1948 Ford Super Deluxe convertible, black with red leather and tan corduroy interior, with the original flathead and 6v electrical. (Loving it so far.) Excellent video on this line of cars, Kyle! You did a great job balancing the technical detail with your summary information and demonstration driving. Keep up the good work!
We had the 1946 convertible with electric convertible top control and fold down rear window. We drove it for 10 years and it ended its life powering a saw mill. Fond memories!
What (to Me) that IS shabby, is that *despite all the "Electronic this & that" & "Plastic this & Plastic that" (like Plastic Bumpers that self-destruct on impact), MANY Autos STILL get this kind of Mileage. It's a crime really, that in all these Years economy has not improved at all.
RetroCaptain You're not considering the difference in Horsepower relative to fuel economy. Today a 450 horsepower Corvette gets 28 miles to gallon on the highway. And my 1.5 L 4-cylinder Toyota makes more horsepower than this V8. I'm not knocking the Ford believe me I think it's gorgeous and I'd love to own one but you have to look at all aspects of fuel consumption to get an idea of the comparison. The V8 in this car is 3.6 liters. And made 90 horsepower. And I think Kyle said 180 lbft feet of torque. My 1.5 liter Toyota makes 105 horsepower and about 90 lb of torque. And I averaged 30-35 miles per gallon City
What a nice streamlined lumpy looking car, I love it. So cool, not quite still 1930's styling, and not quite 1950''s styling either, kind of a little of both. You can see how the war interrupted the progression in body styles. Packard had the first car AC in the 1930s.
Beautiful car. It's amazing how far engines have come. This car got 18mpg with a 3.6L V8 with 90hp. My 2015 car has a 2.0L I4 with 174hp and gets around 30mpg!
Love this original owner's manual at 27:00. My present car has an owner's manual 4 inches thick! My brother owned one of these cars that was a coupe and at the same time I owned a '47 Mercury V8 convertible. I really miss the simplicity of the older cars.
My grandpa said to me that he had a "V8 48 Ford" And he said it was a nice car, just accelerate and it would go. He said too that once the radiator was not working so he pulled it out of the car, fixed it and attached it at the front of the car, or something like that, and drove it like this for a while, and he said too that he disassembled the whole engine and put it together again. He told me too that once a guy was trying to outpass him and I think he was in a muddy/dirty place/terrain or something, and then he accelerated the car and the guy in the back was so far behind after that. Ah, I think the car on the video was this same car model he had. I miss him.
It is so very nostalgic to have the glimpse of this wonderful car - my grandfather owned this wonderful car - the V8 , then thereafter my father changed it to the one Ford V8 Superdelux - a magnificent car - just mesmerising.
My Grandpa actually has this type of car and to this day he still drives with it. The car itself is also in proper maintenance as it looked like it was just manufactured yesterday.
Fantastic automobile. This is a real treat. I was born in 57, but remember as a child taking a trip from New York to Florida in a car like this. I especailly remember the smell.
I would not mind having a car like this! I would love to learn how to drive a 3-speed on the column! I think it would be so much fun shifting on the column!
@@GTARockman Actually the cars that only came that way had very tight shifters It was only after most cars had automatics did the shifters become sloppy The car companies didn't want to spend money to do it right.
Wow Kyle, thank you so much for uploading this video! I've been waiting for this one! I learned some new things too! Your explanation of the transmission shifting and choke were really helpful, along with how to work all the other features of these cars since nobody ever makes videos showing how these things work. Your classic car videos are always my favorite. I saw your Facebook status and it's a shame that you sold this car, but at the same time I understand your reasons. I really want to own one of these post-war 40s Fords sometime in the not-too-distant future hopefully. Watching you drive it was super cool too. Thanks again for taking the time to post this one Kyle! Adding it to my favorites and will be watching it many more times in the future!
These cars were easy to shift, and with only 3 gears - plus reverse - you can stay in each gear a bit longer than modern shift cars. A lot of the 3 speed shift on the floor have the same pattern for shifting - like a backwards 'h'.
I have a vivid '48 Ford memory. I was about six and my father had business at a nearby courthouse. He got me a ice cream cone while I waited in the car. It was a hot day, the ice cream was quickly melting and I tossed the mess out the window and into the drivers window beside me. Fortunately we left before the owner came out to find a melted ice cream cone in the drivers seat. For years afterward whenever I saw a black '48 Tudor I would hide, thinking the owner might be looking for me. :)
Absolutely LOVE it! You got quite lucky to find an unmodified original like that in such good shape. I really appreciate how you demonstrate how everything works. Keep up the good work!
Gorgeous car! Antique cars look so much better when they are left stock and not made into a hot rod with modern parts and mag wheels. I bought a '47 Tudor sedan in 1985 when I was in high school. It was my first car. It was an early '47 so it had '46 trim and looked like a '46. Great video.
What a beautiful example of 1940s American rolling iron! Whoever put those seat-covers on back in the day did you a *huge* favor - the original upholstery would be ruined, were it not for those covers! The interior is damn near perfect!! Gorgeous!
I love my 48 super deluxe i may only be 16 but ive only had mine a few weeks and i already love it and it taught me how to drive three on the tree so its a win win
One of my dream cars is a 47' Ford Super 8 Deluxe sedan police special. Preferably a L.A police special. Also the 47' Tudor convertible from Back To The Future.
My first car was a '47 Ford tudor flathead V8, bought in 1961 for $165. Years later installed a Chevy engine and running gear and went drag racing. The curved roof/trunk area was an aerodynamic problem above about 100 mph as the rear end of the car would tend to go airborne. The statement about the existence of a vacuum pump to power the vacuum windshield wipers is in error. The wipers received their vacuum from the intake manifold. Otherwise a great video.
Engine runs quiet ,smooth and strong! No trouble keeping up to modern traffic. Too bad Ford was slow to adapt front end independent suspension with coil springs. My 1948 Chevrolet had that. However, Ford did invent modern ball joint suspension in the early 50's.
Thank you Kyle, for everything you've done so far. I hope one day I will get to meet you in person and shake your hands! Wish you all the best in future work.
This was quite a treat, as my father had a new 1947 Chevy 2 door, which my brother & I rode in with Mom and Dad until 1956. I much prefer the 48 Ford Deluxe with the flat head V8. This one appears to have been owned by a little old lady, who only drove "baby" to church on Sunday and to the grocery store on Saturday and then put it back to bed.
Nice detailed review as always, thank you! The documentation of a car of this vintage should be protected in a folder, and pages turned very carefully please, it do not take much to tear a page. A complete documentation not teared and crumbled adds much to the joy of ownership of a classic car. Cheers.
Awsome video!! I just bought a 47 mercury town sadan today. Apparently it was impounded for 20 years in Maryland for bootlegging. Its got 4000 miles on it and has had a complete rebuild from engine to diff. Not my favorite car but geeze it looks cool and has a pretty amazing story. Cant wait to find out just how original she is because it looks amazing for 71 years of age..... sweet video dude now i no how to start it hahaha. If its as original i think it is i believe it should be in a museum or at least in a collection back in the states, not Brisbane Australia. Woooohoooo im so excited
Greetings from N.C. What a great restoration of a model I remember very well. Can't help but wonder about the North Carolina plate on the rear and South Carolina on the front? 1948 was the last year of the 1941 body style before the revolutionary and popular 1949 Ford with 8A engine was introduced.
Lovely video. Great tour of the car which is in great condition and surprisingly well appointed. Perhaps one day you might tell us about some of the jobs you have done to bring your cars up to standard, I assume you do some servicing and maintenance to make sure they are reliable runners. Keep up the good work, love the detail and research you must do to have all the facts to hand. Cheers
Great car! While I love seeing new vehicles and the technology going into new cars, I always love when you do old muscle cars and classics/antiques. I hope you're able to make videos of more classics like this. The history is so interesting and I feel like these cars are even more out of my reach than new cars so I love seeing them being picked apart and presented in such an unbiased way. Keep up the great work. I love your videos. EDIT: I also love comparisons. My car is much faster but still not great and this car still gets slightly better mpg.
Outstanding review Kyle. For a vehicle that old, the condition of it is absolutely in top notch shape for it's age :) In addition, which kind of manual transmission placement do you like better, the column-mounted one featured in this video, or in the middle in front of the center console? - Michael Land
Watching this made me so happy I actually cried and frowned at modern auto makers. Based on that flat head V8 car right there NOTHING has improved as for as automobiles. That same flathead V8 or a 4 cylinder or V6 flathead could still be being used today in cars and light trucks. That 48 ford in the video if it was lubricated right and all ball joints kept greased would have lasted forever and was totally repairable forever. And that was the affordable version in the video because Cadillac and Oldsmobile had an over head valve V8 in 48 that was as good and actually better than any engine used today. That Ford was made to be available for the blue collar man. I rode in these cars as a child and am a mechanic with 44 years experience and nothing has improved in the auto industry
+Earl Guyton Right on Mr. Guyton, flatheads are a great design, simple, cheap, reliable, shame they faded out so easily. I'd have to agree, that for the most part there have been no real advancements since the 50s.
@@trippberry have to disagree I saw plenty of these cars driving around with smoke pouring out the exhaust. The standard joke of the day was "fill it with oil and check the gas". 50,000 miles and it was due for an overhaul. Rings bearings and grind the valves.
dude that is a beauty. i really love your channel an im a big car guy myself. keep doing what you do u r awesome. really nice car u shud be proud of it
Dear Mr. Lindsey, Thank you for everything. You have inspired me to love cars more. I love Acuras in stick shift. You inspired me with the RSX video. I want to wish you good luck in everything. And thank you for everything!
Cool, I was born in December of 55 and my Father bought a 51 V-8 new, I remember sitting on Mothers lap, etc.... No car seats thenSeems there is a big different between the 51 and your carMight have been fairly fast for its day, slow steps to the moon
