One of a series of films made by Jam Handy for General Motors and Chevrolet, “Help Yourself” promotes the new 1949-1950 Chevy sedan. The film takes the interesting step of putting customers on a stage where the cars’ appearance, safety features, economy, comfort, performance and other features are discussed by a salesman.
The 1949 Ford was an American automobile produced by Ford. It was the first all-new automobile design introduced by the Big Three after World War II, civilian production having been suspended during the war, and the 1946-1948 models from Ford, GM, and Chrysler being updates of their pre-war models. Popularly called the “Shoebox Ford” for its slab-sided, “ponton” design, the 1949 Ford is credited both with saving Ford and ushering in modern streamlined car design with changes such as integrated fenders and more . The design would continue through the 1951 model year.
After sticking with its well-received previous model through model year 1948, Ford completely redesigned its namesake car for the year 1949. Save for its drive-train, this was an all-new car in every way, with a modern ladder frame now supporting a coil spring suspension in front and longitudinal semi-elliptical springs in back. The engine was moved forward to make more room in the passenger compartment and the antiquated “torque tube” was replaced by a modern drive shaft. Ford’s popular 226 CID (3.7 L) L-head straight-6 and 239 CID (3.9 L) Flathead V8 remained, now rated at 90 hp (67 kW) and 100 hp (75 kW), respectively.
950 saw a new Crestliner “sports sedan”—a 2-door sedan with 2-tone paint intended to battle Chevrolet’s popular hardtop coupe of 1950. Another new name was Country Squire, which referred to the 2-door wood-sided station wagon. All wagons received flat-folding middle seats at mid-year, an innovation that would reappear in the minivans of the 1990s. The 1949 and 1950 styling was similar, with a single central “bullet” in the frowning chrome grille. In the center there was a red space that had either a 6 or 8 depending if the car had the six-cylinder engine or the V8. The trim lines were renamed as well, with “Standard” becoming “Deluxe” and “Custom” renamed “Custom Deluxe”. The new Fords got the now-famous “Ford Crest” which appeared on the division’s vehicles for many decades in one form or another. In 1950, Ford also manufactured a lesser known Business Coupe.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
