Sharp-nosed styling by Bob Gregorie and V8 performance made Ford a popular choice for American car buyers in 1939, second only to Chevrolet.

De Luxe Station Wagon

A little while ago here at Mac’s Motor City Garage, we told the story of Ford’s adoption of hydraulic brakes in 1939—the last of the major Detroit automakers to do so. (See our feature here.) While that was the big news for 1939, there’s more to the ’39 Fords than that, naturally, including new styling and some other changes.

Ford (standard) Fordor

By then, chief stylist E.T. “Bob” Gregorie had acquired comprehensive control over exterior design at the company, reporting directly to Edsel Ford, president and son of the founder. His real constraints were the tall transverse-spring chassis and the stubby front doghouse dictated by the relatively compact V8 engine. To create the illusion of a  greater dash-to-axle length, he extended the hood forward as much as practical. “It was straightened and drawn out just about to the nth degree,” Gregorie told biographer Henry Dominguez (1999). “But there was a limitation in just how much overhang past the front axle we could handle.”

Ford (left) and Ford De Luxe 

As was becoming the company practice at the time, there were two front-end treatments for ’39: Ford (commonly called a standard) and Ford De Luxe. The standard Ford look resembled the ’38 De Luxe, while the De Luxe foreshadowed the ’40 standard. The De Luxe also offered additional available colors and more body styles. The base Fords were limited to a Coupe, Tudor Sedan, and Fordor Sedan, while the De Luxe added a Convertible Coupe, Convertible Sedan, and a woody Station Wagon.

Ford V8-60 (left) and 85-hp V8 

In the standard Ford, buyers could choose between the 221 cubic-inch V8 or the little 136 cubic-inch V8-60, an engine designed for economy at the expense of performance. While 60 hp was reasonable enough, the tiny V8 developed less than 100 lb-ft of peak torque, compared to better than 150 lb-ft for the 85 hp V8, so acceleration was less than stellar. (See our story on Henry’s baby V8 here.) Most buyers by far paid the extra $41 and opted for the larger V8, which was standard in the De Luxe models.

De Luxe cabin 

Other De Luxe features included a fancier interior with a wire-spoked “banjo” steering wheel, a locking glove box, and dual sun visors. Outside, the De Luxe sported a chrome windshield frame, trim rings on the wheels, and two tail lamps. Standard Ford buyers had to struggle along without all these fineries, and with a single sun visor and a single tail lamp on the left side—although a second tail lamp was a popular dealer accessory and cost only a few bucks. In some states, two lamps were required by law.

One of the many slogans in Ford advertising for 1939 was “pride of the V8 class.” That was a safe boast indeed, as Ford offered the only V8 in the low-priced field. For a time that gave Ford a powerful selling advantage, but by the late ’30s Chevrolet was closing the gap with attractive styling, features, and an 85-hp rating for its overhead-valve six. In the recession year of 1938, Chevrolet reclaimed the number one spot in U.S. sales, and continued to hold it in 1939 by a comfortable margin—nearly 100,000 cars.

De Luxe Convertible Coupe