239ci L-Head V-8
Single 2-Barrel Carburetor
100bhp at 3,600rpm
Three-speed Manual Transmission
Transverse Leaf Spring Live Axles
Four-Wheel Hydraulic Drum Brakes

* One of only 3.025 1946-1948 Super Deluxe Sportsman Convertibles built
* Restored over forty years ago, thoughtfully preserved
* Beautiful original Ford Iron Mountain wood with lovely grain detail


THE FORD SUPER DELUXE SPORTSMAN CONVERTIBLE

In three years of production, 1946-1948, Ford built only 3,025 of the exclusive, expensive, distinctive wood panelled Super Deluxe Sportsman Convertibles. It was never conceived nor intended to be a moneymaker. It was a halo car designed by famed Ford stylist Bob Gregorie, but it accomplished three objectives.

First, it was an example of Ford's mastery of wooden bodywork established with years of wood-bodied station wagons built in Ford's own Iron Mountain works on Michigan's Upper Peninsula using fine hardwoods from Ford's own forests for framing the mahogany plywood panels.

Second, Ford was transitioning from wood inner body structure to all steel. It left Iron Mountain's skilled sawyers and cabinet makers, who had spent World War II building thousands of lightweight wood-framed gliders, looking for work. The Convertible Sportsman and station wagons provided work that eased the transition.

And then there was the most important factor, the complement between the sporting, open, wood framed and paneled Sportsman Convertible and the liberated, optimistic attitude post-WWII relieved of war, death and destruction. Ford's customers, who had been deprived of new cars "for the duration", had worn out their prewar cars. Five years of saving was waiting for supply.

Gregorie started with a standard Ford Super Deluxe Convertible. The expensive materials and skilled hand labor was expensive even in 1947 and economical production was a priority. Gregorie pulled off the outer door skins, quarter panels, trunk lids and rear fenders. After the wood door skins, rear quarters, rear deck and trunk lid were installed the entire body was moved on for varnishing and then back to the line for final assembly and trim using sedan delivery rear fenders, station wagon fuel fillers and Lincoln power windows. Completed and finished bodies were shipped from Iron Mountain to Ford assembly plants to be united with locally produced chassis.

In 1947 a Special Deluxe Sportsman Convertible cost $2,282 at the factory, $542 more than its Convertible counterpart, a 31% premium. Fin the years1946-1948 Ford sold 50,551 Convertibles but only 3,025 Sportsman Convertibles, a ratio of nearly seventeen to one.

That rarity, the distinctive appeal of fine wood framing and the Sportsman Convertibles' lush, natural appearance made them important and highly desirable. Virtually every Sportsman sported naturally beautiful pieces of birdseye or flame grained maple from Ford's vast Iron Mountain holdings. It's as if the joiners who assembled these cars looked at them as works of nature's art and decided, "This Sportsman needs a piece of beautifully grained wood that will please the Sportsman's owner's eye and beg to be caressed, varnished and polished."


THE CAR OFFERED

The Minden Automotive Museum's 1947 Ford Super Deluxe Sportsman Convertible was acquired in 1984 by Ted Bacon from his cousin, who had received it new as a high school graduation present. The car was in its original condition and in need of a full restoration due to having sat outside for many years in the Santa Barbara, California area. This single family owned Sportsman was equipped with all the desirable attributes: 100 hp Flathead V-8 engine, 3-speed manual transmission, body color wheels with hubcaps, trim rings and wide whitewall tires. It is comprehensively equipped including a radio, power top, power windows and bumper overriders.

Upon acquiring the car, Mr. Bacon commissioned Hendricks Classic Restoration to perform a complete nut and bolt restoration, returning the car to its former glory as the graduation gift. During the restoration, extra care was taken to ensure all the original Iron Mountain wood was preserved. The car had sat for years under a eucalyptus tree whose sap stained the top of the trunk area. Some discoloration is still present there. It was felt more important to keep the original wood and patina than ruin the car's history with modern wood.

Since the restoration in the mid '80s, the car has never been driven and has been on permanent display in the Minden Automotive Museum. It's Pheasant Red paint, chrome, maroon leather interior and black cloth top are excellent aside from a small dent in the right-side hood chrome spear. The wood is semi-matte varnished and has the framing no obvious filler pieces. The rear deck, trunk lid (with typical 1947 chamfered center cross frame element) and some joints have light water staining. Even after all this time, it has pretty graining on most of the maple framing that pops and allows a new piece of Iron Mountain grain to fixate upon with each passing glance.

The engine compartment is in clean and orderly condition with some carburetor fuel leakage stains and a bit of road grime that serves to verify its limited use in the past. It has been on static display at the Minden Automotive Museum for years and will need recommissioning and thorough mechanical inspection.

It is odd to refer to a mid-Twentieth Century Ford as "rare" but that is exactly what this 1947 Super Deluxe Sportsman Convertible is, a piece of specialized history in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. It marked an important transition in American car culture, a few specialized cars that united the artisanal craft of Ford's Iron Mountain sawyers, joiners and varnishers with a burgeoning mass production post-war automobile industry.