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Ever since the success of the Plymouth Prowler, retro cars have seemed to catch a small market nitch of enthusiastic buyers. These cars provide modern comfort and safety, but also go backwards in time when style was king...and not always to be confused with practicality. Chrysler's (sorry Damiler, it's still Chrysler to me) P.T. Crusier is a good example of blending the old with the new. Chevrolet, who now has acquired Chysler's P.T designer, will be introducing their own retro cars and trucks shortly. So, that brings us to Ford's possible entry, the Forty Nine. This car obviously takes a cue from the 1949 Ford, but it also has a 1956 Sunliner touch too.
If you check the photos you have to look hard to see that the roof is transparent 0smoked glass surrounded by tasteful chrome rails. AUTOart did a fantastic job on the roof line, as with the whole car. Before I forget, the four bucket seats are very interesting. The top half is adjustable. Very unique. With its positive hints from the early 50's Ford, the car comes across as a George Barris custom. AUTOart added their "black paint" magic (this paint job is worth the price of admission alone) to make this model sparkle. The wheels (not retro...but bold and sassy chrome gotcha's) also add some glitz to set this slickster off. The interior really found a way to confuse retro with modern. From the single round cluster gauge on the dash (that screams 49 Ford) to what appears to be a runway
from "Mad Max" which serves as a console from the dash to the rear seat;.......can you say, "OK someone spent hours thinking this one up". NOTE: Take your ironing board down to your car, paint it chrome. and then run it in-between your bucket seats. That's it. I am not saying it is bad...it is just faaarrrr ooouuutttt!
The motor is as cool as you can make a modern motor look with all its covering panels. The underneath is cool too. The over-all look is great. If you are into retro, you will want this car. It is more exciting than the P.T., but once again that black paint job is a knock-out. Worth it and more.
(10/03/2001)
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