Ford V8

From 1932 to 1954 the fate of Ford Motor Company would ride a wild roller coaster of ups and downs. At times, sales forged ahead rapidly, and at others the company narrowly scaped going under.  However, throughout this 22-year period,  there was one constant, one everlasting icon that Ford enthusiasts could count on – the flathead Ford V8.

When it became abundantly obvious even to Henry Ford that his Model T was on its last legs in the marketplace, along about 1927 or so, the old man wanted to assemble a V-8-powered car to take its place. With the company’s future hanging by a thread, though, an interim move created another four cylinder car, the Model A.

A way around the pricey V-8

Ford never let loose his concept of a V-8, though, and, as the market appeal of the Model A diminished considerably in 1931, his engineers embarked on a blitzkrieg campaign to develop a marketable V-8 engine at a Ford price. Of course, in that period, only a few very costly marques offered eight-cylinder engines, and only a few of them used the “V” configuration. Most were straight-8’s, a less sophisticated arrangement, and one that was unsuited to short-wheelbase, low-priced Fords. Henry Ford pointed the way to a V-8, but the Ford engineering staff of Emil Zoerlein,  Ray Laird, and Carl Schultz took the idea much farther than their boss would have imagined (or authorized, for that matter.) Starting at ground zero, they designed a 221 cubic inch powerplant that supplied 65 horsepower at 3400 rpm. Constructed of cast iron with side-operated valves, the Ford V-8 wasn’t tremendously sophisticated, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that the Ford V-8 could be manufactured for a fraction of the cost of a Lincoln V-8 or  Cadillac   V-8 yet still deliver smoothness and performance.

As drawn up by Zoerlein, Schultz and Laird, the 90-degree block offered a extraordinary degree of sophistication yet it could still be cast as a single unit. To ensure this, production genius Charles Sorensen worked long and hard  on the manufacturing processes necessary to build the new engine, and for his efforts, he was  given  the title “Cast-Iron Charlie.”

Wrapped around the new V-8 were several attractive open and closed bodies that were basically updates of the Model A lineup. (In fact, at the same time Ford announced its new V-8, it also launched the Model B, a car powered by a revised four cylinder Model A engine that was tweaked to supply 50 horsepower. Four-cylinder Fords would be sold right alongside V-8 models through 1934.) The major styling change was the use of a grille and fascia forward of the now-hidden radiator core, and the key engineering innovation was a longer wheelbase. At 106.5 inches, the wheelbase of both V-8 and four-cylinder were three inches extended than that of the Model A. Aside from that, the running gear and chassis, engineered by  Eugene Farkas and Emery Nador were essentially clones of the Model A, since Henry Ford was not exactly a driving agent for change.

As with its predecessor, the new V-8-powered Ford car created a sensation in the marketplace when it was revealed on March 31, 1932 and shown to the general public two days later. Christened the Model 18, a name that even many Ford purists don’t recognize, first V-8 car had been produced only a few weeks before, and Ford workers had to scramble to get cars into the pipeline.

Existing Setbacks

The public was clamoring for the car based on its combination of low price and good performance. On the strength of its 65-horsepower “cast-iron wonder”,  the Model 18 had a top speed of 78 miles per hour and considerably better acceleration than the typical car of its time. Even before it appeared in sales areas, Ford had booked 50,000 orders for the V-8, and there is no doubt it was one of the bargains of the decade. A V-8-powered roadster could be bought for as little as $410, and a Tudor sedan, the most popular body type, was just $450. However, the introduction of the Model 18 didn’t go without a hitch. Because the V-8 had been rushed into production,  there were some durability questions, particularly with the engine and head mounts. The engine also acquired a reputation as an “oil burner.”

Faced with some  production downtime for re-tooling, uncharacteristic mechanical problems, and the appealing 1932 Chevrolet Confederate line, Ford sales were behind Chevy’s as the model year closed out. The worsening Depression, of course, didn’t help sales either, and Ford Motor Company lost $75 million for the year.

With this loss staring him in the face, Henry Ford, the man who wanted all his cars painted black because black paint dried the fastest, was compelled to start playing the game like General Motors. For 1933, Ford entered the world of the annual model innovation, and its offerings were amazingly different than the attractive lineup that went to market just one year earlier.

A big change was another increase in wheelbase, and this time the jump was almost 6 inches to 112 inches. At the same time, the body was re-styled with a specific European influence. The shovel-shaped grille,   sweeping fenders, laid-back, and rear-hinged “suicide” doors were very reminiscent of the British Ford of the era.  Another major improvement came under the hood. The V-8 was radically revamped, remedying some of its early teething problems and giving it an addition 10 horsepower (to 75.)

Revamp for salvage

V-8 equipped Fords were fast, and that truth was attested to by some unlikely sources. Both Clyde Barrow of Bonnie and Clyde fame and Public Enemy Number 1 John Dillinger wrote Henry Ford congratulatory letters about the performance of the Ford V-8.   It was, in reality, a case of the quick and the dead, since neither man would survive the decade, no matter how fast his getaway car was. Incremental improvement would keep on throughout the Thirties. Horsepower was increased again to 85 in 1934. In 1936, Ford cars outsold Chevrolet for the first time in nearly a decade on the power of some very attractive body styles. The following year, a 136 cubic inch, 60-horsepower engine joined the 85-horsepower version in the lineup but it failed to make much influence in the market, although Ford’s company “goons” did make some impact on union leaders during a pitched battle  between the two that same year.

Even though Henry Ford finally  conceded and allowed hydraulic brakes to be installed on his 1939 models, by 1940 Ford was nearly 300,000 sales behind Chevrolet in the yearly competition.  This came despite the fact that the E.T. “Bob” Gregorie-designed ’40 Fords were among the most gorgeous ever. Ford survived the war by becoming a big part of the military effort, but during the war, Edsel Ford passed away and a rapidly aging Henry Ford did little to organize the company for peacetime prosperity. By 1948, Chrysler had overtaken Ford Motor Company to become the number two American automobile manufacturer.

Just as Ford seemed to be fading away, a dramatic restyling of the car line in 1949, accompanied by a thorough overhaul of the flathead V-8, saved the company from oblivion. The flathead V-8 would continue to power Ford cars until 1954 when a new overhead valve V-8 changed it.   However, nothing could replace in the hearts of Ford fans who ranged from the glorious to the notorious.

Tagged with: Ford • Model T • vintage automobile

Filed under: Top Classic Cars