What's Your Favorite Ford?

The Ford Motor Company is synonymous with hard working vehicles for regular people. Ford holds top spots for the most sold vehicles of all time in the form of the Ford Model T and the Ford F-150 series, cars meant for regular people. While asking about your favorite Ferrari design or flagship vehicle might make sense, Fords tend to be designed for much more pedestrian people with everyday tastes and every day lives. 

However. 

That does not make these vehicles any less deserving of admiration from a design perspective! People who can find the beauty in the mundane are happy people indeed and I know you guys as goddamn delights who feel the same. Ford has some gorgeous designs, from the original Mustang to the GT40 to the GT. My own childhood favorite was always the Ford Thunderbird, and I'm still drawn to them. Heck, we can throw Mercury and Lincoln in there as well as any other side brands in there as well.

I'll admit to being a little obsessed with Edsel and Henry Ford. Big H was not a great dad, but he had a pretty strict upbringing of his own to contend with and billionaire manufacturing moguls aren't exactly known for self-reflection (I highly recommend the book Henry and Edsel: The Creation of the Ford Empire by Richard Bak to learn more about this dysfunctional duo). Edsel Ford had a much keener eye for design, and insisted Ford's cars could be beautiful as well as affordable and functional. The ill-fated Edsel cars were one of his attempts to bring a little style into automotive design, but it wasn't his first. The 1934 Ford Model 40 "Edsel Ford Special Speedster is one such vehicle. 

The images in this post are from a RM Sotheby auction of a recreation of the original Model 40, as only one exists and it's currently on display at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. The original car, powered by Ford's legendary 100-horsepower flathead V8 engine, went missing for decades before it reemerged in 1999. The striking body was penned by none other than Lincoln designer Eugene T. Gregorie, who had a hand in the design of the Lincoln Zephyr and other classic pre-war Ford products. This was a car specifically designed around Edsel's need for stylish speed; a Gatsby-esque toy for the boy-king of Detroit. It was estimated to cost around $100,000 when new, according to Motor Trend, and was built in a Ford aircraft factory idled by the Great Depression. Must be nice. 

It's just such a gorgeous car, designed by a legend, with an incredible place in history. I can't get enough of this vehicle as an object. It's weird and beautiful and totally unexpected. The original Thunderbird is up there as well for me, and anything Carroll Shelby ever touched obviously. Anyway, what's your favorite entry from the big blue oval?