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The 1949 Ford is a line of cars produced by Ford from the 1949 to 1951 model years. The successor to the prewar 1941 Ford, the model line was the first full-size Ford designed after World War II, becoming the first Ford car line released after the deaths of Edsel Ford and Henry Ford. From 1946 to 1948, each of the American Big Three concentrated on the restoration of car production, offering updated versions of their 1941-1942 model lines. Released in June 1948, the 1949 Ford was the first major "postwar" American car line, beating Chevrolet to market by six months and Plymouth by nine.

In response to its design, the model line would be called the "Shoebox Ford", denoting its slab-sided "ponton" design. While the design theme had been in use since the late 1920s to streamline automobiles, the 1949 Ford marked its widest-scale use, removing running boards entirely and integrating front and rear fenders into a single, smooth body form.

1949

Alongside the redesign of the car, Ford updated its model nomenclature for 1949. The previous Custom, De Luxe, and Super De Luxe names were replaced by new Standard and Custom trims, with Tudor and Fordor sedans (two-door and four-door, respectively), fastback Club Coupe and Business Coupe (the latter, rear seat delete), Convertible Club Coupe, and two-door Station Wagon styles. In the center of the "Bullet-nose" grille emblem, Ford embossed either a "6" or an "8" on top of a red circle, denoting the fitment of an inline-6 or V8 engine.

While using a different body than Lincoln-Mercury, Ford Motor Company used ponton styling across all three of its divisions for 1949, with the Ford sharing similar styling as the Mercury Eight and the Lincoln. The center-mounted "Bullet-nose" grille became a styling element adopted by Studebaker for the 1950 facelift of the Studebaker Starlight. During the 1950s, the slab-sided exterior design would go on to influence many European manufacturers, including Mercedes Benz, Borgward, Austin, Volvo and many others.

For 1949, Ford returned to first place among American manufacturers, selling 1,118,740 Ford cars. While bolstered by an extended 16-month model year, the 1949 Ford was met with success