Joe Baughn’s 1946 Ford Super Deluxe Coupe   

By Gary Osborne

It was now 1945, and the United States had been at war for four years. With the defeat of Hitler’s Germany in May and the focus that would now shift to defeating Japan, the U.S. would only need to fight on one front. That meant that many soldiers would be coming home from the European Theatre. When they came home there would be a huge need for new cars. Many people had cars that were well worn and would also be needing new transportation. The government began in May of that year to release funds and material to be used for civilian automobile production.

Naturally, the marketing department at Ford wanted to begin as soon as possible with the production of new automobiles. Very quickly the Ford factories began to make the switch from war production to civilian transportation needs. By July the first post war civilian car was produced by Ford, and production moved slowly for the next few months. The cars would not begin to be sold until the Government authorized their sale in October 1945.

Finally, consumers would be able to own a new Ford! Due to the short prep time, there were only minor changes from the 1942 models. Changes to the grill and hood helped to differentiate it from the previous model. The V-8 engine was upgraded to 100 hp with numerous internal modifications to withstand the extra power. Yes, there was still an inline six-cylinder engine available for those that wanted one. The interior color and fabric choices were also upgraded. Even though there were not a lot of major changes made for this model run, it appears that most of the car buying public was just happy to have something new.

The Ford V-8 featured in this article is owned by Joe and Paula Baughn. They are members of our Northern Illinois Regional Group who live in Owasso, Oklahoma. They have attended several Early Ford V-8 Club of America National Meets, including the 2014 Central National Meet we hosted in Springfield.  You may have met them at one of those events. Their car is a 1946 Super Deluxe Club Coupe that has been fully restored.

Joe purchased the car in 1991 at the Tulsa Swap Meet from a man who had pulled it from off of a pond levee in Arkansas. (this couldn’t have been good). Well, the car was in pretty bad shape with the usual animal infestation, about an inch of moss on it, and lots of rust. To top it off, someone had painted it pink with a roller brush.  When he brought the car home the neighbors thought he was taking it to the scrap yard. They couldn't believe that he wanted to restore it.

 Well, Joe had a memory of riding in his Mom’s 1946 Ford Coupe when he was just four or five years old. That was his motivation to proceed with this project. Since he had the capability, the restoration would be completed in Joe’s home shop. He performed all the body work, panel and patch fabrication, paint, engine, drive train, and upholstery.  You can see he did a great job.

I would like to have Joe share about one of his first times out with the car; “The first outing was to a car show in Eureka Springs Arkansas. Everything was going great, it won First place in its class, and I was thrilled. That evening we were on a drive for dinner and suddenly smoke was rolling out from under the dashboard and the hood, the dreaded electrical fire! Everyone quickly stopped, and the guys all manned fire bottles as I jumped out and opened the hood. All I could think was after all this work, I may be going to the scrap yard after all.  I managed to get the hood up, and by then the smoke had cleared, and there were no flames. The wiring harness to the generator had gotten on a hot spot on the intake manifold and melted the insulation and shorted. All the folks went to their trunks and I to mine; soon we had enough supplies to repair, rewire and insulate the new harness, and were back on the road to dinner and more, touring the hills of Arkansas. After that scare I can say I haven’t had any major problems since.”

Although the Baughns live quite some distance from most of the membership of the NIRG, I’m sure they would love to talk with you, and share about their car if you meet them on a National Tour or at one of the Early Ford V-8 Club of America National Meets. Next opportunity stop by and say hello.