Recent rotisserie restoration. Loaded with options. Great colors. Automatic.

In the mad scramble to get new cars on the market following World War II, Ford was single-handedly kept afloat by the beautifully styled and great-driving 1949 models. But as nice as they were, GM was already one step ahead, offering hardtop styling that transformed the automotive landscape overnight. It too Ford an extra two years to get a hardtop on the market, but the result is a homerun, because the 1951 Ford Victoria is perhaps the best-looking post-war flathead Ford ever built. Perfect proportions, elegant details, and innovative features made it very popular then and one of the best possible choices if you want a flathead Ford that can do it all.

This particular 1951 Ford Victoria may very well be the nicest in existence (save your letters, but yes, it’s incredibly nice). It has enjoyed a comprehensive frame-off restoration to a very high level and is documented by magazine articles and restoration photos showing the complete transformation. And while they kept an eye on making it beautiful, you see in the details that it was also intended to be driven: radial tires, a dusting of spray-on bedliner material to protect the undercarriage, and highway-friendly gears in the transmission. It’s worth noting that the car offers just about every single option available in 1951, including the all-new Ford-O-Matic Drive automatic transmission. If you can’t tell how impressed we are with this car, just look at the photos and you’ll be impressed, too.

We’re very taken with the subtle and elegant color combination, a factory offering of Hawaiian Bronze over St. Julian Beige. It’s not in-your-face, but every single person who walks into the showroom stops and looks at this car, remarking about the wonderful combination. It makes it look like a far more expensive and upscale car. Paint and bodywork were extremely well done and the paint has just the right look for an early ‘50s car: solid on the body and a light dusting of metallic in the roof, just as it would have been when it was new. Panel fit is excellent, with doors and a hood that close with a reassuring solidity, and there’s just nothing on this car that requires any extra effort or techniques to make it work (OK, the hood is a little heavy due to the undercoating that’s been there from day one). There’s plenty of ornamentation, too, including the stainless side trim, discreet little V8 badges on the front fenders, and the sweeping trim that wraps into the taillights. The hardtops also received a beautiful wrap-around rear window treatment that’s visually divided into three sections by chrome posts, and there’s a neat bit of detailing at the C-pillar where it all comes together. Ford had some extra time to get their hardtop right, and they totally nailed it. The big bumpers were fully re-chromed, as were all the other trim pieces, and the new-for-1951 front bumper gives the Ford a much more substantial look than the former “bullet nose” arrangement. Note the accessory fender skirts, which give the car a longer, lower look, as well as the optional back-up lamps in back, just below the highly stylized three-element taillight lenses. This is a grown-up car that looks great from any angle.

The interior is equally sophisticated, offering a wonderful combination of pinstriped cloth and vinyl upholstery, and the vinyl does an awfully good impersonation of leather. The patterns are correct, with a wrap-around look on the seat backs that’s perfect for protecting the upholstery when passengers climb in back. Darker copper-colored carpets provide great contrast and come complete with dark brown bindings and a heel pad for the driver. The dashboard is neutral, wrapping into the doors, and giving it a very integrated look overall, and it’s faced with a cool stainless steel mesh that adds texture and interest. All the gauges are clustered in the round speedometer pod and they all work properly and we just love the way the speedometer “needle” is actually a round circle that floats around the perimeter, highlighting the numbers. Other controls are in various knobs that all look uniform, sweeping across the center of the dash. Everything works, including the clock and the original radio, which has an FM converter inside, so you can cruise with some contemporary sounds instead of whatever passes for entertainment on AM radio these days. There’s a “Magic Air” heater under the dash, a beautiful steering wheel obviously inspired by aircraft, and back seat passengers will hardly complain about the first-rate accommodations. And we’d be remiss if we didn’t call your attention to the lovely headliner, which is beautifully finished and uses multiple exposed ribs to conform to the dramatic curve of the hardtop roofline. There’s also a fully finished trunk that includes a full-sized spare tire in its original location.

Technology was marching forward with lessons learned during the war, but how do you make a flathead Ford V8 any better than this? Dressed in correct copper engine enamel, this 289 cubic inch V8 starts easily and burbles away happily, even when it’s cold. There’s plenty of torque on tap and proper fittings, hardware, and hoses were used throughout the engine bay, so it’s show-quality in almost every way. The copper-colored oil bath air cleaner is correct, the Ford-script cooling hoses looks right, and the wiring harness is new. Only the modern battery detracts from the engine bay, but that would be easy enough to remedy if your goal is to put this car back into competition. However, given how nicely it runs and drives, turning it back into a trailer queen would be a crime. You haven’t lived until you’ve owned a fully sorted flathead.

This car is also somewhat unique in that it’s equipped with Ford’s first fully automatic transmission, the Ford-O-Matic. It’s a 2-speed unit, so it’s simple, and the ratios are well-matched to the flathead’s power curve. It hangs on to first gear until you’re well under way, and just about at the moment you think it won’t shift, it smoothly drops into high range and you’re purring along at 65 MPH. The engine happily burbles through a single exhaust system that has a correct sound, and the suspension is entirely new, so it’s tight and smooth like a new car. The brakes have been overhauled as well and it stops confidently and smoothly, and in the interest of driving it regularly, the floors have been sprayed with what appears to be a spray-on bedliner material, which is virtually indestructible. The color-matched wheels are a little subtle (think of how they would pop if they were copper like the roof!) but they’re wearing trim rings and proper hub caps, as well as a set of modern 205/75/15 Diamondback Classic wide whitewall tires that ride and handle superbly.

There’s a lot of documentation attached to this little car as well, including a shop manual, owner’s manual, a full picture album of the restoration, as well as several articles on the Ford Victoria and this car. There’s also a giant trophy from when this car won Best of Show in its division at the Wonderful World of Ford show in 2015. There just can’t be many nicer than this.

The more we look at this car, the better it gets. Nicely finished, fantastic to drive, fully sorted, and highly accurate, it’s exactly the way you’d want your own car to be. This is an opportunity to own the best without spending the big money and without the long wait. It really does pay to buy quality, and this Ford is an excellent example. Call today!