The Ford Country Squire Woodie
1950 saw a new Crestliner "sports sedan" — a 2-door sedan with 2-tone paint intended to battle Chevrolet's popular hardtop sedans of 1950. Another new name was Country Squire, which referred to the 2-door wood-sided station wagon. All wagons received flat-folding middle seats at mid-year, an innovation that would reappear in the minivans of the 1990s. 1949 and 1950 styling was similar, with a single central "bullet" in the frowning chrome grille. The trim lines were renamed as well, with "Standard" becoming "Deluxe" and "Custom" renamed "Custom Deluxe".
1951
The 1951 Fords featured an optional Ford-O-Matic automatic transmission for the first time. Ford finally answered Chevrolet's Bel Air charge with the Victoria hardtop sedan in 1951. The car was an instant hit, outselling the Chevy by nearly 10%. The Crestliner continued for one more year, however. All 1951 Fords sported a new "dual-bullet" grille and heavy chrome bumpers.
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