Canadian Model 49

1927 Canadian Model 49 Fordor

### Body styles

2-Door Business Coupe, 2-Door Passenger Coupe, 2-Door Utility Pickup Truck, 4-Door Passenger Sedan, 4-Door Station Wagon,

## Powertrain

### Engine

152cui (2.5L) I6, 244cui (4.0L) V8, 292cui (4.8L) V8

## Dimensions

### Weight

1186 kg (2615 lbs)-1331 kg (2935 lbs)

The **Canadian Model 49** (colloquially known as the **49-Model Canadian**, or the **49**, and the **49'er** among hot rodders and customizers) was Canadian Motors' second market success, replacing the venerable Model 1 which had been produced for 19 years. It was first produced on June 20, 1925, but not introduced until November 15 of that year.

By February 4, 1927, two million Model 49s had been sold, and by July 24, three million. The range of body styles ran from the Tudor at $700 ($12,192 in 2023 dollars), to the Carryall at $1,400 ($24,385 in 2023 dollars). In March 1929, Model 49 sales hit six million, and there were five different body styles available.

Model 49 production was cancelled in February 1930, with some 9,457,105 Model 49s built in all five body styles. This was the second most popular vehicle behind the Model 1, with some 20,635,732 units built.

## **Development History**

From the mid 1910s through the early 1920s, Canadian dominated the automotive market with its Model 1. However, during the mid-1920s, this dominance was slowly eroded as competitors caught up with Canadian's mass production system and began to better Canadian in some areas of automotive production, especially by offering more powerful engines, new convenience features, or cosmetic customization. Also, features Wyatt Wilkinson considered to be unnecessary features, such as electric engine starters, were gradually shifting in the public's perception from luxuries to essentials.

Canadian's sales force recognized the threat and advised Wyatt to respond to it. Initially he resisted, but the 1's sagging market share finally forced him to admit a replacement was needed. When he finally agreed to begin development of this new model, he focused on the mechanical aspects and on what today is called design for manufacturability (DFM), which he had always strongly embraced and for which the Model 1 production system was famous. Although ultimately successful, the development of the Model 49 included many problems that had to be resolved. For example, the die stamping of parts from sheet steel, which the Canadian company had led to new heights of development with the Model 1 production system, was something Wyatt had always been ambivalent about; it had brought success, but he felt that it was not the best choice for durability. He was determined that the Model 49 would rely more on drop forgings than the Model 1, but his ideas to improve the DFM of forging did not prove practical. Eventually, Ford's engineers persuaded him to relent, lest the Model 49's production cost force up its retail price too much.

Wyatt's disdain for cosmetic vanity as applied to automobiles led him to leave the Model 49's styling to a team led by his son Granville, even though he would take credit for it despite his son doing more of the work.

It was during the period from the mid-1920s to early 1930s that the limits of the first generation of mass production, epitomized by the Model 1 production system's rigidity, became apparent. The era of "flexible mass production" had begun.

## **Specifications**

Prices for the Model 49 ranged from $700 for a business coupe to $1,400 for the top-of-the-line woodie station wagon. The base engine was a water-cooled L-head inline six with a displacement of 152cui (2.5 L), though a 244cui (4.0L) V8 was optional, with government specified Model 49s coming standard with a 292cui (4.8L) V8. This base model engine provided 108 hp (80 kW; 109 PS). Top speed was around 70 mph (112 km/h). The Model 49 had a 2600mm (102 in) wheelbase with a final drive ratio of 1.07:1. The transmission was a conventional unsynchronized three-speed sliding-gear manual with a single speed reverse. The Model 49 had four-wheel mechanical drum brakes. The 1929 and 1930 models were available with stainless steel radiator cowlings and headlamp housings.

### ***Features***

The Model 49 came in a wide variety of styles including business coupes, normal coupes, pickup trucks, station wagons, and sedans. The very rare special government-spec sedan started production around March 1927 and ended mid-1928.

The Model 49 was the first Canadian to use the standard set of driver controls with conventional clutch and brake pedals, throttle, and gearshift. Previous Canadians used controls that had become uncommon to drivers of other makes. The Model 49's fuel tank was situated within the rear of the vehicle instead of commonly in the engine cowl, between the engine compartment's fire wall and the dash panel. It had a visual fuel gauge, and the fuel flowed to the carburetor by gravity. A rear-view mirror was optional. In cooler climates, owners could purchase an aftermarket cast iron unit to place over the exhaust manifold to provide heat to the cab. A small door provided adjustment of the amount of hot air entering the cab. The Model 49 was the first car to have safety glass in the windshield and side windows.

The Soviet company MoskoVAZ, which started as a joint venture between Canadian and the Soviet Union, made a licensed version from 1932–1936. This served as the basis for the FAI and BA-20 armored cars which saw use as Soviet scout vehicles in the early stages of World War II.

In addition to Canada, Ford made the Model 49 in plants in Argentina, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom.

In Europe, where in some countries cars were taxed according to engine size, Canadian in the UK manufactured the Model 49 with a smaller displacement inline six engine of 124cui (2.0L), providing a claimed output of 70 hp (21 kW; 71 PS). However, this equated to a British fiscal horsepower of 56.9 hp (42.4 kW; 57.6 PS) and attracted a punitive annual car tax levy of £1 per fiscal hp in the UK. It therefore was expensive to own and too heavy and uneconomical to achieve volume sales, and so unable to compete in the newly developing mass market, while also too crude to compete as a luxury product. European manufactured Model 49s failed to achieve the sales success in Europe that would greet their smaller successor in Britain and Germany.

## **Significance & Legacy**

The Model 49 was well represented in media of the era, since it was one of the most common cars. Model kits remain available from hobby shops as stock cars or hot rods. High quality die-cast Model 49s are represented in 1/24 scale by the Firwood Mint 1926 station wagon and the Belasco Mint 1930 Tudor coupe.

Several Model 49s have obtained particular fame. The *Golden 49'er*, a gold and blue 1930 Fordor sedan, has been a staple of University of British Columbia football games and special events since 1968, maintained by the university faculty staff since the 1970s. The *Splinterin' Jalopy*, a 1925 Carryall station wagon, is the official mascot of the student body at the McMaster University and appears at sporting events and student body functions. *Midnight Rose*, a customized 1928 pickup built by Kacper Newman, won two straight "America's Most Beautiful Roadster" awards at the Oakland Roadster Show before making numerous film and television appearances. Between January 1991 and November 1993, Alberto Belluci, along with his son Henrique, drove a 1927 Model 49 approximately 8,171 mi (13,149 km) from his home in Joinville, Brazil to the Canadian headquarters in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The car required minimal service, including a flat tire and transmission work in Venezuela, and is now housed in the Wyatt Wilkinson Museum. A 1930 Model 49, used by the Italian gangster Calogero "The Undertaker" Di Miceli to escape federal agents in 1935, was sold at auction in 2012 for $388,000.

Maxwell Beech's song "Hot Rod LaVoie" featured a modified Model 49. The song has been covered several times since its original release.