This is a blue 1946 Ford coupe, a two-door version of the similar deluxe sedan. Via Wikipedia
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
AUG. 6, 2024 | My Uncle Charles Pharis was a many-year veteran of the U.S. Navy as a chief petty officer. He had served in 1926 in The Sand Pebbles insurrection in China. He was discharged with a medical condition, but lived another 11 years in Macon.
He bought a new home in Macon with two lots when house building returned after World War II. And as the nation’s automakers began to rev up again, he purchased a 1946 blue Ford four door sedan. I remember that sedan well.
You see, it and the other blue ‘46 Fords quickly faded from the sunshine. The blue that was beautiful turned into a murky color, with a tinge or rust color among the faded blue. Soon Ford stopped painting cars that color. That color of car turned ugly quickly. No doubt Henry Ford of the famous “any color, only in black,” must really have been upset by that Ford-in-blue fading so quickly.
All this comes to mind when I see many bright blue vehicles from our automakers today. They are really bright in their blue shiny metallic colors, which catch your eye. And each manufacturer has their own name for this bright color:
- BMW: Phytonic Blue Metallic
- Toyota: Voodoo Blue
- Ford: Admiral Blue
- Chevrolet: Glacier Blue Metallic
- Jeep: Blue Gold Metallic
- Subaru: Geyser Blue, Sapphire Blue Pearl
- Acura: Apex Blue Pearl
- And others.
Hopefully, the paint manufacturers have enough detail in their records to remember those early blue fading formulas, so that today’s blue vehicles will keep their charm, and stay bright.
But Old Sol, the sun, is a mighty warrior. We’ll see.
Automaking today is far different from after World War II. In those days, many people were anxious to see the new models each year. Many traded cars every 2-3-4 years, and for one reason: the American cars were not as good as they are today. It was unusual when an American car turned over 100,000 miles back then.
Then came the imports, especially from Japan, which changed automaking worldwide. The smaller Hondas and Toyotas were built far better, lasted longer and cost less. People started bragging of their low gas mileage, and soaring longevity without problems.
And in order to survive, American automakers got better. No longer do people trade cars so quickly. And going over 100,000 miles on a vehicle is standard today.
What was your first vehicle? Mine was a 1953 Chevrolet coupe, blue and gray. It was four years old when I bought it, from my accumulated savings from having the same paper route for nine years. How pleased I was. Its color did not fade.
After Barbara and I got married, there was one problem: Barbara had never driven a car without an automatic transmission. So she learned to stick-shift (rather quickly), though it took some stalling and bouncy starts to get her going.
We drove that car to Petersburg, Va., as I entered the Army in 1958 for basic officer training at Fort Lee. Then we drove it back to Georgia before we sold that first car and shipped over to Germany on the USS Darby for what turned out to be 3.5 years….returning home with a six-week old son.
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