One of Ford's best concepts unfortunately never made it into production despite ample public interest

Unveiled in 2001 at the North American International Auto Show – aka Detroit Auto Show – the Ford Forty-Nine was a retro-styled concept that unfortunately never made it to production.

The inspiration came from icons from the 1940s, but this was a modern car, and it had a modern engine.

Everyone loved it back then, and people still love it now.

But there’s a reason why Ford never produced it.

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Why the Ford Forty-Nine concept never made it to production

The Ford Forty-Nine concept was unveiled at the North American International Auto Show, or Detroit Auto Show, which is what everybody calls it.

The idea was to capture the ethos and design language of hot rod-style Fords from the 1940s, especially the 1949 Ford everyone knows as the ‘shoebox Ford’.

Interestingly, the engine wasn’t actually built by Ford.

At the time, Ford owned Jaguar, which is why this concept car was powered by a 3.9-liter Jaguar-sourced V8, and the same rear-wheel-drive platform that was also used for some Lincoln models.

Unfortunately, despite public interest, Ford never created a production model, mostly because the company decided to focus on the new Thunderbird instead.

These are Ford’s most iconic concept cars

The Forty-Nine is one of the most iconic Ford concept cars, but maybe not the most iconic.

That particular title probably belongs to the Ford GT90.

After discontinuing the Ford GT40 in the late 1960s, the American automaker spent the next few decades trying to design a worthy successor.

The GT90 looked like a good candidate.

Like the Ford GT40, it had doors that cut into the roofline and, like the GT40, it was powerful and fast.

It used the same engine that Jaguar, Ford’s subsidiary at the time, had used for the XJ220 concept unveiled just three years prior.

It was a big, meaty 5.9-liter V12, which was capable of 720HP.

But timing is always key, and the GT90 was maybe the right car but at the wrong time.

The market wasn’t ready for it, and so Ford just shelved the project altogether.

Unfortunately, it’s not the only epic concept that’s failed to make it to production.

There’s a whole lineup of cool concept cars that made headlines for all the right reasons, but were axed before ever making it to production.