The 1940 Fords featured extremely handsome styling reminiscent of Lincoln and courtesy of Eugene “Bob” Gregorie.

Little did Edsel Ford know that when he hired the young draftsman in 1932, he would become one of Detroit’s styling immortals.

In similar fashion to Harley Earl at General Motors Art & Colour Section in 1927, Gregorie was promoted to head Ford’s first in-house styling department in 1935.

His team originally included several members but was employing as many as 20 stylists by 1938.

Though GM became recognized as Detroit’s styling leader for many decades to come, Ford was certainly its equal after Gregorie’s rise to prominence.

For 1940 all Fords were fitted with sealed beam headlamps and a steering column-mounted shift lever.

Wagons were available in both Standard and Deluxe trim.

Of the 13,199 wagons built for 1940, 8,730 were Deluxe models.

These featured chrome headlight trim rings with the parking light cast into its upper surface.

The Deluxe grille combined a ce...