Michel Valkema fell for the quintessential Dutch history of Ford Deluxe: Paperwork was the deciding factor

"History known." We often read it in classic car ads, but how much value do enthusiasts actually attach to them? A great deal, you might conclude if you ask Michel Valkema. He hadn't actually set his sights on something like a 1947 Ford Deluxe Fordor Sedan V-8, but the included documentation, proving its thoroughly Dutch history, quickly convinced him.

Text & photography: Aart van der Haagen

Another such term: "original Dutch car." Often wrongly claimed based solely on the registration number, while production actually took place abroad. By the letter of the law, that status is only justified if at least the assembly once took place in the Low Countries, and yes, that certainly appears to be the case with this Ford Deluxe. A few dozen workers at the "Amsterdam Assembly" in the Western Docklands of our capital city took the initiative in the early winter of 1947 and completed the job on February 25th of that year. A building permit, stamped three days later, clearly demonstrates this.

Errors in documents tell the Ford Deluxe Fordor Sedan's own story

A linen registration certificate—many of us have probably never held one. On April 14, 1956, it replaced the provincially issued permit for this Ford Deluxe, which until then had legally linked vehicle and owner. "G. Meerdink's Hout en Bouwmaterialenhandel" (G. Meerdink's Wood and Building Materials Trade) was typed on March 25, 1947, with an address in Winterswijk. The year of manufacture was mistakenly listed as 1946, and the RDW (Netherlands Vehicle Authority) copied this when printing the linen document.

At that point, another error crept in: the engine supposedly had six cylinders and a displacement of 3700 cm³, while the factory code 69A actually indicated a 239-cubic-inch V8, or 3923 cm³. Also dating back to 1947, to be precise, Thursday, March 20 of that year, is a so-called "weighing report." This was mandatory for obtaining a license plate, as the result determined how much road tax the owner would have to pay.

Why the Ford Deluxe Fordor Sedan Doesn't Buzz, It Babbles

Like many of us, Michel Valkema regularly browses Marktplaats (a Dutch online marketplace), driven by the wisdom that a true enthusiast is always one car short. "Actually, a Ford V-8 with a closed body wasn't really my style. I'm more interested in convertibles and pre-war models." You could argue that the Dutch-assembled sedan with its American roots falls somewhat into the latter category, since the Deluxe series entered the market in 1941 and, after a production hiatus from early 1942, continued its career shortly after the end of the war, from 1946 to 1948.

From that point on, it featured a heavily accentuated, horizontally stretched grille and—in the case of the V-8—the larger 239 engine, originally intended for luxury brand Mercury and now replacing the 221-cubic-inch version at Ford, to create a more distinctive character compared to the 226 straight-six. "I inspected the car on-site at a dealership in the Achterhoek region, coincidentally the same region where it was originally delivered new. The fact that all those old papers were included was the real deciding factor for me, along with the character of the side-valve V-8. It doesn't hum, like a straight-eight, but babbles."

The full story, including photos, can be found in the December issue of Auto Motor Klassiek, now on sale.

(More photos below.)