With predictions of World War II ending soon, in February, 1945, Ford asked for, and received consent to restart production of pickups after three years of unavailability, first with the pre-war model 21C, followed by the model 59C in May, such as this vehicle. During 1945, only 1/2-ton pickups were built. On May 3, 1945 the 31,000,000th Ford was built and chance decided it to be a pickup.

The waterfall grille found on the similar prewar pickups was carried over to the new-for-1945 models. The most notable styling changes were accent color on the lamp bezels. Grille and door handles; exclusion of the contrasting paint from the nameplate on the hood face and larger outside mirror. The chassis also received some mechanical improvements. Because of the still existing, war-induced rubber shortage, a spare tire was not offered. If the owner was fortunate enough to come across a tire, it was to be mounted on the rim fixed on the side of the box between the cab and the rear fender. The truck was offered only in one color – Village Green with the aforementioned trim finished in cream. It is powered by a 239-cid flathead V-8 engine that is paired with a three-speed manual transmission, and has the sidemount without the tire, as per period factory spec. Quite rare by all accounts; sources indicate that 19,706 were built.

This particular 59C has been the recipient of a high quality, award-winning restoration. It has an interesting history that includes earning a place of display as part of The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan. This museum was built in 1929, is world-famous and is included on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and also a prestigious U.S. National Historic Landmark District. The Henry Ford owned this Ford, and it comes with The Henry Ford museum title. To further establish the quality of this fine machine, in 2013 it was awarded an AACA National First Prize, scoring 998 out of 1,000 available points. Further, in 2009 it received a score of 994/1000 at the Auburn, Indiana Early Ford V-8 Club of America Concours Judging.

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