Information

[JimNolan]

Years ago, I took it upon myself to find out what the significance of the 57 Ford "Special" emblem on the glove box meant. Popular belief was that it was only put on 2 X 4 barrel carb engines and supercharged engines. I even tracked down a man that paid $650 for one on Ebay and he told me he was restoring a 57 Ranchero that was supercharged from the factory and someone must have changed glove boxes with his Ranchero because his didn't have one and he just knew since it was supercharged it must have had one originally.
Well, I eventually found a man in Falls Church, VA that had worked on the assembly line in Norfolk, VA when the 57 was being put together and told him it was our understanding that the "Special" emblems was meant for the higher horsepower engines. He just laughed and said the "Special" emblem was for cars with 312 engines and the reason all cars with 312 engines didn't have one was because Ford didn't know they were going to sell that many cars and assembly lines quit using them when they ran out of the emblems. He said all assembly lines had the same amount of emblems to use and ran out at various times depending on how many 312 cars they built.
He also said that the guy that inspected the seats at Norfolk chewed tobacco and instead of having a coffee can to spit in he just spit his tobacco inside the seats. He said that new car smell owed a lot to the tobacco that guy spit in the seats.
I forget the guys name but he told me he was a show car judge in one of the more elite type classic car associations and dwelt with Fords only.
Just some information I thought I'd share before it was lost.

[RICH MUISE]

Great info.............just don't tell the guy that paid 650. for one.

[rmk57]

The fellow inspecting the seats must have chewed a lot of tobacco...

[JimNolan]

Great info.............just don't tell the guy that paid 650. for one.

The guy that paid $650 designed the Electrical Power Grid in Central Florida and became a very wealthy man with a mansion in Florida, a stable of cars and mechanics etc to work on them. He enjoyed his mansion in Florida so much he built a Mansion in MN (I think that's where he said) with a "stable" of classic cars there also. No telling what he would have paid for that emblem if he had too. He told me it'd be a least another 10 years before he saw one on Ebay again and that one wasn't getting away from him. lol

[chapingo17]

Great info.

[cokefirst]

I have seen them and never knew the significance of it.  Great information

[Ecode70D]

         Well at least there is a chance that it may have come with cars that  had a 312 Y block.    Now I have to come up with a cover story to make up for what I have been saying about the emblem and the E and F code cars.   It is still a beautiful emblem.

[Limey57]

I love hearing stuff like this, I often wished cars could tell you stories of all the things they've "seen" over the years

[JimNolan]

I've always been the kind of person you have to prove things to. Most people just call be stubborn. When I first heard of the E and F code only having the emblem and the 57 I bought was assembled the first or second week of assembly ( Sept 27) and it had that emblem, the whole thing didn't make sense to me.  Also, on the early 57's the ash tray was made different, the inside and the outside rear view mirrors were different and the power steering rams were different than later model year 57's. My car was the 3794th car to roll off the assembly line in San Jose, CA.