©2007 Publications International, Ltd. By 1932, most buyers preferred closed cars, but today this 1932 Ford Model 18 phaeton is far more desirable.

Sadly, Mr. Ford's V-8 would not be the engine to drive the country out of the Depression. Because of the slow production start-up, sales were low until June 1932, when they reached some 55,000 units, nearly as many as Chevrolet and Plymouth combined. But by July it could be seen that the demand just wasn't there. Sales fell back, production was halved, and wages were cut to $4 a day. Interestingly, when his workers were earning $6 a day in 1929, Henry Ford's earnings had been $14 million, Edsel's $8 million.