Ford Abeille

The Ford Abeille, French for Bee and carrying the model code F492C, was a sedan with a two piece opening tailgate at the rear and downmarket trim, intended as a commercial variant of the Ford Vedette and sold in the French market between 1952 and 1954. Its rearmost side windows were covered from the inside, almost all chrome was replaced with painted pieces and the Vedette grille gave way to a simple mesh. It was first shown in June 1952 after a short lived agricultural version of the Vedette appeared at the 1951 Paris Salon, and it had a payload of 500 kilograms. Its 2.1 litre V8 used a different intake manifold and carburetor to lower power but raise economy and longevity, which allowed a lower tax rating of 12CV. Ford's French subsidiary built it, and production ended when Ford abandoned its French factory in 1954 and sold it to Simca.