Ford Super Deluxe Cover Guide: Prewar and Postwar Fitment, Six Body Styles, Cellulose Lacquer Storage (1941–1948)

Color sanding and re-lacquer on a Ford Super Deluxe panel: $1,800–$3,500. A full body respray on original Ditzler cellulose lacquer: $5,000–$15,000. Body-off museum-quality restoration with period-correct lacquer: $30,000–$80,000. DaShield Ultimum: $209.99. We'll let you do the division.

One clarification before the rest: if the Super Deluxe is stored in a climate-controlled collection space with actively managed humidity, don't buy an outdoor cover. Our SoftTec Satin handles dust exclusion in that scenario — that is the honest answer. For everyone else — unheated garages, carport storage, seasonal off periods in northern climates where the air cycles through ambient humidity — the math above is why this cover exists.

The Ford Super Deluxe presents a fitment problem that no single-measurement cover resolves. Ford produced the Super Deluxe across two separated production windows — 1941 through 1942, then again from 1946 through 1948, following a complete halt during World War II when Ford's Dearborn and River Rouge facilities converted to military production. When civilian output resumed in 1946, Ford redesigned the front sheet metal: the 1946–1948 Super Deluxe received a revised hood contour and grille surround that differs from the 1941–1942 original. A cover template patterned to the 1941 nose profile will not sit correctly over the 1946 restyled front end. Beyond the prewar/postwar split, the Super Deluxe was offered in at least six distinct body styles — tudor sedan, fordor sedan, business coupe, convertible coupe, convertible sedan, and station wagon — each with a different roofline geometry that requires a different cover template. Underneath all of this sits the finishing question: the Super Deluxe used Ditzler nitrocellulose lacquer, a single-stage cellulose finish that requires breathable fabric in storage. A non-breathable cover traps humidity against 80-year-old lacquer and initiates blushing and lifting within a single humid season. Lacquer restoration to address that damage runs $1,800–$3,500. Full repaint to museum quality runs $30,000–$80,000 for a body-off restoration. The cover decision is worth making correctly.

Prewar and Postwar Super Deluxe: What Changed Between 1942 and 1946

Ford produced the Super Deluxe trim designation as the top of its 1941–1942 civilian lineup, above the Standard and Deluxe lines. The Super Deluxe arrived with upgraded interior appointments, external brightwork, and the full range of body style offerings that the Standard and Deluxe lines did not carry. Prewar production ran through early 1942, when Ford converted its facilities to war contracts. The Super Deluxe name and associated body work were suspended entirely for 1943 through 1945.

When Ford returned to civilian production in 1946, the Super Deluxe name resumed — but the front sheet metal did not resume unchanged. The 1946–1948 Super Deluxe received a restyled hood contour and a new grille surround. The 1942 production cars had a more streamlined hood profile with a distinct nose shape that Ford revised for the postwar cars. The 1946+ hood contour is slightly broader at the front edge and sits differently relative to the fender tops. The grille surround also changed construction — the postwar cars used a heavier die-cast grille assembly that slightly altered the front face geometry compared to the 1941–1942 pressed-steel original.

For cover fitment, the practical consequence is this: a cover sized and patterned to the 1941 nose profile will not sit properly over the 1946 restyled front end. The front hem will either gap at the lower edge or ride up over the revised grille surround, depending on the direction of the dimensional mismatch. DaShield maps prewar (1941–1942) and postwar (1946–1948) separately within the Super Deluxe to ensure the front hood hem seats correctly at each production window's specific nose geometry. Year selection at checkout is mandatory — not a refinement, but the determination of which nose template the cover carries.

The Super Deluxe runs 196–198 inches depending on year and body style, with sedan and coupe variants clustering in the 196–197 inch range for prewar cars, the wagon running slightly longer. At these lengths, a 1-inch front drape mismatch produces visible hem displacement at the grille area.

Six Body Styles: Fitment Profiles for Sedan, Coupe, Convertible, and Wagon

The Super Deluxe was one of Ford's broadest body style offerings of the era. Each style carries a distinct roofline geometry that requires a separate cover template. A sedan cover applied to a convertible, or a coupe template applied to the wagon, will produce fit error at the C-pillar or rear quarter — either pulling tight where the roofline is taller, or draping excess fabric where the profile is lower.

Tudor Sedan (2-door): The Tudor carries a full-height roofline with a defined C-pillar that meets the trunk lid line at a characteristic 1940s angle. The rear roofline treatment is upright relative to the fastback and convertible profiles. Cover templates for the Tudor must account for the full C-pillar height and the relatively square rear window surround.

Fordor Sedan (4-door): The Fordor presents a similar overall height to the Tudor but with a longer door opening and a slightly different B-to-C pillar span. The four-door body also affects how the cover drapes at the door seams, which run longer and distribute the cover's side tension differently from the Tudor's two-door arrangement.

Business Coupe: The business coupe uses a shorter, more compact roofline that terminates earlier on the body, with a larger trunk area behind the cabin. The coupe profile is lower at the rear than the sedan body styles — a sedan template over-drapes at the C-pillar and produces fabric contact against the trunk lid above the designed tension line.

Convertible Coupe: The convertible coupe carries a folded soft top when stored, creating a raised fabric stack behind the front seat. A cover for the Super Deluxe convertible must account for this soft top profile — a hardtop or sedan template will pool fabric at the folded top location. DaShield maps the convertible coupe body specifically to ensure the cover accommodates the soft top stack without producing contact points that chafe against the convertible's folded mechanism.

Station Wagon (Woody): The Super Deluxe station wagon — the "woody" — presents the most distinct roofline of any body style in the lineup. The wagon carries an extended, squared-off roof rail that runs further rearward than the sedan profiles, with wood paneling on the body sides and rear. A sedan or coupe template draped over the wagon will droop at the C-pillar and produce excess fabric that flutters in wind and creates abrasion contact against the ash-and-maple wood framing. DaShield maps the wagon body style separately to eliminate this droop and ensure the rear hem seats at the wagon's extended roof line rather than the shorter sedan geometry.

Cellulose Lacquer: The Core Storage Risk for 1940s Fords

The Ford Super Deluxe left the factory with Ditzler nitrocellulose lacquer — a single-stage cellulose finish that was the standard for American automotive production through the mid-1950s. Nitrocellulose lacquer is chemically different from the polyurethane and basecoat/clearcoat systems used on modern vehicles, and those differences determine the cover specification required to protect it.

Nitrocellulose lacquer is a solvent-release finish. It does not cure through a chemical cross-linking reaction the way polyurethane does — it dries as the solvent carrier evaporates, leaving a film that remains somewhat solvent-sensitive throughout its life. This means cellulose lacquer is permeable to moisture vapor in a way that modern clearcoat systems are not. Humidity that builds up under a non-breathable cover creates a microclimate between the cover and the lacquer surface. In that microclimate, moisture vapor condenses against the lacquer, penetrates the film, and disrupts the optical clarity of the finish — producing the milky white or hazy areas collectors refer to as lacquer blushing.

Blushing can sometimes be addressed by re-flow with solvent, but on 80-year-old single-stage lacquer that has been buffed, color-sanded, and re-lacquered across multiple decades of ownership, the film thickness available for solvent re-flow may be insufficient. Blushing that cannot be re-flowed requires color sanding and re-lacquering — a process that runs $1,800–$3,500 for a panel-by-panel restoration at a shop experienced with cellulose finishes. Full panel re-lacquer that must address underlying crazing or lifting from the primer layer escalates to $5,000–$15,000. A body-off museum-quality restoration, which many Super Deluxe owners undertake when a car has been stored under a non-breathable cover for years, reaches $30,000–$80,000.

Non-breathable covers — including those made from non-woven polypropylene composites, solid vinyl, and certain polyester laminates without moisture vapor transmission — trap humidity in the microclimate between the fabric and the car's surface. On a modern polyurethane clearcoat, this is an inconvenience. On 80-year-old nitrocellulose lacquer, it is a material incompatibility that translates directly into finish damage within a single humid storage season in climates with significant overnight temperature swings — the coastal conditions common across much of the United States.

Breathable fabric construction, specifically woven fabric with measurable moisture vapor transmission, moves humidity outward rather than trapping it. This is not a marketing property for the Ford Super Deluxe owner — it is the core technical specification that determines whether a cover is safe to use with cellulose lacquer.

DaShield Ultimum: Specifications for a 1940s Collector Car

The DaShield Ultimum is a multi-layer woven laminate cover. The woven construction provides measurable moisture vapor transmission — the property that distinguishes it from non-woven polypropylene and vinyl alternatives. Humidity trapped under the cover moves outward through the woven fabric rather than condensing against the lacquer surface. For the Super Deluxe owner storing the car through a humid season, this is the technical reason the Ultimum is the correct product specification.

The Ultimum carries a Lifetime warranty. The Ford Super Deluxe owner's use case makes the Lifetime warranty directly relevant: these cars are typically stored October through April in most climates, meaning the cover cycles on and off twice per year for indefinitely extended ownership periods. An annual replacement schedule is not consistent with collector storage economics. The Lifetime warranty covers the indefinite seasonal storage cycle — the cover is not a consumable that requires periodic replacement.

Many Super Deluxe owners also store the car through an active restoration period of three to five years, during which the car may not move at all while mechanical, body, and interior work is completed. The Ultimum's Lifetime warranty covers this extended stationary storage without a separate provision — the same cover that protects the car during weekend show seasons also covers it during the full restoration period.

The Ultimum's woven outer layer does not contact chrome brightwork under normal placement. The Super Deluxe carried chrome trim strips along the door lower edges, hood edges, and windshield surround — pieces that, on a vehicle of this age, are either restored originals or NOS replacements that represent significant investment. Chrome on 1940s vehicles is more vulnerable to pitting from trapped condensation than from direct woven fabric contact. The Ultimum's breathable construction prevents the condensation cycle that causes pitting entirely, rather than managing the symptom after the microclimate has already formed.

The Ultimum is priced at $209.99 for car applications. The cost of a single panel lacquer restoration on a Super Deluxe — $1,800 at the low end — is 8.6 times the cover price. A full respray of the body is 24–72 times the cover price. Designed in Buena Park, California.

Maintenance is wipe-down only — no machine washing. A damp cloth wipe after each seasonal removal is sufficient.

Body Style and Year Selection at Checkout

The Super Deluxe fitment path requires two inputs at checkout: year and body style.

Year determines which nose template the cover carries. Prewar (1941–1942) and postwar (1946–1948) Super Deluxes use different hood contours and grille surround geometry. Specifying the wrong year range produces a cover that does not seat correctly at the front end — the most visible fit failure point on a vehicle where the hood and grille are the dominant design elements.

Body style determines the roofline template. The production body styles — Tudor sedan, Fordor sedan, business coupe, convertible coupe, and station wagon — have different roofline profiles requiring separate cover templates. A sedan cover on a woody wagon droops at the C-pillar and contacts the wood panels. A coupe template on a convertible won't accommodate the soft top stack. That sounds obvious. The problem is that most single-SKU covers don't map these variants separately.

DaShield's year-by-year and body-style mapping reflects the actual dimensional variety of this model. For a vehicle of this age, where the cost of a fitment mistake is measured in lacquer restoration fees rather than a cover exchange, correct specification protects the investment.

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