1953 Was the last year for the Flathead... and the largest CID of the flatties too...
Dave
Yes it was indeed the last year Ford made them. Believe it or not the Ford flathead continued in production for MANY years -- in FRANCE. They used them as tank engines till probably the late 70's. In fact among the hot rod fraternity there was recently a LOT of excitement about a large amount of NEW bare blocks being released by a surplus outfit. All the standard Ford parts fit them & they were being grabbed up as fast as they could be shipped.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ Do a search for French flathead if you would like to read about them.
I don't remember exactly what the CID of the 53 was , but I ran many
"3/8's X 3/8's" flat heads ( 296 CID) over the years. Had a few set up with ARDUN heads too ( Wish I had a set now!!)The biggest flathead I ever heard about was one built by some guy in Oregon--- He got one up to 354 CID!!! Mostly with a billet stroker crank -- I remember seeing pics of it -- the pan rails were ground out to about 1/8 inch wide to clear the crank!