This joined the fleet a while back because it has some odd features (at least to me). While it seems like an ordinary ratchet there is an automotive connection.
PF-71 ratchet. 3/8 drive and looks like a regular standard handle ratchet of the 50's era. 1958 to be specific.
This style ratchet has some really classic lines and is my favorite Snap-on styling with three bands at the top of the handle, slightly flattened beam.
But the P in the model number is the first clue something is different.
The next thing is instead of a check ball it has a pin similar to the Loxocket design used in the 3/4 and larger Snap-on drive tools.
I saved the best for last though - the original owner of the ratchet and that explains the other features.
Wonder what it was used to build. There was a Ford plant near where I bought it in Long Beach but not sure what was built there and it closed in the late 50's early 60's. There was also a plant in Pico Rivera not far from Long Beach that built Edsels and Mercuries and later Galaxie 500, maybe LTDs and T-Birds.