The 1957 standard Fords ( apart from the definitive two - seat T - Birds and the progressively popular " Squarebirds " ) represent the high point of the make ’s fifties collectibility . Conversely , the facelifted 1958s cross out the crushed point and the heavily make over 1959s generate little more interest now , even though both retained much of the 1957 design . As we ’ll see , the answer to this ostensible paradox lie where they always do when auto that seem much the same oddment up being very different .
Classic Cars Image Gallery
Nineteen fifty - seven was a vintage yr for Detroit . For Ford , it was a watershed . The most dramatically changed passenger car since the make - or - break 1949 models herald a new styling philosophy in Dearborn as well as a much tough competitive stance against front - running General Motors . If the industry ’s perennial number - two could n’t flummox Chevrolet at its own secret plan , why not alter the game ? Hit GM at every level below Cadillac – be all thing to all people and still be a Ford . consequently , the 1957 stock line was as broad as a Swedish assortment . Comprising no few than 20 dissimilar model , it traverse two separate wheelbase for the first meter in postwar Ford history ( not counting the Thunderbird , of course ) . Body styles were the expected assortment of two- and four - door saloon , hardtops , and wagons , but you were also offer the first retractable hardtop in American production and the first sedan chair / pickup from a domestic maker since World War II . There were more colors and two - tint combinations than you ’d find in a circus pigment store . Engines numbered six , five of them V-8s . In short , Ford did n’t just cover the market , but overmaster it .
fashion model offerings began with a trio of Custom sedan – Tudor and Fordor plus a stripped business two - door – replacing the humbled - end Mainline series of yore and riding a 116 - in wheelbase , half an inch longer than 1955 - 1956 . One step up was a distich of Custom 300 sedans on the same human body and also assess 202 inches long overall , successors to the premature Customline . Fairlane was next , stretching 208 in long overall and bait a new 118 - in wheelbase , both dimensions the longest in Ford history . Two - door Club Victoria and four - door Town Victoria hardtops were carried over from 1956 . You could also select from saloon equivalents selling for about $ 60 less , with slight , chrome - clip column that gave them a hardtop look . All four were duplicated in the new top - line Fairlane 500 series , which append the traditional Sunliner convertible and , a bit later , the trick - top Skyliner retractable .
Big Dipper remain a separate serial for 1957 , but the five models were juggled a bit , all on the short frame . The return two - doorway Ranch Wagon was trim likewise to the Custom sedan chair . Replacing the 1956 Parklane was the Modern Del Rio Ranch Wagon , a two - doorway with Custom 300 finery , put out as a half - response to Chevrolet ’s Nomad but priced several hundred dollar bill less . Then came the familiar Country Sedans , a pair of four - doors with Fairlane 500 appointment in two - seat ( six - rider ) and three - keister ( nine - passenger ) configurations .
Last but not least was the premium Country Squire , a nine - spot four - room access distinguished by its habitual woody - look panelling on bodysides and tailgate . The revivify car - based pickup truck arrived in December 1956 as the Ranchero , fundamentally the Ranch Wagon with an open cargo bed aft of the B - posts . Available in standard and Custom models , it was officially a Ford Truck Division product .
Except for engines , the 1957s were young from the land up – and not very far up , as overall tallness was trimmed by an impressive four inches to 57.2 overall . QuippedPopular Sciencemagazine , they were " capitulum - mellow only to a Belgian Congo pygmy . " Yet despite their low , squatty feeling , they were every bit as roomy as the 1955 - 1956 models , and wider doors made entranceway / exit even easier .
On the next page , read how the Ford Mystere show motorcar influenced Ford styling .
For more information on auto , see :
The Ford Mystere Show Car
1957 Ford Styling Innovations
The 1957 Ford Interiors, Reviews, and Production
1958 Ford Styling
1958 Ford FE-Series Engines
Newly contrive valve rotators promised better lubrication and longsighted life . The valvetrain was lighter and less complex than in the Y - cube design , Ford ’s first ohv V-8 , with heavier fresh valve natural spring to decrease the likelihood of float at high rev . Though iron cylinder oral sex were smaller than the Y - block menage ’s , big intake manifolds allowed railroad engineer to make the manifold enactment about equal length for more even fuel statistical distribution . Ford collectors like to boast about their old 292s and 312s , not realizing the FE - series ' many milepost improvements . mainly the employment of Robert Stevenson , who ’d been name primary engineer at Ford Engine & Foundry in 1957 , it was design for displacements of up to 425 cubic inches , and prove extremely long-lived and trouble - loose and was thus long - live . In fact , output of the 390 variant would continue all the way into the early Seventies . There ’s still a lot of muddiness border the 332/352 , the 390 , and Lincoln 430 engines of this period . The 390 , introduced in 1961 , was ramp up from the earth up for gamy performance . As such , it looks much like the 352 and use the same cam and head , but required entirely different casting for its stronger bottom ending and big vegetable oil passage . The 430 is n’t colligate at all , though it was design principally by Stevenson at the same clock time as the 352 . It has pushrods amount up through tubes in the intake manifold instead of through the heads , and its burning chamber are housed completely within the cylinder eagre . On the next page , find out out about the 1958 Ford line - up ’s feature and specifications .
1958 Ford Features
1959 Ford Styling
1959 Ford Features and Specifications
Not surprisingly , the detuned 1959s could n’t match 1957 - 1958 performance , though examiner treasure their swell thriftiness . Most motor magazine also commented favourably on the " hatbox " styling , but plain about the high - advance windscreen , which was so poorly design that wind buffeting was a job even with the window closed . On a more positive note , the 1959 showed much better expression and assembly than Ford had the previous two years . In this respect , Motor Trendrated it above Chevy and Plymouth : " The outstanding feature of speech of the Ford is the square smell of the body . Doors close like bank building hurdle , and give the feeling of extreme inflexibility and safe . “Greater thrift , better construct , and more acceptable styling than either of its rivals helped Ford to a very upright year as the industry began a general convalescence in 1959 . Chevy come through the model year production race by a bit less than 12,000 units ( 1,462,140 versus 1,450,953 ) , but Ford finished ahead in the sale derby by about the same border . class chief Robert S. McNamara was clear right in mandate more T - doll style for the standard line , because the four closed Galax urceolata garnered over 405,000 orders – serious than 27 percent of full product – despite their abbreviated selling time of year . Unfortunately for collectors , his emphasis on no - nonsense profit - makers had already condemned gimmick engineering , so the Skyliner would vanish for 1960 , never to be seen again . As you might expect , the Skyliner is the most payable 1957 - 1959 Ford , thanks to low production ( 48,394 for the three years ) and its gee - whiz " conceal - away " cap . However , there ca n’t be too many left to find , so what of the others ? Well , any Sunliner would be a prize simply because it ’s a ragtop , but collectors overwhelmingly prefer the 1957 , follow by the 1959 and 1958 – in that order . In fact , that ranking applies to all trunk styles . Big - block V-8s , the superior Cruise - O - Matic contagion , and the 1959s ' improved workmanship just ca n’t overcome diachronic meaning and pretty looks , even though early rust - out makes good 1957s as scarce as the proverbial hen ’s teeth today . Perhaps it only goes to show that styling tells , whether you ’re talking new - car sales or collector - car values . It was ever thus .
On the next page , learn more about Ford ’s 1957 - 1959 Skyliner .
The Ford Skyliner: Superiority Complex
The Ford Skyliner’s Troubles
1957, 1958, 1959 Ford Models, Prices, Production, and Major Specifications
