Terrific research on the history of this, and other hardtop convertibles! The complexity of this operating system boggles the mind! Great choice to highlight on your channel. 👍
The goal is to hit them all I’d love to do all the body styles of all the cars between 1935 and 1964 and feature all of the cars outside of that it’s a tall order that’s why I try to put out five videos a week sometimes it’s three or four but we’re going to hit them all =)
What a great car! Love that creamy yellow and crisp white color combination. Family friends had a mint '59 Skyliner, beige and dark brown, in the mid-sixties, which they had bought as a weekend toy. It was fascinating to watch the top go up and down. In the trunk was a metal corral that looked like a washtub defining the limits of top-down storage. The back end was HUGE in order to accommodate the roof. It looked to me like they made that convertible out of a station wagon. While I agree that it has an awkward back end, it's a worthwhile tradeoff for the ultimate 50s automotive gizmo.
Yeah they are super cool thank you so much for sharing that awesome story. The skyline was a ford exclusive I’ve seen edsels with it but they were mere made from the factory that way someone would have to convert a skyliner into one.
So there was some trunk storage with the top down, but you had to haul things in and out over the side and had to put the top back up to get the stuff out.
Watching the top operate was a sight to behold!! My dad had a 1958 Skyliner, it was red & white two tone. Thanks for showcasing this beautiful classic!!! 👍👍
It is a very beautiful teal fin design but I don’t think it’s my favorite one out of any car from the 50s I honestly don’t know which one is my favorite I really like the fins on 59 ambassador wagon made by AMC... but I don’t know if those are my favorite I still have yet to see a lot of those cars in person I will say though I saw 58 Packard not the Hark the other packard that has quad lights in front they are super rare the fins are very unique in the back of that car it goes like they’re two-tiered like they put one thing in a tack and tacked another fin on top of it. Hopefully I’ll be able to review that car I haven’t done that one yet, but working on it =)
Also the top system was more bulletproof than it gets credit for. I have a '57 Skyliner. The motors have never been rebuilt, only adjustments with the switches and relays has been necessary over time. The system goes in sequence by having a switch that is pressed as each motor finishes it's cycle. in the event of a bad switch the top would do as many cycles until it got to the bad switch, giving a good indication which switch is bad, simplifying diagnosis. Breakdowns on these roofs were not common.
congrats on having such a nice car, I had a 4 dr 500 back in the day , in case you want a cheap performance and longevity boost , the rear differential oil if changed to red line synthetic 80 90 will give you a surprisingly noticeable improvement, you will feel most right off idle when moving, sliding gears like those in an axle are the best places to use a modern lube , in my ranger i literally noticed it in the first fifty feet.
That’s awesome I love your name on here it’s epic.. not my car I find these cars for sale that’s the angle I use to be able to do this.. all the dealers I’ve used on here are are super cool might be dropping another video from a new dealer in Pittsburgh I shot 5 cars today, I try to be as efficient as possible. That’s why I switched to the voice over because I don’t have to learn about the car before I film it.. so I don’t have to worry about information on car and specs, or worry about saying the wrong thing like in the Hudson video. I have to find a way to streamline the editing process.. editing takes 6-7 hours that’s research writing an outline putting video together..I do everything on a iPad it’s simpler that way. But the most frustrating thing about all of it is I use two camera canon r6 for the depth of field cinematic shots of the interior and a go pro hero 9 for the rest of it. The frustrating thing is when you upload it to the iPad it does it do it in order they are all over the place so it makes it a lot harder to edit it.. i’m sure there’s a setting somewhere to change that I gotta figure that out because if I can figure that out it would cut down time drastically. There are some really cool cars coming I shot 5 cars in 3 hours which is pretty good.. I generally do between two and four cars a day they pulled in one other car and I was like why do you have to bring that in here so I did that real quick but wasn’t able to get the back open or the hood open mechanism issues so I don’t know if it’s still a super cool ride... and it was a wagon.. some really cool stuff coming. =)
Interesting. Was yours a California car? My grandfather loved Ford convertibles, but had a negative opinion on the retractable roofs. I'm curious if our Chicago climate might have been detrimental to this design.
@@Da_Benski my experience with older cars has been the problem usually isn't with the original design or construction but someone between you and the day it left the line trying to out smart the engineering department and making things worse or something similar. But I would suspect that it's quite likely the winter salt did no favors those old switches and relays which typically would be 'open' for service
When I was a kid (I'm 69), our nextdoor neighbor had one of these. Had every option. I only saw the top open one time when it was showed off for the envious neighbors. Later, it was traded for a 1962 Imperial Crown. I liked that car because I was fascinated by the bullet headlights.
What a wonderful blast from the past to find this video. Back in the mid to late 1960s I worked for Bonnie Guitar. She had a black 1957 Fairlane 500 Skyliner. It was one of my favorite cars to drive back then.
'57 Fords with Power brakes didn't use a booster like you might think. The only indicator is a vacuum reservoir on top of the inner fender on the right side of the engine bay, and obviously the pedal saying "Swift Sure power brakes". Under the dash was a bellows which is where the vacuum was used and gave assist. Also note that people would almost always first buy power steering over power brakes back then if they had the chance, as It made the biggest difference. Non power brakes weren't that bad.
Thank you so much for sharing that information =) I had a 67 mustang coupe dual master reservoir and it was really hard to stop I had single master on my Chevy truck and it’s easier to stop then the mustang was...
Love 1957 Skyliner. I thought the 1957 was they best looking body style of the 3 years-- 57 through 59. My dad was stationed in Germany in the army when this car was introduced and he first saw it at a manufacturers car show where new models were shown to public. He said when he first saw that hardtop disappear in the trunk he couldn’t believe it.
Awesome thank you so much for sharing that story that it would’ve been incredible to see it back then.. he probably would’ve gotten the same reaction as when they made the lightbulb could you imagine the reaction people would have when they just saw electricity for the first time..
Excellent job!! You really dug up a lot of info. Regarding power steering vs power brakes; Cars we’re getting much heavier and power steering made a huge difference, especially for the ladies. Drum brakes are partially self activating, as opposed to disc brakes which require a boost. It’s surprising to see so many of your subscribers have had experiences with such a rare car. The family that lived next door had one in the late 60’s.
Thank you so much for the positive feedback, to make one 15-20 minutes video it takes 8-10 hours I do a lot of research.. and check multiple sources.. because a lot of times there’s discrepancies one so it will say one thing and another site and say another. It takes time getting to the truth.. it’s crazy they perfected the design and only used it until 1959.
I remember it well. A rainstorm hit and my friend had to close the top! We returned to Cleveland with me sitting in the front center holding the top down not closed because the rain water shorted out the circuits! Dave
9:20 One more thing about the glovebox, the opened door had a flat area, where you could set your drinks when you went to Big Boy for a burger & shake. Oh, how as a teen we loved to go to Bob's and get a Big Boy and shake ... eat in the car, Mary as our "car hop" ... Kids today will never know how great that was.
One day I want to get a classic 50s car that I can go to the curb service we still have curb services here they just make things extremely flimsy now couldn’t put a tray on a window now
The ‘57 Ford was one of the handsomest designs. I’m partial to Fords as a Thunderbird owner, but during that era there were a number of good looking cars 🚗 in just about every brand. Thank you for posting this.
You do an exceptional job on these videos. Just a quick comment here. I purchased a 57 Skyliner in 67 (still have her, my high school car) A few points if I may, Disc brakes were not offered, ( I'm sure you knew that, just a slip. You said "Power disc brakes were an option, IF this car does have Ford's "Swift Sure" power ASSISTED brakes there will be a Kelsey Hayes booster bellows bag underneath brake pedal. ( they leave quite a bit to be desired) The car in your video has a late model power steering pump and an electric wiper motor, both are non-original upgrades. Boy do I agree with both !
Okay, as a child my parents were considered wealthy. At least they were the wealthier ones in one of the North New Jersey suburbs we lived in. My sister and I even had a wonderful Nanny. Our parents passed away decades ago, leaving us no longer as wealthy. Perhaps it's true that some things might have been a little bit better back in the 50s and early 60s. I don't think everything was so rosey. I mean President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated and we were all afraid of Nuclear/Atomic war back then too. I have a very good and clear memory of that era and I verily miss those calm, mostly gorgeous days of family, beautiful things, like our many brand new, very elite automobiles which my father enjoyed so much. You saw our cars primarily at wealthier residencies. For example, we had a brand new Chrysler Imperial Lebaron every year. My mother liked the white 1961 Imperial which had stainless steel overhead panels located on each side of the roof. She loved how the seat turned to let her out. My favorite one was the 1962 Chrysler Imperial Lebaron with a small rear window. The rectangle steering wheel and all the push-button controls were very interesting and pretty. I'd like to see more about the 1962 Imperial Lebaron. Also, we had so many beautiful cars all my life that it's rather difficult choosing only a few.
I miss when things were normal I’m not getting into politics on here it’s bad for the channel no matter what side your on, I live in the country and if I ever decide to live pa it would be to go south warmer weather, but the country is nice because they are less crazies out here it’s quite and peaceful small town life. Don’t have to worry about people stealing gas he’ll sometimes even leave doors unlocked and keys in cars. Theift isn’t a huge issue here which is great. I will look for those cars I want to do Chrysler 300 1960 if I could find one it’s good to know that imperial had the swivel seat option as well =)
As a 🇬🇧 citizen, I have to say that the late 50s US cars are wonderful! We were pootling around in small, cheap runarounds (some were 1940s warmovers!) and these masterpieces of automotive design were the expression of a country's confidence in steel & chrome. OK, they weighed up to 4000lbs & did 10 to the gallon but with petrol (gas) @ a few cents/gallon, who was counting? Nowadays our cars are an electronic _tour-de-force_ but they all look the same. I've recently found your channel and subscribed.
Awesome thank you I’m glad you dig the channel more cool videos coming I’m going to do a pole and see if this should just be a classic car channel moving forward..
12:15 FWIW, a lot of new feature were first introduced "in the trunk." Early Air Conditioning had a lot of equipment in the trunk, I (think) early radios had stuff in the trunk; certainly early "car phones" had stuff in the trunk, and even early CD players had "CD libraries" in the trunk.
My folks bought a Skyliner that had belonged Greer Garson. The title was in Buddy Fogelson's name and had been registered in New Mexico. It was painted Silver Mocha (Ford's name for metallic dark brown) and white. You had to be on absolutely level ground for the top to work properly. We looked kinda silly driving around looking of perfectly level ground with the top half up and folded a foot behind the leading edge. The "trunk" was a little space defined by a square can in the back and to get to it you had to raise the top. However, it was fun watching the electric screws engage to lock the top down. I think that top was why they got rid of it. With its history there's no telling what it would be worth today.
It was a cool idea I wanted to use this other ad instead of the ad that was used but the quality wasn’t there I edited to lucky ad to get it to look like that. That ad I wanted to use said that in a couple years hardtop convertibles will be common... with ford starting it all.. not those exact words
On the original Perry Mason T.V. show, Perry drove all 3 years of the "Skyliners" and then starting in 1960, the Ford "Sunliners". He also concurrently drove Cadillacs and Lincolns. Ford did NOT have a 2-speed automatic until 1959 and was usually mated to the 292 V8. The 1951-1957 Ford-O-Matics were 3-speed automatics and first gear was accessed by shifting into "Lo". In Drive, they started in 2nd and automatically shifted into 3rd. Starting in 1956, if in the Drive position, the transmission would kick down into 1st if the throttle pedal was depressed more than half-way from a dead stop and the transmission would use all 3 gears automatically. When Cruise-O-Matic was introduced in 1958, a sprag clutch in the middle of the case was added as well as an extra gear position. In Drive, it automatically shifted through all 3 gears. The position above Drive, it acted like a Ford-O-Matic and in Lo, it remained in 1st gear. The new for 1959 aluminum-cased Ford-O-Matic was only a 2-speed and was basically used in Edsels and later in the Falcons and Mustangs with the 260 V8 or smaller through 1964 1/2.
Awesome information thank you so much for sharing that... the internet is great but if you didn’t live through that time people can post anything and just get lost in translation. Someone wants me to do a tucker I located a few just got to get out there and do it but the information live found on that car is interesting the big three saw Preston tucker as a threat and took him out but if you look at the Henry ford and the article they wrote it was because something totally different and they had nothing to do with the demise of tucker... and they have one as a trophy Preston tucker, John Delorean, Elon musk are all cut from the same cloth delorean had drugs involved where the other two didn’t but tucker took money on reservations just like musk does...
@@What.its.like. You know, the Tucker family is still around and actively work with the remaining Tuckers and have lot's of information. They also post on RUclips.
I saw some of their videos.. there is a guy that has the brakes to build talkers and they’re making new ones I’m not entirely sure what engine it is but it’s like a TwinTurbo unit there is legit smoke tire smoke from the back of that car.. There is a museum out in Hershey PA that has ten of them I’m going to see if I could review one.. I don’t remember the name of the individual whose collection that was but they have a chassis so you could see what the car looks like underneath with the engine in the back it would be super cool if they let me video that..
my grandfather had the 58 model and i believe the V8 was called interceptor imo, the skyliner was the most beautiful for in the 50s especially the 58 and 59 models
Yep! This is the car my dad had...not too long cause, he didn't keep many of his cars he had, properly serviced in normal maintenance. What engine he had? Don't know but as a kid of 7 or eight years old, it seemed powerful enough. Power brakes over power steering. It's kind of interesting to note that literally most cars from, what, the 1930's to some of the 1960's had the "wrap-around front (and rear) windshield/rear glass. Kind of miss that slight "panoramic view" of cars from mid to late 60's onward.
I got to drive this car last summer and it felt hollow if that makes any sense it’s just it didn’t feel as sturdy it felt flimsy when driving it. And it was long and floaty, I’d rather have a floaty ride than a stiff ride any day
Planned for Lincoln, but Ford needed low-line sales to amortize its costs. Dropping '58-59 sales *plus* a need to redesign for new-for-'60 Ford car bodies - with fading gimmick appeal amid the 'Eisenhower recession' - truly killed it.
Unless I am very mistaken, I was always under the impression that the Ford-O-Magic was a two speed automatic, while the Cruise-O-Magic was a three speed automatic.
Not sure if I’m reading it right but apparently there was two ford o Matics two speed and three speed unit the three speed, built by borg Warner,goes on to become cruise o matic and later FMX and eventually AOD the other design was made in 1959 goes until 1964 and is replaced by the c4 here is where I read that info en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruise-O-Matic
The clocks never worked (except twice a day). They were mechanical with an electrical winding feature that always crapped out. Quirks: left-side key, starting only in "upper neutral," Ford-o-Matic (Borg-Warner) would normally start out in 2nd gear unless you floored it which put you in 1st.
And the smaller Fordomatic in Falcons from 1960 really only had two gears. Yes, the clocks never worked for long, but today you can get new mechanisms for them.
1961 Starliner is miles beyond and just as rare. It retained the Ford round taillights (gone in the 1960 Starliner) and had the FE series V8. Power brakes and steering too.
On the first season of the tv show Perry Mason (with Raymond Burr) in 1957, Perry drove one of these Skyliners.. Sometimes the top was up, sometimes it was down. They never showed the top going back or coming forward.
The first few seasons, Perry always had two cars. In 57 he alternated between a Skyliner and a Series 62 Cadillac Convertible. Della looked great, much better than Perry, behind the wheel of the Caddy, top down!
SkylinER. Yes, they were a real marvel. I don't see why Lincoln DIDN'T use the idea. I've always found it odd that Ford could build and sell the entire car at about $4,200.00, but for some strange reason, the retractable roof would purportedly added FIVE GRAND to the price of the Mk.II. Go figure. Anyhow... I once met a fella down in Kentucky, he took the front clip and tail lights off of a 1958 Edsel wagon and retrofitted them on to his '57 Skyliner... Painted it white and dark green. Talk about something unique! It was beautiful.
Yeah there needed to be more ER on skyliner in places lol I saw edsels with the retractable roof as well as ranchero edsel The people that make those cars are incredible have lots of skill and talent.
I worked with someone in the late 80's who owned one for 7 years, never knew the top went down until she sold it. The guy put the top down just before he drove off, after signing the papers. She was so pissed at herself for not knowing it.
The Chevy was a very facelifted version of the car introduced in 1955. The Fords were all-new with a new frame enabling rear seat footwells so they could be lower. Rooflines of the Chevys all dated to 1955 (or 56 for the four door hardtop), including station wagons. Fords were noticeably newer designs. Hence the higher sales for the Fords.
In '57 I learned to drive and was allowed to run errands/drive at age10 in a red n white 4dr Ford Sedan automatic trans. Albuquerque High '64 had a graduate who drove a yellow n white Fairlaine '57. He had fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror and a set of bongo drums on the package carrier just to name a couple of car interior designs. LOL 😎👵
What a great story thank you so much for sharing =) My daughter isn’t tall enough yet but one day soon she is going to learn to drive my 52 Chevy it’s a stick but man times are different now then when even I was a kid in the 90s I drive her to school in the truck some days and it doesn’t have seat belts some people give dirty looks when she hops out without being in a car seat to many rules and regulations I live in the country take the backroads to school. Just sad that’s lost now is all just things were simpler then and it’s sad is all
@@What.its.like. I was first born and was given alot of "priviledges" and leeways that would have been given a firstborn son. Driving for one....I had gr-grandparents who lived in rural Los Lunes, NM and there was a distant cousin through marriage, an 8 yr old boy, who was being raised by his gr-aunts, who were old, very old. They had an old 40s Nash (I think stick shift?), and it was rigged so he could reach the pedals and he sat on 2 pillows to drive them around. I learned to use a floor stick on a new '63 Corvair. LOL
@@What.its.like. I also bought a 56 Ford Fairlane Victoria in 1963 for $300 with the Thunderbird 312 CI engine, 2 door hard top, nice burgundy paint. Looking inside the fenders, I could see where they'd used newspaper with the bondo to fix the rust. What a fun car back then! I also had a white 60 T'Bird with the six tail lights and later a 61 T-Bird. These were all used cars under $500. Years later in Florida, I got a 88 LTD Crown Vic with the police package, dog dish hub caps and a spot light from a used car lot for $3000. Had the body fixed and painted a dark blue. Some local police departments still used the model. I'd be on U.S. 1 driving at the speed limit in the right lane and no one dared pass me! So much fun! I got a F-150 in 2006 new for $13995. Got 81K on it. Yes, I've always loved Fords.
@@What.its.like. The 60 T-Bird was fun, but the 61 seemed more like a rocket. It felt heavier and lower. It was like sitting in the cockpit of a jet. One time I was on the Mass pike and looked down at the speedometer. I was doing 90 and didn't realize it. It was such a great machine.
Minor detail.....all the 1957 and 1958 station wagons, even the Country Squire, were 116-inch wheelbase. The 1959 wagons, a beautifully reskinned 1957, had the 118-inch wheelbase. Yes the Skyliners WERE not cool looking at car from behind. They decided to raise the "trunk" level from the regular convertible a few inches to add more space for the rear works. From the rear, the Skyliner looks like a shoe designed for someone with a deformed foot. The regular convertible Sunliners look normal. Please excuse the term deformed...but it used to happen to a few unfortunates. Yes, I'm 70 and remember that time. And these cars
Correct, and the wagons also had the straight fins of the "junior" Fords. In 1959 they all went to 118 - no junior size. The 1959's, although really just reskinned, had new rooflines for everything including the station wagons. That body only lasted one year. The 1961s were completely new except for the basic frame design. People now (and Ford execs then) may think the 59 was too square and boxy and a step back, but they sold well vs the actually all new space agey Chevys.
That brings back memories of my own '57 Ford Tudor. It had the Holley 4-barrel and 3-speed manual, converted with a Hurst unbreakable floor shifter. Sadly, the transmission was not unbreakable. The replacement transmission was from a '53 Ford and the shift pattern was reversed, with 1st where 2nd should be, etc. Reverse was on the wrong side, as well. The rear end was heavy. Air-bags would have helped. Plenty of power and torque, however.
The Fairlane SkylinER was offered with swift, sure power brakes. Ford did NOT offer disc brakes, however. That wouldn't come until the mid-sixties. If the car did not have power steering, only the center FORD crest was on the wheel. I'd choose power steering over power brakes any day of the week. Ford had three transmissions that year: 3-speed column mounted standard. 3- speed with overdrive. Ford-O-Matic automatic transmission.
It wouldn't be that hard to add a power brake booster. It wouldn't make the brakes work any better, just less pedal pressure. Some people with cars like this change to front disc brakes if it's possible. Not cheap though. The basic engineering for this roof (other than the folding metal roof) was also used in the '58 to '66 Thunderbird and '61- '69 Lincoln soft top convertibles. Both had the backwards opening trunk lid and automatically deploying metal cover instead of a snap on vinyl tonneau cover for when the top was down.
In 1962 I remember being driven to school in a '57 Sunliner, White with red interior. I also remember how these rusted very quickly in the headlight eybrow area.
Speaking as someone who's daily driver is a ford with 4 wheel drum brakes that someone has added power brakes to.... it's a love hate relationship while it does truly increase your braking power it makes drum brakes VERY touchy there is a fine line between stopping hard and locking up the brakes and losing all control. And yes it was done properly with a copy of yhe factory setup
Oh wow I never thought they would be overly touchy.. I had a hydro vac on my truck and it worked great just leaks needs rebuilt but when it worked it was like driving a 1980s dump truck there was a little cushion not a ton but worked well. I had a 67 mustang with dual chamber master cylinder with drums all the way around that was the hardest car to try and stop my 52 Chevy dually 1 ton is easier to stop it only has a single master cylinder but three ways I stop. Emergency brake is cable operated, brakes, the transmission. I drove my truck 16 miles to the mechanics house with no traditional brakes the only time it got sketchy was in town but I gave myself lots lots of space 1st gear is granny and if I had to stop if it was rolling not fast just rolling out in second and shut it off. It’s not good for it to do that a lot but i need to stop it’s better to do that then for property damage or risk a life. Some people don’t know that trick that trans mission is awesome second gear will slow you down faster than the breaks
@@What.its.like. mine is a '71 Bronco so it's literally part Falcon/Mustang and part F100... in the brakes department it is roughly Mustang size with the larger F100 brakes which probably contributes to it be touchy. Below 20-30 mph with the power brakes it can stop shorter than some new cars. Above 30-35 mph things start getting sketchy, I know I will stop never certain of the direction or distance if hit the pedal too hard. But stopping distance is always your friend. BTW the way if you ever get a chance to look at one in depth the 1st generation bronco is a parts bin car other than the sheet metal. I have found a couple parts that match late 40s-early 50s cars and the speeedo/instrument cluster and radio or mid 50s truck...
I hope to do one on the channel soon I’ll look for one 1955 ford cars where like that thunderbird had same rear lights as all the other ford models same speedo gauge as well
Missed it had vacuum windshield wipers. You said the steering was so big, the reason my father bought a cord for the smaller steering wheel. was the Chevy had a bigger steering wheel. My father was pulled over by the police when the car was new because it sat 6 inch off the street. New it cost 1700.00.
Yeah Well I find interesting is I fit in this car but I didn’t fit in the 60 thunderbird and I figured from that point forward I was going to show what I looked like in each car because the steering wheel situation is different in each car you sit in from that time period.
Steering wheels were big for leverage since most cars didn't have power steering. And many were reluctant to shrink them when it became more common, or quicken power steering ratios. Chrysler products starting in 1957 led the way. Chevy steering wheels stayed big when Pontiacs (same basic body) got smaller. Early 60's Rambler wheels are big and too close. Chrysler products all had electric wipers in the 50's and AMC stuck with vacuum forever.
In the scheme of things who really cares about putting very much stuff in the trunk this car is one of a kind gets more looks than any other car Ford nailed it with his hardtop retractable look a lot better than the Peugeot and the Chrysler for 1940 Chrysler was only a concept ever actually really mass produced
Another one to throw in there 1964 1962 Ford Thunderbird convertibles, 1962 with the tunnel cover Kelsey Hayes spoke wheels the tri-power 390 in.³ motor with rear fender skirts
I had one in High School when I was a Senior ... It would drive 3 or 4 Days a Week and on the Weekend I would work on it to get it running for the next Week .... She was a '''HONEY ''' and sure wish I had keep it ....
1958 Edsel citation was my dream car for years I want to so bad I found a guy but he’s like five hours down the road that has and Edsel citation convertible I have to get down there I have to shoot that car but it’s going to be spring/summer time before I can get down there.. trust me they are coming this year I would really like to do a 58 wagon as well I’m going to Carlisle in a couple weeks so it might be a possibility..
There have been several more hardtop convertibles over the years, but they’re not as cool looking as the Skyliner. Sure it was a big land yacht, but it was the 50’s and we were still partying in celebration of the end of WWII. And just think about Ford’s follow up to the Skyliner, the Edsel!!!! The automotive equivalent of a lead balloon! And the rest is history.
My first car had four-wheel drum brakes and no power steering. All drum brakes was no big deal because drum brakes have a self-energizing effect which provides assist. The pedal pressure wasn't too bad. Would rather have power steering.
If I could have power steering or power brakes - pick one, it would be power steering. Drum brakes needed much less pedal effort due to their design. However power steering often came with a quicker ratio with fewer wheel turns lock-to-lock. Maybe a person just needs to drive one of these older cars to realize how slow the steering was to obtain reasonable effort to turn the wheel.
I’d take power brakes.. some of the power steering systems took all the feel away, Overassisted I had a 67 mustang had power steering and I could blow on the wheel and it would turn that’s a bit of an exaggeration but it made the car loose I took off the steering assist and the car handled better that car I could turn the wheel 1/3 any way and the front wheel wouldn’t move..
@@What.its.like. Until 1965 Ford power steering, unlike with all Chrysler products, was an add on hydraulic cylinder. So same steering as a manual car, just easier.
Most were afraid to put much quicker steering ratios on power steering cars since people were used to all the cranking and in a test drive between the ease and quickness would think it was too twitchy. But I think Chrysler went to 3.5 turns starting in 1957 and that was their standard for years while others like Chevy were still around 5+. I think Thunderbird and Lincoln went to about 3.5 in 1961.
I was going to add a story at the end growing up my grandpa had apartments that he rented out they are still there but he rented them out to two of past friends live in a small town in western Pennsylvania.. it’s crazy the guy that told this story went on to be a Green beret and lived in Panama. He was a great guy we used to sit on the swing and talk about the good ole days that I wasn’t there for anyway, he was going to take this girl out to the movies drive in movies.. Said he had a convertible to watch the movie in.. he showed up in 57 skyliner and the girl was like I thought you had a convertible... he pushed the button to make the top go down and it got stuck with the roof halfway in the trunk. He said he was so embarrassed didn’t get to go on his date... I forgot to mention 1957 they made the most skyliners production numbers declined after that first year. I mentioned it was $400 over the sunliner price $4,038 dollars converted 2022 money.. they were problematic with all the switches solenoids And relays. This was the ford feast year 1958 was a terrible year for the auto industry due to an economic recession... which helped kill the idea.. they did keep parts of the system and used in on the 61-66 Lincoln Continental convertible but it was a soft top and not a hard top.
had every model59 at onetime should have kept them all looks like a eliminator next to the retrackable i used to care take a427 side oiler gte1968 such good time went through a lot of muscal care if only
I would love for some young innovative entrepreneur car enthusiast to build retro mods of this car and the late 40s and early 50s two door Ford woodies (the ultimate surfboard beach babies !!!!!!!!).
The rear seat back in these cars is extremely vertical... and thus, uncomfortable. .... Anyway, much of the engineering from these cars went into the 1960s Lincoln convertible sedans.
They look good, but I would never want to own a Skyliner. With all the mechanics involved I get the impression that breakdowns were frequent. I guess rust was a serious problem with these cars. Which is probably why, during the 1960s in New Jersey, you would see more '57 Chevys than same-vintage Fords.
Rust was a serious problem in road salt areas for all cars back then. Much later Audi started galvanizing bodies (American unit body cars usually used some kind of coating dips already) which spread to American cars and finally Japanese ones. Some car bodies were better designed in terms of not having places where salty water pooled.
My brother bought one used in about ‘61 or ‘62. It had nothing but electrical problems caused by an infestation of gremlins. It became a money pit and he didn’t keep it long.
Yeah it’s absolutely crazy bunch of relay switches. I got to drive that car last summer and I don’t know it just felt hollow.. I don’t know how to really describe it but you didn’t live up to the expectation that I had in my head
I’ll try that’s a tall order I’ve Been in one that was getting restored they are getting hard to find and expensive I do remember it was hard getting in and out of wide door sill much like the jag e type.. the last one I saw was at Hershey last fall.. I’ll look for one but it might be a while =)
Looks great no doubt. But the '57 Chevy is truly a classic and its style is way over the Ford. The bug eye head lights destroys the appearance of the front end.
When I was a kid I thought the '57 Ford front end was an awesome revolution in car design! Again, the Chevy was a facelift of the 1955 body. The Ford was all new from top to bottom.
I remember when these were just cars. The 57 and 58 were ugly, the 59 was reasonable and a lot more conservative looking. Most 1950s cars were ugly but there are exceptions. I love old cars and have several but I'm not into the 1950s bullshit that seems to have taken over car shows and cruise-ins. I'll pass on the Do-Wop music. Thank you, "Happy Days." The machinery for the retractable roof was later adapted for the 61-63 Thunderbird and the suicide Lincolns.
Yeah I like 58 the most 59 looks good too.. I love all the orphan cars the most Edsel Nash Hudson Kaiser Frazier willys. Overland Crosley packard studebaker I’m sure I’ve missed a lot what sucks is those companies either merged or died and sometimes the merge was like a sears Kmart merge and still didn’t making it (packard studebaker).
@@What.its.like. Hudson and Nash became AMC so I guess they are still around in a way. Studebaker never went out of business, they just stopped making cars. Graham Paige became the Madison Square Garden Corporation. Peerless stopped making cars and became a brewery. The Pierce-Arrow factory still stands in Buffalo and the sign for it is still on the building. I was in Toledo about 3 years ago and all that's left is a tall smokestack that says "Willys Overland" on it in vertical letters. I understand that you can buy a Crosley radio today. It's all corporate moves and sometimes I find that kind of history more fascinating than the cars themselves. I do like the orphan makes myself especially ones like Hudson and Packard.
Yes Ford out sold Chevy in 1957 but there was a big problem in northern states..RUST!! The Chevies out lasted the Fords by far and the small block Chevy V8 was the better engine by far!
It’s because they make appliances not machines... it’s totally backwards just like everything else cars are ready to break so you go get a new one whereas the old ones when they broke you could fix it...
@@What.its.like. Cars in those days required way more maintenance and did not last nearly as long. Rusting bodies and engines etc. that lasted half the miles we expect now.
It's a SkylineR! Stop saying "Skyline" in this video! There's no such thing as a Ford "Skyline". Otherwise, a fairly good job, except for a few other glitches (like about the power steering pump on that particular car - it's all wrong; and disc brakes - nope).
Please acquaint yourself with the definition of the word "unique" by no stretch of the imagination, can it be applied to the Fairlane. Nor can the word "quite" ever precede it.... Thank you.
6:00 "To say it was complicated ... was an understatement"
💯 agree with THAT !
The two-tone beauty that Ricky and Lucy demonstrated looks better than any car I see today !!!!!!!!!.
Terrific research on the history of this, and other hardtop convertibles! The complexity of this operating system boggles the mind!
Great choice to highlight on your channel. 👍
The goal is to hit them all I’d love to do all the body styles of all the cars between 1935 and 1964 and feature all of the cars outside of that it’s a tall order that’s why I try to put out five videos a week sometimes it’s three or four but we’re going to hit them all =)
What a great car! Love that creamy yellow and crisp white color combination. Family friends had a mint '59 Skyliner, beige and dark brown, in the mid-sixties, which they had bought as a weekend toy. It was fascinating to watch the top go up and down. In the trunk was a metal corral that looked like a washtub defining the limits of top-down storage. The back end was HUGE in order to accommodate the roof. It looked to me like they made that convertible out of a station wagon.
While I agree that it has an awkward back end, it's a worthwhile tradeoff for the ultimate 50s automotive gizmo.
Yeah they are super cool thank you so much for sharing that awesome story. The skyline was a ford exclusive I’ve seen edsels with it but they were mere made from the factory that way someone would have to convert a skyliner into one.
So there was some trunk storage with the top down, but you had to haul things in and out over the side and had to put the top back up to get the stuff out.
Yep. A real hassle. You'd want to use the Country Squire if you were taking the family on vacation.
Watching the top operate was a sight to behold!! My dad had a 1958 Skyliner, it was red & white two tone. Thanks for showcasing this beautiful classic!!! 👍👍
In my opinion the 58 is the most beautiful year 59 is really close to 57 I’m not entirely in love with the front end design but that’s just me
I think the '57 Ford has the most beautiful tail fins and tail lights that match both sedan/convertible and pickup bed.
It is a very beautiful teal fin design but I don’t think it’s my favorite one out of any car from the 50s I honestly don’t know which one is my favorite I really like the fins on 59 ambassador wagon made by AMC... but I don’t know if those are my favorite I still have yet to see a lot of those cars in person I will say though I saw 58 Packard not the Hark the other packard that has quad lights in front they are super rare the fins are very unique in the back of that car it goes like they’re two-tiered like they put one thing in a tack and tacked another fin on top of it. Hopefully I’ll be able to review that car I haven’t done that one yet, but working on it =)
Yes the 57 Ranchero was a beauty
TYPO SPACE!!😪😪
Also the top system was more bulletproof than it gets credit for. I have a '57 Skyliner. The motors have never been rebuilt, only adjustments with the switches and relays has been necessary over time. The system goes in sequence by having a switch that is pressed as each motor finishes it's cycle. in the event of a bad switch the top would do as many cycles until it got to the bad switch, giving a good indication which switch is bad, simplifying diagnosis. Breakdowns on these roofs were not common.
Awesome information thank you so much for sharing =)
congrats on having such a nice car, I had a 4 dr 500 back in the day , in case you want a cheap performance and longevity boost , the rear differential oil if changed to red line synthetic 80 90 will give you a surprisingly noticeable improvement, you will feel most right off idle when moving, sliding gears like those in an axle are the best places to use a modern lube , in my ranger i literally noticed it in the first fifty feet.
That’s awesome I love your name on here it’s epic.. not my car I find these cars for sale that’s the angle I use to be able to do this.. all the dealers I’ve used on here are are super cool might be dropping another video from a new dealer in Pittsburgh I shot 5 cars today, I try to be as efficient as possible. That’s why I switched to the voice over because I don’t have to learn about the car before I film it.. so I don’t have to worry about information on car and specs, or worry about saying the wrong thing like in the Hudson video. I have to find a way to streamline the editing process.. editing takes 6-7 hours that’s research writing an outline putting video together..I do everything on a iPad it’s simpler that way. But the most frustrating thing about all of it is I use two camera canon r6 for the depth of field cinematic shots of the interior and a go pro hero 9 for the rest of it. The frustrating thing is when you upload it to the iPad it does it do it in order they are all over the place so it makes it a lot harder to edit it.. i’m sure there’s a setting somewhere to change that I gotta figure that out because if I can figure that out it would cut down time drastically. There are some really cool cars coming I shot 5 cars in 3 hours which is pretty good.. I generally do between two and four cars a day they pulled in one other car and I was like why do you have to bring that in here so I did that real quick but wasn’t able to get the back open or the hood open mechanism issues so I don’t know if it’s still a super cool ride... and it was a wagon.. some really cool stuff coming. =)
Interesting. Was yours a California car?
My grandfather loved Ford convertibles, but had a negative opinion on the retractable roofs.
I'm curious if our Chicago climate might have been detrimental to this design.
@@Da_Benski my experience with older cars has been the problem usually isn't with the original design or construction but someone between you and the day it left the line trying to out smart the engineering department and making things worse or something similar.
But I would suspect that it's quite likely the winter salt did no favors those old switches and relays which typically would be 'open' for service
When I was a kid (I'm 69), our nextdoor neighbor had one of these. Had every option. I only saw the top open one time when it was showed off for the envious neighbors.
Later, it was traded for a 1962 Imperial Crown. I liked that car because I was fascinated by the bullet headlights.
Imperials are really cool cars =)
What a wonderful blast from the past to find this video. Back in the mid to late 1960s I worked for Bonnie Guitar. She had a black 1957 Fairlane 500 Skyliner. It was one of my favorite cars to drive back then.
They are nice to drive floaty =)
'57 Fords with Power brakes didn't use a booster like you might think. The only indicator is a vacuum reservoir on top of the inner fender on the right side of the engine bay, and obviously the pedal saying "Swift Sure power brakes". Under the dash was a bellows which is where the vacuum was used and gave assist. Also note that people would almost always first buy power steering over power brakes back then if they had the chance, as It made the biggest difference. Non power brakes weren't that bad.
Thank you so much for sharing that information =) I had a 67 mustang coupe dual master reservoir and it was really hard to stop I had single master on my Chevy truck and it’s easier to stop then the mustang was...
It was still a booster, acting as a vacuum-powered servo to assist the brake pedal. Since 'vacuum' is only capable of
Did it work like a Hydro vac? I had a Hydro vac brake unit on my truck but it was leaking so we bypassed it now I just have standard drum brakes
Love 1957 Skyliner. I thought the 1957 was they best looking body style of the 3 years-- 57 through 59.
My dad was stationed in Germany in the army when this car was introduced and he first saw it at a manufacturers car show where new models were shown to public. He said when he first saw that hardtop disappear in the trunk he couldn’t believe it.
Awesome thank you so much for sharing that story that it would’ve been incredible to see it back then.. he probably would’ve gotten the same reaction as when they made the lightbulb could you imagine the reaction people would have when they just saw electricity for the first time..
The 57 Ford outsold the 57 Chevrolet, which seems to be everybody's favorite nostalgia car. But, the Ford is much better looking.
Excellent job!! You really dug up a lot of info. Regarding power steering vs power brakes; Cars we’re getting much heavier and power steering made a huge difference, especially for the ladies. Drum brakes are partially self activating, as opposed to disc brakes which require a boost. It’s surprising to see so many of your subscribers have had experiences with such a rare car. The family that lived next door had one in the late 60’s.
Thank you so much for the positive feedback, to make one 15-20 minutes video it takes 8-10 hours I do a lot of research.. and check multiple sources.. because a lot of times there’s discrepancies one so it will say one thing and another site and say another. It takes time getting to the truth.. it’s crazy they perfected the design and only used it until 1959.
8:35 My dad always like these Fords, because you could reach in and start the car so easily, since the ignition switch was on the LEFT.
I remember it well. A rainstorm hit and my friend had to close the top! We returned to Cleveland with me sitting in the front center holding the top down not closed because the rain water shorted out the circuits! Dave
Cool story thank you so much for sharing those memories =)
Thank you for a great tour of a wonderful car👍🤩and best wishes from jolly old England 👍😎Pete 🤓
Awesome I’m glad you dig this episode =)
we had one of these when I was growing up and I loved it, it was even fun to drive
9:20 One more thing about the glovebox, the opened door had a flat area, where you could set your drinks when you went to Big Boy for a burger & shake.
Oh, how as a teen we loved to go to Bob's and get a Big Boy and shake ... eat in the car, Mary as our "car hop" ... Kids today will never know how great that was.
One day I want to get a classic 50s car that I can go to the curb service we still have curb services here they just make things extremely flimsy now couldn’t put a tray on a window now
The ‘57 Ford was one of the handsomest designs. I’m partial to Fords as a Thunderbird owner, but during that era there were a number of good looking cars 🚗 in just about every brand.
Thank you for posting this.
Totally agree
Thank you so much for watching =)
You do an exceptional job on these videos. Just a quick comment here. I purchased a 57 Skyliner in 67 (still have her, my high school car) A few points if I may, Disc brakes were not offered, ( I'm sure you knew that, just a slip. You said "Power disc brakes were an option, IF this car does have Ford's "Swift Sure" power ASSISTED brakes there will be a Kelsey Hayes booster bellows bag underneath brake pedal. ( they leave quite a bit to be desired) The car in your video has a late model power steering pump and an electric wiper motor, both are non-original upgrades. Boy do I agree with both !
Thank you so much for sharing those corrections I really appreciate it =)
These are pure awesome collectors must have thanks
I was at a San Luis Obispo car show with an Edsel version of the sky line . I have never see another.
Google search shows at least two retractable Edsel produced for 58 and for 59, total of four.
Okay, as a child my parents were considered wealthy. At least they were the wealthier ones in one of the North New Jersey suburbs we lived in. My sister and I even had a wonderful Nanny. Our parents passed away decades ago, leaving us no longer as wealthy. Perhaps it's true that some things might have been a little bit better back in the 50s and early 60s. I don't think everything was so rosey. I mean President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated and we were all afraid of Nuclear/Atomic war back then too. I have a very good and clear memory of that era and I verily miss those calm, mostly gorgeous days of family, beautiful things, like our many brand new, very elite automobiles which my father enjoyed so much. You saw our cars primarily at wealthier residencies. For example, we had a brand new Chrysler Imperial Lebaron every year. My mother liked the white 1961 Imperial which had stainless steel overhead panels located on each side of the roof. She loved how the seat turned to let her out. My favorite one was the 1962 Chrysler Imperial Lebaron with a small rear window. The rectangle steering wheel and all the push-button controls were very interesting and pretty. I'd like to see more about the 1962 Imperial Lebaron. Also, we had so many beautiful cars all my life that it's rather difficult choosing only a few.
I miss when things were normal I’m not getting into politics on here it’s bad for the channel no matter what side your on, I live in the country and if I ever decide to live pa it would be to go south warmer weather, but the country is nice because they are less crazies out here it’s quite and peaceful small town life. Don’t have to worry about people stealing gas he’ll sometimes even leave doors unlocked and keys in cars. Theift isn’t a huge issue here which is great.
I will look for those cars I want to do Chrysler 300 1960 if I could find one it’s good to know that imperial had the swivel seat option as well =)
As a 🇬🇧 citizen, I have to say that the late 50s US cars are wonderful! We were pootling around in small, cheap runarounds (some were 1940s warmovers!) and these masterpieces of automotive design were the expression of a country's confidence in steel & chrome. OK, they weighed up to 4000lbs & did 10 to the gallon but with petrol (gas) @ a few cents/gallon, who was counting? Nowadays our cars are an electronic _tour-de-force_ but they all look the same. I've recently found your channel and subscribed.
Awesome thank you I’m glad you dig the channel more cool videos coming I’m going to do a pole and see if this should just be a classic car channel moving forward..
Cool video, great car and thumbs up liked.
Thank you so much glad you liked the video =)
@@What.its.like. You are welcome and have a good weekend.
12:15 FWIW, a lot of new feature were first introduced "in the trunk."
Early Air Conditioning had a lot of equipment in the trunk, I (think) early radios had stuff in the trunk; certainly early "car phones" had stuff in the trunk, and even early CD players had "CD libraries" in the trunk.
My folks bought a Skyliner that had belonged Greer Garson. The title was in Buddy Fogelson's name and had been registered in New Mexico. It was painted Silver Mocha (Ford's name for metallic dark brown) and white. You had to be on absolutely level ground for the top to work properly. We looked kinda silly driving around looking of perfectly level ground with the top half up and folded a foot behind the leading edge. The "trunk" was a little space defined by a square can in the back and to get to it you had to raise the top. However, it was fun watching the electric screws engage to lock the top down. I think that top was why they got rid of it. With its history there's no telling what it would be worth today.
It was a cool idea I wanted to use this other ad instead of the ad that was used but the quality wasn’t there I edited to lucky ad to get it to look like that. That ad I wanted to use said that in a couple years hardtop convertibles will be common... with ford starting it all.. not those exact words
On the original Perry Mason T.V. show, Perry drove all 3 years of the "Skyliners" and then starting in 1960, the Ford "Sunliners". He also concurrently drove Cadillacs and Lincolns.
Ford did NOT have a 2-speed automatic until 1959 and was usually mated to the 292 V8. The 1951-1957 Ford-O-Matics were 3-speed automatics and first gear was accessed by shifting into "Lo". In Drive, they started in 2nd and automatically shifted into 3rd. Starting in 1956, if in the Drive position, the transmission would kick down into 1st if the throttle pedal was depressed more than half-way from a dead stop and the transmission would use all 3 gears automatically.
When Cruise-O-Matic was introduced in 1958, a sprag clutch in the middle of the case was added as well as an extra gear position. In Drive, it automatically shifted through all 3 gears. The position above Drive, it acted like a Ford-O-Matic and in Lo, it remained in 1st gear.
The new for 1959 aluminum-cased Ford-O-Matic was only a 2-speed and was basically used in Edsels and later in the Falcons and Mustangs with the 260 V8 or smaller through 1964 1/2.
Awesome information thank you so much for sharing that... the internet is great but if you didn’t live through that time people can post anything and just get lost in translation. Someone wants me to do a tucker I located a few just got to get out there and do it but the information live found on that car is interesting the big three saw Preston tucker as a threat and took him out but if you look at the Henry ford and the article they wrote it was because something totally different and they had nothing to do with the demise of tucker... and they have one as a trophy Preston tucker, John Delorean, Elon musk are all cut from the same cloth delorean had drugs involved where the other two didn’t but tucker took money on reservations just like musk does...
@@What.its.like. You know, the Tucker family is still around and actively work with the remaining Tuckers and have lot's of information. They also post on RUclips.
I saw some of their videos..
there is a guy that has the brakes to build talkers and they’re making new ones I’m not entirely sure what engine it is but it’s like a TwinTurbo unit there is legit smoke tire smoke from the back of that car.. There is a museum out in Hershey PA that has ten of them I’m going to see if I could review one.. I don’t remember the name of the individual whose collection that was but they have a chassis so you could see what the car looks like underneath with the engine in the back it would be super cool if they let me video that..
Correct.
Would have been neat to see the interior of the trunk and the open box in the middle that was the only place to store luggage. Great video though!
Trust me I wanted to but we couldn’t get the actual car started it runs and drives just the battery was flat.. I didn’t want to lose the footage
my grandfather had the 58 model and i believe the V8 was called interceptor
imo, the skyliner was the most beautiful for in the 50s especially the 58 and 59 models
Yep! This is the car my dad had...not too long cause, he didn't keep many of his cars he had, properly serviced in normal maintenance. What engine he had? Don't know but as a kid of 7 or eight years old, it seemed powerful enough.
Power brakes over power steering.
It's kind of interesting to note that literally most cars from, what, the 1930's to some of the 1960's had the "wrap-around front (and rear) windshield/rear glass. Kind of miss that slight "panoramic view" of cars from mid to late 60's onward.
I got to drive this car last summer and it felt hollow if that makes any sense it’s just it didn’t feel as sturdy it felt flimsy when driving it. And it was long and floaty, I’d rather have a floaty ride than a stiff ride any day
Muy buena descripción de este tan tecnológico Skyliner. 😉🇦🇷🇦🇷
Thank you glad you dig this episode
Wow! Excellent presentation!
Thank you so glad you liked it next is going to be 1960 Buick Electra still working on it hopefully it will posted tomorrow
Planned for Lincoln, but Ford needed low-line sales to amortize its costs. Dropping '58-59 sales *plus* a need to redesign for new-for-'60 Ford car bodies - with fading gimmick appeal amid the 'Eisenhower recession' - truly killed it.
The ‘57 Ford was the best styled car of that model year.
The styling made the car look as if it was leaping forward.
Unless I am very mistaken, I was always under the impression that the Ford-O-Magic was a two speed automatic, while the Cruise-O-Magic was a three speed automatic.
Not sure if I’m reading it right but apparently there was two ford o Matics two speed and three speed unit the three speed, built by borg Warner,goes on to become cruise o matic and later FMX and eventually AOD the other design was made in 1959 goes until 1964 and is replaced by the c4 here is where I read that info
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruise-O-Matic
The clocks never worked (except twice a day). They were mechanical with an electrical winding feature that always crapped out.
Quirks: left-side key, starting only in "upper neutral," Ford-o-Matic (Borg-Warner) would normally start out in 2nd gear unless you floored it which put you in 1st.
That’s too funny about the clock. Thank you for sharing that other information =)
And the smaller Fordomatic in Falcons from 1960 really only had two gears. Yes, the clocks never worked for long, but today you can get new mechanisms for them.
1961 Starliner is miles beyond and just as rare. It retained the Ford round taillights (gone in the 1960 Starliner) and had the FE series V8. Power brakes and steering too.
I’ll have to look into that one
On the first season of the tv show Perry Mason (with Raymond Burr) in 1957, Perry drove one of these Skyliners.. Sometimes the top was up, sometimes it was down. They never showed the top going back or coming forward.
I wanted to show it on the actual but found the Lucy ad and liked the original footage looked cooler
The first few seasons, Perry always had two cars. In 57 he alternated between a Skyliner and a Series 62 Cadillac Convertible. Della looked great, much better than Perry, behind the wheel of the Caddy, top down!
SkylinER.
Yes, they were a real marvel.
I don't see why Lincoln DIDN'T use the idea. I've always found it odd that Ford could build and sell the entire car at about $4,200.00, but for some strange reason, the retractable roof would purportedly added FIVE GRAND to the price of the Mk.II.
Go figure.
Anyhow... I once met a fella down in Kentucky, he took the front clip and tail lights off of a 1958 Edsel wagon and retrofitted them on to his '57 Skyliner... Painted it white and dark green.
Talk about something unique! It was beautiful.
Yeah there needed to be more ER on skyliner in places lol
I saw edsels with the retractable roof as well as ranchero edsel The people that make those cars are incredible have lots of skill and talent.
I think it would of said "Steering by Armstrong"
That would awesome.. play on words =)
I worked with someone in the late 80's who owned one for 7 years, never knew the top went down until she sold it. The guy put the top down just before he drove off, after signing the papers. She was so pissed at herself for not knowing it.
That’s crazy she didn’t know what it was.. what a crazy story thank you so much fir sharing it with us
I've always thought the '57 Fords were much better looking that the same year Chevy. I'm probably in the minority in that opinion, however.
That’s a tough call...
The Chevy was a very facelifted version of the car introduced in 1955. The Fords were all-new with a new frame enabling rear seat footwells so they could be lower. Rooflines of the Chevys all dated to 1955 (or 56 for the four door hardtop), including station wagons. Fords were noticeably newer designs. Hence the higher sales for the Fords.
No you aren't in the minority. The 1957 Fords are the best looking Fords of the decade and the best looking cars of 1957.
No you aren't. I'll never understand why the 57 Chevy has become the poster car for everything late 50's.
No you aren't. I'll never understand why the 57 Chevy has become the poster car for everything late 50's.
The reason Lucy and Desi are in the Skyliner commercial is that the Ford Motor Company took over sponsorship of I Love Lucy in its final season.
That’s awesome I didn’t know that thank you so much for sharing that information =)
In '57 I learned to drive and was allowed to run errands/drive at age10 in a red n white 4dr Ford Sedan automatic trans. Albuquerque High '64 had a graduate who drove a yellow n white Fairlaine '57. He had fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror and a set of bongo drums on the package carrier just to name a couple of car interior designs. LOL 😎👵
What a great story thank you so much for sharing =)
My daughter isn’t tall enough yet but one day soon she is going to learn to drive my 52 Chevy it’s a stick but man times are different now then when even I was a kid in the 90s I drive her to school in the truck some days and it doesn’t have seat belts some people give dirty looks when she hops out without being in a car seat to many rules and regulations I live in the country take the backroads to school. Just sad that’s lost now is all just things were simpler then and it’s sad is all
@@What.its.like. I was first born and was given alot of "priviledges" and leeways that would have been given a firstborn son. Driving for one....I had gr-grandparents who lived in rural Los Lunes, NM and there was a distant cousin through marriage, an 8 yr old boy, who was being raised by his gr-aunts, who were old, very old. They had an old 40s Nash (I think stick shift?), and it was rigged so he could reach the pedals and he sat on 2 pillows to drive them around.
I learned to use a floor stick on a new '63 Corvair. LOL
10:30 That's not a factory power steering pump.
I had a 59 Ford Galaxie 500 4 door hardtop back in the, one of those $300 wonder cars, green white roof, real classy.
I was born way to late
@@What.its.like. I also bought a 56 Ford Fairlane Victoria in 1963 for $300 with the Thunderbird 312 CI engine, 2 door hard top, nice burgundy paint. Looking inside the fenders, I could see where they'd used newspaper with the bondo to fix the rust. What a fun car back then! I also had a white 60 T'Bird with the six tail lights and later a 61 T-Bird. These were all used cars under $500. Years later in Florida, I got a 88 LTD Crown Vic with the police package, dog dish hub caps and a spot light from a used car lot for $3000. Had the body fixed and painted a dark blue. Some local police departments still used the model. I'd be on U.S. 1 driving at the speed limit in the right lane and no one dared pass me! So much fun! I got a F-150 in 2006 new for $13995. Got 81K on it. Yes, I've always loved Fords.
Awesome what did you think of the built bird
@@What.its.like. The 60 T-Bird was fun, but the 61 seemed more like a rocket. It felt heavier and lower. It was like sitting in the cockpit of a jet. One time I was on the Mass pike and looked down at the speedometer. I was doing 90 and didn't realize it. It was such a great machine.
Love this car and your video. Thanks!
Do a video on the 1970 Torino GT Convertible. It was a gorgeous car but there were only 3,939 built!
Thank you so much =) I’ll look for a 70 Torino Gt convertible
Minor detail.....all the 1957 and 1958 station wagons, even the Country Squire, were 116-inch wheelbase. The 1959 wagons, a beautifully reskinned 1957, had the 118-inch wheelbase. Yes the Skyliners WERE not cool looking at car from behind. They decided to raise the "trunk" level from the regular convertible a few inches to add more space for the rear works. From the rear, the Skyliner looks like a shoe designed for someone with a deformed foot. The regular convertible Sunliners look normal. Please excuse the term deformed...but it used to happen to a few unfortunates. Yes, I'm 70 and remember that time. And these cars
Yeah the back doesn’t look right I always thought they were longer than a regular fairlane 500.
Correct, and the wagons also had the straight fins of the "junior" Fords. In 1959 they all went to 118 - no junior size. The 1959's, although really just reskinned, had new rooflines for everything including the station wagons. That body only lasted one year. The 1961s were completely new except for the basic frame design. People now (and Ford execs then) may think the 59 was too square and boxy and a step back, but they sold well vs the actually all new space agey Chevys.
Not having power brakes is not a problem. Duel circuit braking systems were still a decade away. Now there was a problem!
Thanks for posting! How do you get into the trunk when the top is up? And how is it that Lucy hasn't learned Spanish yet?
The only way is to act like putting top down to open the truck
@@What.its.like. Thanks! Kinda stresses the system to do that too much, I reckon.
That brings back memories of my own '57 Ford Tudor. It had the Holley 4-barrel and 3-speed manual, converted with a Hurst unbreakable floor shifter. Sadly, the transmission was not unbreakable. The replacement transmission was from a '53 Ford and the shift pattern was reversed, with 1st where 2nd should be, etc. Reverse was on the wrong side, as well. The rear end was heavy. Air-bags would have helped. Plenty of power and torque, however.
Thank you so much for sharing that added information =)
Ford had the best styling on the market in 1957. The hardtop convertible was a gimmick, but a useful one.
The roof was a great idea.. 57 ford sold the most skyliners then each year they sold less and less.. the 58 is my favorite out of the three years =)
The Fairlane SkylinER was offered with swift, sure power brakes. Ford did NOT offer disc brakes, however. That wouldn't come until the mid-sixties.
If the car did not have power steering, only the center FORD crest was on the wheel.
I'd choose power steering over power brakes any day of the week.
Ford had three transmissions that year: 3-speed column mounted standard. 3- speed with overdrive. Ford-O-Matic automatic transmission.
Thank you so much for all of those corrections
In 1957 Ford did not use disc brakes .. "Swift Sure" power brakes was an option, but they were definitely drum.
It wouldn't be that hard to add a power brake booster. It wouldn't make the brakes work any better, just less pedal pressure. Some people with cars like this change to front disc brakes if it's possible. Not cheap though. The basic engineering for this roof (other than the folding metal roof) was also used in the '58 to '66 Thunderbird and '61- '69 Lincoln soft top convertibles. Both had the backwards opening trunk lid and automatically deploying metal cover instead of a snap on vinyl tonneau cover for when the top was down.
In 1962 I remember being driven to school in a '57 Sunliner, White with red interior. I also remember how these rusted very quickly in the headlight eybrow area.
That car sounds awesome.. two tone color on exterior? Or just inside?
Speaking as someone who's daily driver is a ford with 4 wheel drum brakes that someone has added power brakes to.... it's a love hate relationship while it does truly increase your braking power it makes drum brakes VERY touchy there is a fine line between stopping hard and locking up the brakes and losing all control. And yes it was done properly with a copy of yhe factory setup
Oh wow I never thought they would be overly touchy.. I had a hydro vac on my truck and it worked great just leaks needs rebuilt but when it worked it was like driving a 1980s dump truck there was a little cushion not a ton but worked well. I had a 67 mustang with dual chamber master cylinder with drums all the way around that was the hardest car to try and stop my 52 Chevy dually 1 ton is easier to stop it only has a single master cylinder but three ways I stop. Emergency brake is cable operated, brakes, the transmission. I drove my truck 16 miles to the mechanics house with no traditional brakes the only time it got sketchy was in town but I gave myself lots lots of space 1st gear is granny and if I had to stop if it was rolling not fast just rolling out in second and shut it off. It’s not good for it to do that a lot but i need to stop it’s better to do that then for property damage or risk a life. Some people don’t know that trick that trans mission is awesome second gear will slow you down faster than the breaks
@@What.its.like. mine is a '71 Bronco so it's literally part Falcon/Mustang and part F100... in the brakes department it is roughly Mustang size with the larger F100 brakes which probably contributes to it be touchy. Below 20-30 mph with the power brakes it can stop shorter than some new cars. Above 30-35 mph things start getting sketchy, I know I will stop never certain of the direction or distance if hit the pedal too hard. But stopping distance is always your friend.
BTW the way if you ever get a chance to look at one in depth the 1st generation bronco is a parts bin car other than the sheet metal. I have found a couple parts that match late 40s-early 50s cars and the speeedo/instrument cluster and radio or mid 50s truck...
I hope to do one on the channel soon I’ll look for one
1955 ford cars where like that thunderbird had same rear lights as all the other ford models same speedo gauge as well
Fantastic video.
Thank you so much it really means a lot =)
Missed it had vacuum windshield wipers. You said the steering was so big, the reason my father bought a cord for the smaller steering wheel. was the Chevy had a bigger steering wheel. My father was pulled over by the police when the car was new because it sat 6 inch off the street. New it cost 1700.00.
Yeah Well I find interesting is I fit in this car but I didn’t fit in the 60 thunderbird and I figured from that point forward I was going to show what I looked like in each car because the steering wheel situation is different in each car you sit in from that time period.
Steering wheels were big for leverage since most cars didn't have power steering. And many were reluctant to shrink them when it became more common, or quicken power steering ratios. Chrysler products starting in 1957 led the way. Chevy steering wheels stayed big when Pontiacs (same basic body) got smaller. Early 60's Rambler wheels are big and too close. Chrysler products all had electric wipers in the 50's and AMC stuck with vacuum forever.
In the scheme of things who really cares about putting very much stuff in the trunk this car is one of a kind gets more looks than any other car Ford nailed it with his hardtop retractable look a lot better than the Peugeot and the Chrysler for 1940 Chrysler was only a concept ever actually really mass produced
I thought the Peugeot looked interesting.. ford mass marketed it, the down is people from my generation, don’t even know these exist
Another one to throw in there 1964 1962 Ford Thunderbird convertibles, 1962 with the tunnel cover Kelsey Hayes spoke wheels the tri-power 390 in.³ motor with rear fender skirts
64 jet bird will be posted today =)
I had one in High School when I was a Senior ... It would drive 3 or 4 Days
a Week and on the Weekend I would work on it to get it running for the
next Week .... She was a '''HONEY ''' and sure wish I had keep it ....
Awesome story =)
How about doing Fords misaligned division? The Edsel.
1958 Edsel citation was my dream car for years I want to so bad I found a guy but he’s like five hours down the road that has and Edsel citation convertible I have to get down there I have to shoot that car but it’s going to be spring/summer time before I can get down there.. trust me they are coming this year
I would really like to do a 58 wagon as well I’m going to Carlisle in a couple weeks so it might be a possibility..
There have been several more hardtop convertibles over the years, but they’re not as cool looking as the Skyliner.
Sure it was a big land yacht, but it was the 50’s and we were still partying in celebration of the end of WWII.
And just think about Ford’s follow up to the Skyliner, the Edsel!!!!
The automotive equivalent of a lead balloon!
And the rest is history.
This was my first glue together model car.
Awesome =)
My first car had four-wheel drum brakes and no power steering. All drum brakes was no big deal because drum brakes have a self-energizing effect which provides assist. The pedal pressure wasn't too bad. Would rather have power steering.
Awesome information thank you so much for sharing =)
If I could have power steering or power brakes - pick one, it would be power steering. Drum brakes needed much less pedal effort due to their design. However power steering often came with a quicker ratio with fewer wheel turns lock-to-lock. Maybe a person just needs to drive one of these older cars to realize how slow the steering was to obtain reasonable effort to turn the wheel.
I’d take power brakes.. some of the power steering systems took all the feel away, Overassisted I had a 67 mustang had power steering and I could blow on the wheel and it would turn that’s a bit of an exaggeration but it made the car loose I took off the steering assist and the car handled better that car I could turn the wheel 1/3 any way and the front wheel wouldn’t move..
@@What.its.like. Until 1965 Ford power steering, unlike with all Chrysler products, was an add on hydraulic cylinder. So same steering as a manual car, just easier.
Most were afraid to put much quicker steering ratios on power steering cars since people were used to all the cranking and in a test drive between the ease and quickness would think it was too twitchy. But I think Chrysler went to 3.5 turns starting in 1957 and that was their standard for years while others like Chevy were still around 5+. I think Thunderbird and Lincoln went to about 3.5 in 1961.
Ford dealers just loved doing warranty repairs on the Skyliner tops. 😁
I was going to add a story at the end growing up my grandpa had apartments that he rented out they are still there but he rented them out to two of past friends live in a small town in western Pennsylvania.. it’s crazy the guy that told this story went on to be a Green beret and lived in Panama. He was a great guy we used to sit on the swing and talk about the good ole days that I wasn’t there for anyway, he was going to take this girl out to the movies drive in movies.. Said he had a convertible to watch the movie in.. he showed up in 57 skyliner and the girl was like I thought you had a convertible... he pushed the button to make the top go down and it got stuck with the roof halfway in the trunk. He said he was so embarrassed didn’t get to go on his date...
I forgot to mention 1957 they made the most skyliners production numbers declined after that first year. I mentioned it was $400 over the sunliner price $4,038 dollars converted 2022 money.. they were problematic with all the switches solenoids And relays. This was the ford feast year 1958 was a terrible year for the auto industry due to an economic recession... which helped kill the idea.. they did keep parts of the system and used in on the 61-66 Lincoln Continental convertible but it was a soft top and not a hard top.
had every model59 at onetime should have kept them all looks like a eliminator next to the retrackable i used to care take a427 side oiler gte1968 such good time went through a lot of muscal care if only
=)
I had a battery powered metal model of the skyliner
Wow that would have been so cool to have
I'd like to see you do a 1960 Chrysler 300F. You asked
Yes I will add that to the list thank for the request =)
I would love for some young innovative entrepreneur car enthusiast to build retro mods of this car and the late 40s and early 50s two door Ford woodies (the ultimate surfboard beach babies !!!!!!!!).
Sadly those days are gone, people don’t want quality they want convenience.. that’s why cars are more and more like smart phones/appliances
The rear seat back in these cars is extremely vertical... and thus, uncomfortable. .... Anyway, much of the engineering from these cars went into the 1960s Lincoln convertible sedans.
I’ll have to sit in the back of one but I believe you, Ford still has that problem mach e was like that
They look good, but I would never want to own a Skyliner. With all the mechanics involved I get the impression that breakdowns were frequent.
I guess rust was a serious problem with these cars. Which is probably why, during the 1960s in New Jersey, you would see more '57 Chevys than same-vintage Fords.
It was a complex system at the time an engineering marvel.
Rust was a serious problem in road salt areas for all cars back then. Much later Audi started galvanizing bodies (American unit body cars usually used some kind of coating dips already) which spread to American cars and finally Japanese ones. Some car bodies were better designed in terms of not having places where salty water pooled.
My brother bought one used in about ‘61 or ‘62. It had nothing but electrical problems caused by an infestation of gremlins. It became a money pit and he didn’t keep it long.
That’s sad
very,very,very cool.
Thank you
Do a 1937 Cord Phaeton supercharged 812 Convertible. My Pop had one all my life until he sold it in the early 2000's
I’ll look for one I definitely want to start digging into 30s cars
all station wagons used the 116 inch wheelbase
Beautiful, and it's not a teutonwagen. Thank You.
Very Good!... 24 🐄🦉🏴☠✝
Thank you glad you liked it =)
All station wagons by Ford in 1957 and 1958 rode on a 116" wheelbase. No 118" wheelbase wagons existed.
Thank you for that correction =)
Everyone wants a ‘57 Chevy but back in ‘57 everyone wanted a ‘57 Ford. Hmmm
Yeah it’s crazy to me any car in 57 I’d take the studebaker golden hawk
Power Disc Brakes? Not available until 1965. Sorry!
They made power drum brakes
Power drum brakes…you said disk.
Miss spoke thanks for catching that
1:55 Just think all that Skyliner action was done by solenoids and microswitches ... NO computer logic.
Yeah it’s absolutely crazy bunch of relay switches. I got to drive that car last summer and I don’t know it just felt hollow.. I don’t know how to really describe it but you didn’t live up to the expectation that I had in my head
Too bad you didn't (or couldn't) operate the top on the Skyliner you were showcasing.
Can a 57 Chevy do this?
I don't think so.
Try & tell me who ruled 1957.
FoMoCo..
I'm with you 57 Chevy is overrated
How about the next car,,Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing.
SL
I’ll try that’s a tall order I’ve Been in one that was getting restored they are getting hard to find and expensive I do remember it was hard getting in and out of wide door sill much like the jag e type.. the last one I saw was at Hershey last fall.. I’ll look for one but it might be a while =)
Looks great no doubt. But the '57 Chevy is truly a classic and its style is way over the Ford. The bug eye head lights destroys the appearance of the front end.
I agree this stlye doesn’t look good at some angles I saw an all red one that looked good..
When I was a kid I thought the '57 Ford front end was an awesome revolution in car design! Again, the Chevy was a facelift of the 1955 body. The Ford was all new from top to bottom.
Yeah but Ford made it look really classy
Ricky says ,in very fast spanish ..that he wants to know the price of the car, and that he wants to buy it inmediately ja ja ja ,
I remember when these were just cars. The 57 and 58 were ugly, the 59 was reasonable and a lot more conservative looking. Most 1950s cars were ugly but there are exceptions. I love old cars and have several but I'm not into the 1950s bullshit that seems to have taken over car shows and cruise-ins. I'll pass on the Do-Wop music. Thank you, "Happy Days."
The machinery for the retractable roof was later adapted for the 61-63 Thunderbird and the suicide Lincolns.
Yeah I like 58 the most 59 looks good too.. I love all the orphan cars the most Edsel Nash Hudson Kaiser Frazier willys. Overland Crosley packard studebaker I’m sure I’ve missed a lot what sucks is those companies either merged or died and sometimes the merge was like a sears Kmart merge and still didn’t making it (packard studebaker).
@@What.its.like. Hudson and Nash became AMC so I guess they are still around in a way. Studebaker never went out of business, they just stopped making cars. Graham Paige became the Madison Square Garden Corporation. Peerless stopped making cars and became a brewery. The Pierce-Arrow factory still stands in Buffalo and the sign for it is still on the building. I was in Toledo about 3 years ago and all that's left is a tall smokestack that says "Willys Overland" on it in vertical letters. I understand that you can buy a Crosley radio today. It's all corporate moves and sometimes I find that kind of history more fascinating than the cars themselves. I do like the orphan makes myself especially ones like Hudson and Packard.
Awesome thank you for sharing that information I didn’t know that about a lot of those companies =)
The top leaked very badly
Yes Ford out sold Chevy in 1957 but there was a big problem in northern states..RUST!! The Chevies out lasted the Fords by far and the small block Chevy V8 was the better engine by far!
I’m my opinion Y block sounds better going down the road..
@@What.its.like. there was plenty to like about all the cars back then! Today they have lost something..They all look the same..
It’s because they make appliances not machines... it’s totally backwards just like everything else cars are ready to break so you go get a new one whereas the old ones when they broke you could fix it...
@@What.its.like. Cars in those days required way more maintenance and did not last nearly as long. Rusting bodies and engines etc. that lasted half the miles we expect now.
It's a SkylineR! Stop saying "Skyline" in this video! There's no such thing as a Ford "Skyline". Otherwise, a fairly good job, except for a few other glitches (like about the power steering pump on that particular car - it's all wrong; and disc brakes - nope).
When American cars had real style
Back when America made cars, and built them to last and when they did break it was possible to fix them, without taking out a second mortgage =)
That ugly grill protector coupled with rage fender skirts and Continental Kit spoil the looks of an otherwise nice car!
I got the drive that car today which was pretty sweet. Drove a mark v Lincoln too made me really miss mine.
Please acquaint yourself with the definition of the word "unique" by no stretch of the imagination, can it be applied to the Fairlane. Nor can the word "quite" ever precede it.... Thank you.