A very nice 56 - Very nice. On the difference in steering wheel, differences. 56 was Fords "safety year" Hence the "Deep Dish" steering wheel (moving the steering shaft further away from the driver and optional seat belts. Ford came to the conclusion by the end of the model year, "Safety doesn't sell" So any talk of "safety" was dropped in the ads in 57.
The 56 Crown Vicky Skyliner is my "if I ever hit the Lotto car". I've loved these since I was a young boy and first saw one. A red and white 2-tone. As it passed us I said "dad get one of those" he said "son we'd all fry under that glass roof". IMO the Crown Victoria is one of the most beautiful cars designed during the 50's.
Jay, thanks for the side by side of the 55 and 56. I knew the side treatments were different, however, never noticed that the “V” landed in a different location! Those were very popular in the day. My aunt had red/white 55 Fairlane coupe and a family friend had red/white 56 Victoria 4dr hardtop. Another aunt had 2dr lt green/dark green coustomline. My folks had the 56 Mercury 2dr persimmon/white Nice coverage buddy.
Yeah weren’t that as well I thought they had in the same spot and then found out that they actually moved the V to the center of the door which was super cool to see =) I’ve been looking for the mercury equivalent there is one that runs around here in the summertime.. mercury’s in general are hard to find for some reason just like Oldsmobiles I’ve been looking for 50 Oldsmobile 88 specially the wagons I’ve been looking for all kinds of wagons and I just can’t find any. I can’t wait until spring it’s not coming fast enough definitely have some really cool stuff in mind but the car season hasn’t started yet most cars are hibernating for the winter lol
When you said "power poop" I about spit my drink out!! You added some comic relief! I work for Ford Motor Company and I always appreciate seeing it's history told. Nice job on this beautiful '56 Fairlane! Love it when I learn about all the detailing that went into these classic cars. The rear window was a "wow moment"...... very unique!
Jay….I am totally with you on the rear window mechanism engineering! That is quite complex. On a side note…I find myself mesmerized by how you so gently caress the lines of the car….but now I understand that, after seeing the short video of your carpentry skills! True artisan 👍
1956 Fairlane Victoria (without the Crown brightwork) was my family car growing up (black & red) - replaced in the 60's with a Ford Frontenac (known in the USA as the Ford Falcon - which featured a more boring grill), This new car was complemented in '64 with an Austin Countryman woody, so both mom and dad would have their own car...my mom got the Fromtenac. Even though the Vic was a less "bling encrusted' version of the Crown Vic, it remains my favourite car from my past. Nice to see you feature her more bespeckled sister-model. Excellent video as always Jay.
The looks of the 55 and 56 are nearly the same. I like the 55 for the dashboard so I'm partial to that. That 55 had a one year only (round) push button radio. 55 was the last year for the 6 volt system, 56 was 12.
@@What.its.like. My dad had a 57, it was a not the Crown Vic but it was a beautiful automobile. He then got a 58 Custom (company car) that had a six cylinder engine and to my best recollection a two speed automatic. Forever memories of the car overheating every time he tried to pull a long hill.
I think I would rather have this car in a 4 door Victoria. While the chrome is lovely to look at, it overwhelms in back seat out view and definitely inhibits the driver’s view. If I may offer a suggestion, you should find a car style glossary, it would help you in your description and understanding. 🤓👍
Classic chrome lines and the two-tone colours really are a buzz, perhaps the nicest combination I have seen? Oh boy, the green plexiglass chicken roaster feature. Perfect for a sunny winter's day, where the air conditioning would come into its own. The sickly green skin tones it gave the people in the front, were all worth it, as it made even the people who arrived on the Mayflower appear alien. Over all, I prefer the 56 both in exterior and interior styling. The classic Falcon engine in straight 6 format was used as a carry over base engine in Australia, growing to 4.1 litres, all culminating in the fabulous Barra engine, which while still based on the inline 6, had a DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder and many other modern upgrades. This, in its lightweight trim, was a superior engine to the Coyote V8, and so was de-tuned, to keep the V8 the favoured option, even though it under steered due to its heavier weight. The Barra with a change to forged titanium con rods could safely and happily develop an output of 1000HP. Unfortunately, as they were of local production in the Geelong engine plant, once Ford Australia shut down, they were no longer available. Oh, Jay, what is it with the 10 volt batteries? You have shown a few 50s cars with this feature. I should also note, that as I am now aware that you work with wood, arguable an amorphous material when facing steel tools, you have a lot of insight into shapes and visual texture. Well done, now you just need to sing to it.
Hi, my name is Alex and I am totally blind and I enjoy listening to your videos. You do a good job of describing things in the first video that I’ve watched from you about the ninth of this video. Actually, I am going to subscribe to you because I enjoy your contact. Keep up the good work love, old cars I love cars I love to touch them and feel every aspect of them. I love the steering wheels from oh the 50s on up into the 80s and then they started getting crappy but you know love to work keep it up man.
The 56 Instrument panel was much more modern and better looking than the 55. It is beautifully lit at night. The speedo, all gauges, radio and heater controls are all lit. In addition, the switches for lights, wipers, ignition, lighter and left air were all backlit, the words would glow white at night. In automatics, the quadrant was also lit. I had a 56 two door Fairlane Victoria, beautiful in Bermuda blue, (deeper blue close to the exterior shots), and Colonial white. Dad had a Customline two door sedan in black with a white roof and overdrive. Interestingly, it was built with the pickup I-6 engine, he had to order parts for a 56 F100 to get the right parts. My favorite, though, would be the Customline Victoria, (1:10), as the two-tone with white starting at the side center of the headlight instead of the top center makes the car look longer and lower.
You know, Jay, one thing I am noticing with all the American cars, is the exposed screw heads. Where some manufacturers might have hidden them elsewhere by design, or recessed the screws and fitted a plug over the heads, they are just proud and bold, flapping in the breeze.
I hate removing panels from new cars because of that.. it’s a gamble if it’s going to go back the way it came apart. Everything is plastic fantastic now and they charge a fortune for it
@@captaccordion Yeah, but that isn't a solution, simply another cause of grief. Engineers could solve this easily, but the price of the car might increase by 12 cents.
In my humble opinion the 56 Crown Vic eclipses the 55 offering a lot. Out of all Ford cars, I think that the 56 Ford Crown Vic, and the 40 coupe were Fords most beautiful cars they ever made. The only thing a disliked about this car was the gauge cluster. I hate idiot lights. I dont know why Ford went on the cheap with lights instead of gauges, but maybe the engineers reasoning was that for the average driving public, the person would not know what it meant if the oil pressure gauge needle was reading very low. Great job on this gorgeous car Jay!!
@@What.its.like. Its too bad, particularly with the low oil pressure waring light. If the oil pressure sending unit is defective not illuminating the light, the engine could be half seized by the time the light turns on! I am glad that I am not the only one in the universe who dislikes those thing Jay!
My grandmother had a '56 Crown Victoria, light blue and white, very nice car, remember riding in it. After a minor accident, she sold it. Don't think she wanted to drive after that. Suppose she could have had it repaired, she developed Dementia not too many years after. Rather slowly, she passed in the mid late '70's.
Debut of padded dash, deep dish steering wheel, seat belts and safety door locks in Fords. Public was upset. “This must mean Fords are unsafe “. This was the time when it was believed that it was safer to smash through the windshield in a crash rather than be trapped by seatbelts in a burning car. Ask people over 75 about this belief.
Thank you so much for all of that added information that was part of Ford safeguard or lifeguard campaign. I meant to add all that information but we’re going to hit the 56 Ford again I want to do episodes on each body style that ever came out for cars from 1935 to 1964 that’s the plan anyway.. =)
I am 76 and I never believed that. I didn’t understand why airplanes had seatbelts and other safety features but cars didn’t. Today we are having Tesla cars burning so I guess something’s never change.
When I was a kid back in the Seventies, the neighbors across the street were probably in their 80s... They had a bit of money, but weren't crazy with it... They held on to everything. Their daily driver was a lavender '56 Lincoln Premier that they bought brand new and it still looked new. It had EVERYTHING, including air conditioning... Except it didn't have power windows. Mr. Liszt told me that he ordered it that way because Mrs. Liszt TOLD him to.... She was afraid that if they drove off the road into water, the windows would short out and they'd drown. Even at ten years old, I knew that running into even ten feet of water wouldn't seal the doors on that old tank... But I guess that's how some people's thought process works. I guess I learned a lesson in psychology.
Ford has always produced some really beautiful, clean, elegant looking designs IMO. They really bejeweled this one, the only real minus, looks like the backseat space, but then I would only be riding the front seat anyway. I really like the models that followed in '57 and '58 also. Cool video 😎 and impression!
Thanks Jay. I’m not a big fan of Fords but this one with its paint job and chrome work was really pretty. My son in law’s surname is Teal and we bonded over Family Guy. Great work and a thumbs up from across the pond in the UK.
The differences between the 55 and 56 are subtle, but it seems like every difference is an improvement. Ironically I like the "blue" more than the teal. It's a shame cars don't come in colors like that anymore.
"Power Poop"? YOWZA! As a matter of fact.... nevermind. I dig the 55 more but if my choice was this or a 55 Caddy, I'd be driving a Ford. Very clean lines
The mainline looks cool. Usually we see the top models all decked out with chrome side trim, but the simple "Basement" versions that were light on chrome on the sides and few on body styles look better. Revell made a 1/32nd scale 1955 model of the Ford that came with figures. Sometimes they re-released it, but now that Atlantis has the old molds, I hope to see it re-relesed in the future. AMT made a 1/25th scale of the Crown Victoria that you can build Stock, Custom or Racing. You can also cut the roof open and add in the glass top. Sadly, I don't have an unboxing video for the 1956, but I am going to release one for the 1955 sometime in the future. Keep up the great work Justin! These videos really help me in my model car builds.
I agree with your frustration with the poorly positioned seats. I think at this point the emphasis was on form over function, when it came to seat design. The styling with the two tone colors and chrome, was artistic and breathtakingly beautiful; but an ergonomic engineer should have been consulted. We see some of form over function today with crazy aerodynamic styling on SUVs that might make the vehicles look modern and sleek on the outside but make the view to the back claustrophobic and tunnel-like inside. And regarding seats, the Japanese designed cars invariably have a full power front seat only for the driver, with very limited adjustments for the passenger… which is why I haven’t been interested in buying one with my 92 year old dad unable to tolerate a manual seat.
Nice job! I'm partial to the 1955 as my dad bought a new 1955 Fairlane Sunliner in June of 1955. Torch red over snowshoe white. I like the '56 steering wheel better, but the dash on the '55 is unique with the round radio and heater controls as well as the "see through" speedometer. I like the safety features available on the '56, including the deep dish steering wheel and stronger door latches. The 12 volt electrical system was a better feature on the '56 as well. However, the outside trim, grille and hood ornament are nicer on the '55.
@@What.its.like. Cars, since the age of 2 for me, were my life! I knew what neighbors had what cars, their years, etc. Cars were important and were, at times, "human like". Hurting a car was the equivalent of cutting a person's finger! Two months after my dad purchased his new Sunliner , we took a family trip to Maine to visit friends. While there, a vehicle backed into my dad's new car, putting a dent in the left front fender. I was devastated. It was embarrassing and I was angry because of the carelessness of the other driver. The dent was repaired as soon as we returned home, but I never fully got over the anger I felt when our family car was irresponsibility damaged by a careless driver.
Coool car. A neighbor in Colorado had a 56 Skyliner, it came with an insulated vinyl tarp that you could snap in under the clear plexiglass portion of the top if you didn't want to roast inside in hot weather. It had been the new car his folks had at their wedding in May of '56. Plexiglass was still in good shape after 22 years, but can become brittle in dry climates & quality replacements are expen$ive.
Thank you so much for sharing that I wasn’t sure if they had a cover to shield yourself from the sun some where tinted I saw others that wasnt as tinted.. I’ve been looking for one to review.
5:32 Funny that you mention the 292 getting on average 12 mpg cause my buddy’s 292 with an aftermarket 4 barrel Holley carb gets on average 14 mpg! We even squeezed 15 out of it one week after taking it on a roadtrip to LA and back to Orange County. This thing just loves the freeway!
Definitely my favourite shade of blue. I wonder how it would look on a Lexus? Also, as you've said the colour is wrong, well it is the wrong colour I like. Further, the magnificent basket handle roof feature is just great as a styling touch. It would be the first thing to go, if it were built today. But as you noticed, its size makes it a roll bar of sorts.
Yes, it's a neat car alright. A difference that you didn't notice is that the 56 steering wheel is dished, and the 55 isn't. That probably implies a different steering column too. There was something really weird in the numbers you quoted. Compression of 8:1 on the 272 sounds correct, but 6.4 on the 292 and 312? I don't believe that one! Cheers.
The instrument panel is vastly superior in the'56, IMHO. years ago, I had a friend with a 'beautiful pink and white '56 Crown Victoria that he drove fearlessly through the vehicular mayhem of Pittsburgh traffic and their infamous potholes. Well, he was a bus driver, so he was hard to scare on the road. That car was so cool, like riding around in a fabulous fifties Ford flamingo. "Power poop." I am deceased, and there's Diet Coke all over my table. And my NY Times crossword puzzle. You booger.
Totally agree sorry about your puzzle, Pittsburgh is a tough city to navigate you can see where you wanna go but you can’t get there it’s all one way streets. I want to college in Pittsburgh. I would drive an 88 Lincoln town car maroon best riding car ever had felt like 1 million bucks when I got to Pittsburgh and I was just cruising in that thing. I miss that car. I raced a friend of mine in the town car 5.0 fuel injected with AOD The secret of that car was if you pot putting it up to about 20 miles an hour and slammed on the gas you took off like a rocket ( I tried it in a mark five this summer and it did not work I’m guessing it had to be the transmission that made it do that) Anyway my friend had a Camaro 1985 it wasn’t anything special I killed him in a race and it was so funny because that’s all he wanted to do is race, he couldn’t believe I took him in a town car
Nice Vic, but I kind of lost a little bit of wood because of those HIDEOUS speaker grills on the kick panels package tray. Ya think that the previous owner could have found a couple of plain metal ones and just painted them to match the vinyl.🙄 It's nice that they added A/C, but there again... Why not find some period dash vents? Another really nice video!
I think what he was getting at is you can’t really have fun in the front wheel drive car can’t do burnouts very easily, sliding sideways is impossible unless you have a E brake that you can use as a handbrake. Power sliding isnt real easy to do in a front wheel drive car can be possible but not easy
@@glennso47 To each his own. RWD is far superior to FWD in handling and ride comfort. Also, RWD cars don't have the goofy proportions of FWD cars. AWD with a rear bias is vastly superior to both RWD and FWD. RWD doesn't torque-steer or understeer. And it's monumentally more fun to use a little throttle oversteer to kick the tail end out. You can't do that in a wrong-wheel-drive car.
@@glennso47 Sounds like you didn't know how to drive a RWD car in the snow or how to properly recover from a skid. I love driving my RWD cars in the snow. It's loads of fun!
My thinking on the Ford rear seats, is that is a total compromise to the roofline styling. If they made the roof longer, the rear seat room would be vastly improved, but the proportions would be so wrong.
Maybe it’s a really uncomfortable seating position back there though it’s not bad in the front 35 Ford has more comfortable seat and vast room versus 56. 35 Ford is coming up not entirely sure when
The two-door Victorias and Crown Vics had a different roof than the four doors and wagons. They were lower and gently sloped following the side window line. The four doors extended the roofline and turned town later. The windshield and side windows were all an inch lower on the two doors and had different vent windows. You can see these differences in the side view brochure photos, 1:40, compare 1:52 and 1:53.
Back in the old days we would call a car like this "gaudy", meaning showy and excessively over done. The chrome is blinding, LOL. Can you imagine what it would cost today to restore this car and re-chrome all those parts? More money than I got.......
Another great video, although i miss the listing on the engine specs about the torque such an I-6 or V8 were able to produce back then. Will it make a comeback in future videos? Just wondering. Keep up the great work.
@@What.its.like. Thanks for the quick reply. Had it in the back of my head, that this might have been the reason. Small suggestion for future videos, so the question about it won't come up again, just state at the torque numbers "Inconclusive" if they cannot be disclosed or each source has some different numbers. Thanks again for the answer 👍
That’s what it felt like though.. it was just a really weird seating position and I just don’t get why Ford from the 50s had a problem designing rear seats the front seat felt great.
Ford had admirably the lowest fins in the industry during the 50's..so went into the 60's in good shape. They made up for it in chrome though in this model.😆 I wonder how many Skyliners are left ..you wouldn't want to get in one without air .
I was wondering that too it was a pretty rare option I’ve only seen a handful in my lifetime and the only ones that I saw were like 25 years ago when I was a little kid go in the car shows
I did a 57 skyliner earlier episode ruclips.net/video/MKzjhYCQ-DQ/видео.html I got to drive this car this summer and it was OK it floats down the road I wasn’t a huge fan of how the transmission shifted ( came to find out that it shifted bad because it was almost out of fluid because the transmission needed rebuilt or replaced)
Ground-breaking design! 1955 was the beginning of the happy Fords; nothing attracts patrons like a big chrome smile. Chevy took notice. 1956 was the start of 12V NEGATIVE GROUND electrical. Would be required for higher compression engines in the works and Neg ground better common sense to the average person, though electrons actually travel from negative to positive.
Thank you so much for all of that added information I wasn’t sure when Ford did the whole negative/positive ground.. ford did some crazy stuff with electrics
i have a problem with one of your comments, i am a retired professional transmission rebuilder. the (ford o matic) was a 2 speed not a 3 speed. the 3 speed was a (cruise o matic),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
The original Ford O-Matic was a three speed transmission and then it got renamed to cruise O-Matic it’s super confusing why they just didn’t pick a different name is beyond me one turned into the FMX the other one turned into the C6.. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruise-O-Matic The original ford o matic started out in 2nd gear and shifted to 3rd the only way to access 1st was to put it in low weird transmission
in a shop the for o Matic was always called and known as a 2sp to us. the FMX was very similar to the cruise o Matic but was not the same. and the c6 was totally different with an aluminum case.@@What.its.like.
Ford, much later on, got rid of the secondary catch, which wasn't the best idea, I knew a fellow whose recent purchase of a large Ford two-tone station wagon, suddenly had the bonnet/hood, blow open while he was driving at 60 mph, completely blocking his front view. Ford blamed him, and he had to buy a new one.
That’s crazy I had a 67 mustang that didn’t have a secondary catch the guy put hood pins in it and believe it or not sometimes I even lost those had to go to tractor supply store to get more..
It does not have vintage air, if it did it would come out of the dash top. Also those are bumper guards, not overrider bars which this car does not have.
I’m looking forward to the Styleline video … I’ve gotta say, I liked the ‘49-‘50 Fleetlines more than I did the venerable ‘55-‘57 Chevys. I found that aero-fastback design to be futuristic and elegant. Even today, I find those cars to be extremely attractive. The biggest downside was that the 216 engine was quite slow, and the more powerful 235 was only offered with a powerglide 2-speed automatic, which zapped much of the 235’s zip. Regardless, the powerglide was very popular with women of the day …
That’s interesting I know by the 70s depending on manufacture Chrysler really seem to skimp out as far as metal quality goes they had metal quality problems in the late 50s someone mentioned because they like to get China steel. That sounds like a episode right there comparing metal quality from the early 50s to the metal quality of the late 50s I’d have to get a micrometer
Rock around the Clock, Bill Haley and the Comets.
Congratulations =) you got it
Be sure to tune in tomorrow for 1949 Chevy styleline @ 430
Colour is stunning what ever is ,what a treat ! The white in the interior , and the chrome ! Wow , priceless
A very nice 56 - Very nice. On the difference in steering wheel, differences. 56 was Fords "safety year" Hence the "Deep Dish" steering wheel (moving the steering shaft further away from the driver and optional seat belts. Ford came to the conclusion by the end of the model year, "Safety doesn't sell" So any talk of "safety" was dropped in the ads in 57.
Thank you so much for pointing that out
The 56 Crown Vicky Skyliner is my "if I ever hit the Lotto car". I've loved these since I was a young boy and first saw one. A red and white 2-tone. As it passed us I said "dad get one of those" he said "son we'd all fry under that glass roof".
IMO the Crown Victoria is one of the most beautiful cars designed during the 50's.
It’s a mid 50s gem I prefer this over the Chevy, everyone and their mom has the Chevy, but will say I like the 52 with OHV six
My Parents had the Fairlane 2 Door Sedan with the 312 V8 3 speed manual with overdrive.
That’s awesome =) did they like the car? 312 y block would be cool
@@What.its.like. They loved it Mom sister use to race it. We had a Chevy Bel Air with the 265 power pack with power glide.
Who won that would be a good race
@@What.its.like. Mom's younger sister use to race it while Dad was on the road as a truck driver. From what I heard she won quite a few.
Jay, thanks for the side by side of the 55 and 56.
I knew the side treatments were different, however, never noticed that the “V” landed in a different location!
Those were very popular in the day. My aunt had red/white 55 Fairlane coupe and a family friend had red/white 56 Victoria 4dr hardtop. Another aunt had 2dr lt green/dark green coustomline. My folks had the 56 Mercury 2dr persimmon/white Nice coverage buddy.
Yeah weren’t that as well I thought they had in the same spot and then found out that they actually moved the V to the center of the door which was super cool to see =)
I’ve been looking for the mercury equivalent there is one that runs around here in the summertime.. mercury’s in general are hard to find for some reason just like Oldsmobiles I’ve been looking for 50 Oldsmobile 88 specially the wagons I’ve been looking for all kinds of wagons and I just can’t find any.
I can’t wait until spring it’s not coming fast enough definitely have some really cool stuff in mind but the car season hasn’t started yet most cars are hibernating for the winter lol
@@What.its.like. I will be staying in touch to see what comes ahead in your “car season.” It’s car season all year in San Diego!
That chrome is crazy! What a beautiful car.
Totally agree =)
Beautiful Crown Vic!
=) it was the most beautiful ford I’ve ever been in
When you said "power poop" I about spit my drink out!! You added some comic relief! I work for Ford Motor Company and I always appreciate seeing it's history told. Nice job on this beautiful '56 Fairlane! Love it when I learn about all the detailing that went into these classic cars. The rear window was a "wow moment"...... very unique!
That’s what it felt like tho, I try to throw some one liners in to see if your paying attention lol
the windows where something special =)
Now, that is an excellent looking Ford. Thanks for highlighting this 1956 car, Jay.
=) the plan is to do them all 56 Victoria hardtop, 4 dr Victoria hard top skyliner all of them hit mainline series
Jay….I am totally with you on the rear window mechanism engineering! That is quite complex.
On a side note…I find myself mesmerized by how you so gently caress the lines of the car….but now I understand that, after seeing the short video of your carpentry skills! True artisan 👍
Thank you so much for all the positive vibes
I said it before and say it again " your attention to Detail is amazing. Keep up the good work "
Thank you I really try, we need to get more younger people in this hobby.
1956 Fairlane Victoria (without the Crown brightwork) was my family car growing up (black & red) - replaced in the 60's with a Ford Frontenac (known in the USA as the Ford Falcon - which featured a more boring grill), This new car was complemented in '64 with an Austin Countryman woody, so both mom and dad would have their own car...my mom got the Fromtenac.
Even though the Vic was a less "bling encrusted' version of the Crown Vic, it remains my favourite car from my past. Nice to see you feature her more bespeckled sister-model.
Excellent video as always Jay.
The looks of the 55 and 56 are nearly the same. I like the 55 for the dashboard so I'm partial to that. That 55 had a one year only (round) push button radio. 55 was the last year for the 6 volt system, 56 was 12.
Thank you for pointing that out, about 6 volt =) I like both but my favorite ford dash in the 50s is 1952
Beautiful car, one of my favorites from the mid 50's.
I love that this was considered full size car and was still manageable 57 gets huge
@@What.its.like. My dad had a 57, it was a not the Crown Vic but it was a beautiful automobile. He then got a 58 Custom (company car) that had a six cylinder engine and to my best recollection a two speed automatic. Forever memories of the car overheating every time he tried to pull a long hill.
A very pretty car. Typical 50s era Ford styling. The chrome trim is not excessive compared to other makes.
It was so nice inside though it didn’t look so flashy on the outside the inside was so nice =)
I think I would rather have this car in a 4 door Victoria. While the chrome is lovely to look at, it overwhelms in back seat out view and definitely inhibits the driver’s view. If I may offer a suggestion, you should find a car style glossary, it would help you in your description and understanding. 🤓👍
Classic chrome lines and the two-tone colours really are a buzz, perhaps the nicest combination I have seen? Oh boy, the green plexiglass chicken roaster feature. Perfect for a sunny winter's day, where the air conditioning would come into its own. The sickly green skin tones it gave the people in the front, were all worth it, as it made even the people who arrived on the Mayflower appear alien.
Over all, I prefer the 56 both in exterior and interior styling.
The classic Falcon engine in straight 6 format was used as a carry over base engine in Australia, growing to 4.1 litres, all culminating in the fabulous Barra engine, which while still based on the inline 6, had a DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder and many other modern upgrades. This, in its lightweight trim, was a superior engine to the Coyote V8, and so was de-tuned, to keep the V8 the favoured option, even though it under steered due to its heavier weight. The Barra with a change to forged titanium con rods could safely and happily develop an output of 1000HP. Unfortunately, as they were of local production in the Geelong engine plant, once Ford Australia shut down, they were no longer available.
Oh, Jay, what is it with the 10 volt batteries? You have shown a few 50s cars with this feature. I should also note, that as I am now aware that you work with wood, arguable an amorphous material when facing steel tools, you have a lot of insight into shapes and visual texture. Well done, now you just need to sing to it.
Hahaha thank you
Hi, my name is Alex and I am totally blind and I enjoy listening to your videos. You do a good job of describing things in the first video that I’ve watched from you about the ninth of this video. Actually, I am going to subscribe to you because I enjoy your contact. Keep up the good work love, old cars I love cars I love to touch them and feel every aspect of them. I love the steering wheels from oh the 50s on up into the 80s and then they started getting crappy but you know love to work keep it up man.
Thanks a lot Alex glad you dig the channel =)
That is a nice car especially with the 312 Y-block but that alternator is definitely not factory equipment.
Thank you for pointing that out =)
The 56 Instrument panel was much more modern and better looking than the 55. It is beautifully lit at night. The speedo, all gauges, radio and heater controls are all lit. In addition, the switches for lights, wipers, ignition, lighter and left air were all backlit, the words would glow white at night. In automatics, the quadrant was also lit.
I had a 56 two door Fairlane Victoria, beautiful in Bermuda blue, (deeper blue close to the exterior shots), and Colonial white. Dad had a Customline two door sedan in black with a white roof and overdrive. Interestingly, it was built with the pickup I-6 engine, he had to order parts for a 56 F100 to get the right parts. My favorite, though, would be the Customline Victoria, (1:10), as the two-tone with white starting at the side center of the headlight instead of the top center makes the car look longer and lower.
You know, Jay, one thing I am noticing with all the American cars, is the exposed screw heads. Where some manufacturers might have hidden them elsewhere by design, or recessed the screws and fitted a plug over the heads, they are just proud and bold, flapping in the breeze.
That’s interesting
Today's alternative of course is plastic clips which always break when you try to remove something!
I hate removing panels from new cars because of that.. it’s a gamble if it’s going to go back the way it came apart. Everything is plastic fantastic now and they charge a fortune for it
@@captaccordion Yeah, but that isn't a solution, simply another cause of grief. Engineers could solve this easily, but the price of the car might increase by 12 cents.
In my humble opinion the 56 Crown Vic eclipses the 55 offering a lot. Out of all Ford cars, I think that the 56 Ford Crown Vic, and the 40 coupe were Fords most beautiful cars they ever made. The only thing a disliked about this car was the gauge cluster. I hate idiot lights. I dont know why Ford went on the cheap with lights instead of gauges, but maybe the engineers reasoning was that for the average driving public, the person would not know what it meant if the oil pressure gauge needle was reading very low. Great job on this gorgeous car Jay!!
I totally agree I don’t get why a light for a very important gauge. I don’t get why even now it’s still a light
@@What.its.like. Its too bad, particularly with the low oil pressure waring light. If the oil pressure sending unit is defective not illuminating the light, the engine could be half seized by the time the light turns on! I am glad that I am not the only one in the universe who dislikes those thing Jay!
This 56 is one of the prettiest cars ever ! Great colour. How much I wonder 🤔. Beautiful. Cheers from New Zealand 🇳🇿
Glad you dig this episode I believe that car sold
So beautiful and the colour is awesome.
I would love to see a 58 ford in a future video. Or better yet, a 58 Oldsmobile in a future video.
58 ranch wagon is in the future
Wear you sunglasses if you have to look at a 58 Olds on a sunny day. All the chrome is beautiful but it could blind you!
Haha yeah that is a hard car to find I’ve been looking for a 50 olds the wagons are super cool that’s been a hard car to find
Nice car! Unmolested. Aftermarket air conditioning very professionally done which usually isn’t the case.
I wish the color was right on go pro
My grandmother had a '56 Crown Victoria, light blue and white, very nice car, remember riding in it. After a minor accident, she sold it. Don't think she wanted to drive after that. Suppose she could have had it repaired, she developed Dementia not too many years after. Rather slowly, she passed in the mid late '70's.
Thank you for sharing those memories =)
Debut of padded dash, deep dish steering wheel, seat belts and safety door locks in Fords. Public was upset. “This must mean Fords are unsafe “. This was the time when it was believed that it was safer to smash through the windshield in a crash rather than be trapped by seatbelts in a burning car. Ask people over 75 about this belief.
Thank you so much for all of that added information that was part of Ford safeguard or lifeguard campaign. I meant to add all that information but we’re going to hit the 56 Ford again I want to do episodes on each body style that ever came out for cars from 1935 to 1964 that’s the plan anyway.. =)
I am 76 and I never believed that. I didn’t understand why airplanes had seatbelts and other safety features but cars didn’t. Today we are having Tesla cars burning so I guess something’s never change.
When I was a kid back in the Seventies, the neighbors across the street were probably in their 80s... They had a bit of money, but weren't crazy with it... They held on to everything.
Their daily driver was a lavender '56 Lincoln Premier that they bought brand new and it still looked new.
It had EVERYTHING, including air conditioning... Except it didn't have power windows.
Mr. Liszt told me that he ordered it that way because Mrs. Liszt TOLD him to.... She was afraid that if they drove off the road into water, the windows would short out and they'd drown.
Even at ten years old, I knew that running into even ten feet of water wouldn't seal the doors on that old tank... But I guess that's how some people's thought process works.
I guess I learned a lesson in psychology.
Well, it wasn't like any of that was standard equipment. So, they could at least get one without those features.
Case closed.
Ford has always produced some really beautiful, clean, elegant looking designs IMO. They really bejeweled this one, the only real minus, looks like the backseat space, but then I would only be riding the front seat anyway. I really like the models that followed in '57 and '58 also. Cool video 😎 and impression!
Thank you glad you dig this episode thank you so much for the kinda words and positive vibes
Yes, those fat seats really compromise rear seat space.
Totally agree the seat bottom is wider then it has to be
Thanks Jay. I’m not a big fan of Fords but this one with its paint job and chrome work was really pretty. My son in law’s surname is Teal and we bonded over Family Guy. Great work and a thumbs up from across the pond in the UK.
=)
The differences between the 55 and 56 are subtle, but it seems like every difference is an improvement. Ironically I like the "blue" more than the teal. It's a shame cars don't come in colors like that anymore.
Best looking car Ford ever made
"Power Poop"? YOWZA! As a matter of fact.... nevermind. I dig the 55 more but if my choice was this or a 55 Caddy, I'd be driving a Ford. Very clean lines
Haha that’s what it felt like Ford has some really weird seat positions in the 50s it’s only in the backseat though the front seat is normal
The mainline looks cool. Usually we see the top models all decked out with chrome side trim, but the simple "Basement" versions that were light on chrome on the sides and few on body styles look better.
Revell made a 1/32nd scale 1955 model of the Ford that came with figures. Sometimes they re-released it, but now that Atlantis has the old molds, I hope to see it re-relesed in the future.
AMT made a 1/25th scale of the Crown Victoria that you can build Stock, Custom or Racing.
You can also cut the roof open and add in the glass top.
Sadly, I don't have an unboxing video for the 1956, but I am going to release one for the 1955 sometime in the future.
Keep up the great work Justin! These videos really help me in my model car builds.
I agree with your frustration with the poorly positioned seats. I think at this point the emphasis was on form over function, when it came to seat design. The styling with the two tone colors and chrome, was artistic and breathtakingly beautiful; but an ergonomic engineer should have been consulted. We see some of form over function today with crazy aerodynamic styling on SUVs that might make the vehicles look modern and sleek on the outside but make the view to the back claustrophobic and tunnel-like inside. And regarding seats, the Japanese designed cars invariably have a full power front seat only for the driver, with very limited adjustments for the passenger… which is why I haven’t been interested in buying one with my 92 year old dad unable to tolerate a manual seat.
Just don’t get it ford had great sitting positions for rear seat in the 30s and completely forgot that formula by the mid 50s
Nice job!
I'm partial to the 1955 as my dad bought a new 1955 Fairlane Sunliner in June of 1955. Torch red over snowshoe white.
I like the '56 steering wheel better, but the dash on the '55 is unique with the round radio and heater controls as well as the "see through" speedometer.
I like the safety features available on the '56, including the deep dish steering wheel and stronger door latches. The 12 volt electrical system was a better feature on the '56 as well.
However, the outside trim, grille and hood ornament are nicer on the '55.
Glad you dig this episode =)
What was your favorite memory of your dads car
@@What.its.like. Cars, since the age of 2 for me, were my life! I knew what neighbors had what cars, their years, etc. Cars were important and were, at times, "human like". Hurting a car was the equivalent of cutting a person's finger!
Two months after my dad purchased his new Sunliner , we took a family trip to Maine to visit friends. While there, a vehicle backed into my dad's new car, putting a dent in the left front fender. I was devastated. It was embarrassing and I was angry because of the carelessness of the other driver.
The dent was repaired as soon as we returned home, but I never fully got over the anger I felt when our family car was irresponsibility damaged by a careless driver.
Just a great vibe just lookin at these fairlanes
Totally agree
Coool car. A neighbor in Colorado had a 56 Skyliner, it came with an insulated vinyl tarp that you could snap in under the clear plexiglass portion of the top if you didn't want to roast inside in hot weather. It had been the new car his folks had at their wedding in May of '56. Plexiglass was still in good shape after 22 years, but can become brittle in dry climates & quality replacements are expen$ive.
Thank you so much for sharing that I wasn’t sure if they had a cover to shield yourself from the sun some where tinted I saw others that wasnt as tinted.. I’ve been looking for one to review.
5:32 Funny that you mention the 292 getting on average 12 mpg cause my buddy’s 292 with an aftermarket 4 barrel Holley carb gets on average 14 mpg! We even squeezed 15 out of it one week after taking it on a roadtrip to LA and back to Orange County. This thing just loves the freeway!
That’s awesome it didn’t say what rear end it had just a base line number for anyone looking to buy this car what they can expect
Definitely my favourite shade of blue. I wonder how it would look on a Lexus? Also, as you've said the colour is wrong, well it is the wrong colour I like. Further, the magnificent basket handle roof feature is just great as a styling touch. It would be the first thing to go, if it were built today. But as you noticed, its size makes it a roll bar of sorts.
In actuality, that stainless trim "crown" wasn't structural at all.
But it sure were perty!
Yes, it's a neat car alright. A difference that you didn't notice is that the 56 steering wheel is dished, and the 55 isn't. That probably implies a different steering column too. There was something really weird in the numbers you quoted. Compression of 8:1 on the 272 sounds correct, but 6.4 on the 292 and 312? I don't believe that one! Cheers.
Yeah I questioned that as well I should’ve changed it either way both compression numbers seem kind of low
5:30 Are you sure about the compression ratios for the V8s? 6.4:1 sounds a bit low for the mid-fifties.
The instrument panel is vastly superior in the'56, IMHO. years ago, I had a friend with a 'beautiful pink and white '56 Crown Victoria that he drove fearlessly through the vehicular mayhem of Pittsburgh traffic and their infamous potholes. Well, he was a bus driver, so he was hard to scare on the road. That car was so cool, like riding around in a fabulous fifties Ford flamingo. "Power poop." I am deceased, and there's Diet Coke all over my table. And my NY Times crossword puzzle. You booger.
Totally agree sorry about your puzzle, Pittsburgh is a tough city to navigate you can see where you wanna go but you can’t get there it’s all one way streets. I want to college in Pittsburgh. I would drive an 88 Lincoln town car maroon best riding car ever had felt like 1 million bucks when I got to Pittsburgh and I was just cruising in that thing. I miss that car.
I raced a friend of mine in the town car 5.0 fuel injected with AOD The secret of that car was if you pot putting it up to about 20 miles an hour and slammed on the gas you took off like a rocket ( I tried it in a mark five this summer and it did not work I’m guessing it had to be the transmission that made it do that)
Anyway my friend had a Camaro 1985 it wasn’t anything special I killed him in a race and it was so funny because that’s all he wanted to do is race, he couldn’t believe I took him in a town car
@@What.its.like. Hot Rod Lincoln, for sure!
except for the speakers on the package tray , it would have been perfect
Yeah, I think they could've chosen some uglier ones!
Nice Vic, but I kind of lost a little bit of wood because of those HIDEOUS speaker grills on the kick panels package tray.
Ya think that the previous owner could have found a couple of plain metal ones and just painted them to match the vinyl.🙄
It's nice that they added A/C, but there again... Why not find some period dash vents?
Another really nice video!
Haha you know how I feel about modifications like that =)
The '66 Olds Toronado was a magnificent machine. Pretty much the only wrong-wheel-drive car I would consider owning.
I totally agree I would love to drive one this year =)
I think what he was getting at is you can’t really have fun in the front wheel drive car can’t do burnouts very easily, sliding sideways is impossible unless you have a E brake that you can use as a handbrake. Power sliding isnt real easy to do in a front wheel drive car can be possible but not easy
@@glennso47 To each his own. RWD is far superior to FWD in handling and ride comfort. Also, RWD cars don't have the goofy proportions of FWD cars. AWD with a rear bias is vastly superior to both RWD and FWD. RWD doesn't torque-steer or understeer. And it's monumentally more fun to use a little throttle oversteer to kick the tail end out. You can't do that in a wrong-wheel-drive car.
@@glennso47 Sounds like you didn't know how to drive a RWD car in the snow or how to properly recover from a skid. I love driving my RWD cars in the snow. It's loads of fun!
@@glennso47 But they're so much fun!
Great video!!!! 👍👍
55/56 and 66 are the most beautiful full sized Fords
I love the fords from this era too =)
"Rock Around The Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets
You got it =)
Yes, not "the Comets."
Nice car, I like the colors.
I concur
Interior has much more chrome than stock, also car does have power brakes, the unit is mounted on the fender
Bravo Jay, Bravo!
Glad you dig this episode =)
My thinking on the Ford rear seats, is that is a total compromise to the roofline styling. If they made the roof longer, the rear seat room would be vastly improved, but the proportions would be so wrong.
Maybe it’s a really uncomfortable seating position back there though it’s not bad in the front 35 Ford has more comfortable seat and vast room versus 56. 35 Ford is coming up not entirely sure when
The two-door Victorias and Crown Vics had a different roof than the four doors and wagons. They were lower and gently sloped following the side window line. The four doors extended the roofline and turned town later. The windshield and side windows were all an inch lower on the two doors and had different vent windows. You can see these differences in the side view brochure photos, 1:40, compare 1:52 and 1:53.
that 56 ford does have power brakes the booster is on the left inner fender
Nice looking car.
This was the most upscale Ford I’ve ever been in
Wow thank you so much beautiful
=)
1956 Ford was also the first car to offer seatbelts. Lee Iacocca did that.
=) awesome thank you for sharing that information
Back in the old days we would call a car like this "gaudy", meaning showy and excessively over done. The chrome is blinding, LOL. Can you imagine what it would cost today to restore this car and re-chrome all those parts? More money than I got.......
Another great video, although i miss the listing on the engine specs about the torque such an I-6 or V8 were able to produce back then.
Will it make a comeback in future videos? Just wondering.
Keep up the great work.
Yeah some of the information is spotty I didn’t find torque figures for those.. The new episode is airing 430 it has both figures
@@What.its.like. Thanks for the quick reply.
Had it in the back of my head, that this might have been the reason. Small suggestion for future videos, so the question about it won't come up again, just state at the torque numbers "Inconclusive" if they cannot be disclosed or each source has some different numbers.
Thanks again for the answer 👍
Awesome thank you for suggesting that =)
Power Poop!! Oh, Jay, Jay, Jay.....! 😁
That’s what it felt like though.. it was just a really weird seating position and I just don’t get why Ford from the 50s had a problem designing rear seats the front seat felt great.
@@What.its.like. BTW Jay, if you haven't seen it, I think you would like the movie "Peggy Sue got Married". It's a time travel movie to 1960.
I like the 1955 model the best because it’s has a little less chrome but not to little
I liked the '55 exterior better, but the interior of the '56 was far superior.
Ford had admirably the lowest fins in the industry during the 50's..so went into the 60's in good shape. They made up for it in chrome though in this model.😆
I wonder how many Skyliners are left ..you wouldn't want to get in one without air .
I was wondering that too it was a pretty rare option I’ve only seen a handful in my lifetime and the only ones that I saw were like 25 years ago when I was a little kid go in the car shows
Have You did a 57 Ford Skyliner where the Hardtop goes into the Trunk
I did a 57 skyliner earlier episode
ruclips.net/video/MKzjhYCQ-DQ/видео.html
I got to drive this car this summer and it was OK it floats down the road I wasn’t a huge fan of how the transmission shifted ( came to find out that it shifted bad because it was almost out of fluid because the transmission needed rebuilt or replaced)
LOL! At the end of the video, I thought you were making fun of Jimmy Stewart.
No just A legitimate question tho random lol
muito lindo, parabéns.
Another good one!
This was the most upscale ford I’ve ever been in unless you consider the Continental mark III a ford
The crown Vic. does nt get enough love as far as Im concerned . I submit its styling is on par with the 57 Chevy.
Totally agree =)
I think the 57 Chev is overrated, but that’s just my personal opinion
Ground-breaking design! 1955 was the beginning of the happy Fords; nothing attracts patrons like a big chrome smile. Chevy took notice. 1956 was the start of 12V NEGATIVE GROUND electrical. Would be required for higher compression engines in the works and Neg ground better common sense to the average person, though electrons actually travel from negative to positive.
Thank you so much for all of that added information I wasn’t sure when Ford did the whole negative/positive ground.. ford did some crazy stuff with electrics
i have a problem with one of your comments, i am a retired professional transmission rebuilder. the (ford o matic) was a 2 speed not a 3 speed. the 3 speed was a (cruise o matic),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
The original Ford O-Matic was a three speed transmission and then it got renamed to cruise O-Matic it’s super confusing why they just didn’t pick a different name is beyond me one turned into the FMX the other one turned into the C6..
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruise-O-Matic
The original ford o matic started out in 2nd gear and shifted to 3rd the only way to access 1st was to put it in low weird transmission
in a shop the for o Matic was always called and known as a 2sp to us. the FMX was very similar to the cruise o Matic but was not the same. and the c6 was totally different with an aluminum case.@@What.its.like.
Jay we got the customline In Australia 🇦🇺
That’s awesome
Ford, much later on, got rid of the secondary catch, which wasn't the best idea, I knew a fellow whose recent purchase of a large Ford two-tone station wagon, suddenly had the bonnet/hood, blow open while he was driving at 60 mph, completely blocking his front view. Ford blamed him, and he had to buy a new one.
That’s crazy I had a 67 mustang that didn’t have a secondary catch the guy put hood pins in it and believe it or not sometimes I even lost those had to go to tractor supply store to get more..
It does not have vintage air, if it did it would come out of the dash top. Also those are bumper guards, not overrider bars which this car does not have.
I’m looking forward to the Styleline video … I’ve gotta say, I liked the ‘49-‘50 Fleetlines more than I did the venerable ‘55-‘57 Chevys. I found that aero-fastback design to be futuristic and elegant. Even today, I find those cars to be extremely attractive.
The biggest downside was that the 216 engine was quite slow, and the more powerful 235 was only offered with a powerglide 2-speed automatic, which zapped much of the 235’s zip.
Regardless, the powerglide was very popular with women of the day …
Totally agree the fleetline are so nice I’ve been looking for one to feature
First 12 volt car 1956
Crown Victorian was nice car to build Low Riders of. Here is my old -56 ruclips.net/video/uXCevCWyR-8/видео.html
i have always liked the 55 better,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Oh to die fir car ! Those days are gone.
Its so sad that no one pays attention to the beauty around them just buried in their phones
Starting in the 1950s car quality starred to drastically decline.
That’s interesting I know by the 70s depending on manufacture Chrysler really seem to skimp out as far as metal quality goes they had metal quality problems in the late 50s someone mentioned because they like to get China steel.
That sounds like a episode right there comparing metal quality from the early 50s to the metal quality of the late 50s I’d have to get a micrometer
56