Vehicle Description
This is one Beautiful Skyliner! Retractable Hardtop Convertible New
arrival! More information coming soon... We encourage you to
contact us directly for more info prior to ad posting. Sat in a
DEALER'S showroom for 25 years before we acquired it. We are in
process of servicing it and adjusting the retractable convertible
top so it's ready for its new proud owner. A bit of History for
you... During the close of the 1950s, in the midst of the space
race, the Ford Motor Company introduced the Galaxie as its
top-of-the-line offering. The 1959 Brussels World's Fair awarded
the new Fords with the Gold Medal for Exceptional Styling,
described as being 'big, brash, and officially beautiful.' The
Custom was the entry-level Ford, and the Fairlane was the full-size
model. The Fairlane 500 featured a higher trim level while the
Galaxie was the top-of-the-line offering, available with both
straight-six and V-8 engines. The Fairlane 500 range was
accessorized with the top trim options of the Fairlane series,
including extensive chrome, brightwork on the C-pillars, and a
double runner chrome strip with a gold anodized insert as side trim
underneath the Fairlane 500 scripting. The Galaxie used all of the
attributes of the Fairlane 500, but with the Thunderbird styled
roof. Six body styles were offered on the Galaxie V-8, with the
most expensive version being the Skyliner retractable hardtop and
the convertible Sunliner. The Galaxie was part of the Fairlane 500
series at the beginning of the model year, but made into a
'Galaxie' - and gained a new script in the process - halfway
through the year. Gil Spear, head of Frod's Advanced Concepts
Studio, envisions a simple retractable hardtop initially intended
for the Lincoln Continental. A scale model of the device was built,
and management quickly adopted it for the upcoming Continental Mark
II. The mechanism ultimately proved to be too complex and the
development arduous. The lid needed to cover the whole car top was
large, and the cantilevers to lower and raise it had to be operated
by screw jacks. It ultimately proved to be too expensive and the
cost could never be recovered on a limited production car such as
the Continental. The retractable hardtop project was nearly
scrapped, but Robert McNamara championed it to be built as a Ford.
The new cars for 1957 were longer than the car's they replaced and
had enough room to store the top. When the 1957 Ford made their
debut, the Fairlane 500 Skyliner retractable convertible coupe was
part of the catalog. At $2,942, it was the most expensive Ford,
sans Thunderbird, in the lineup. The Skyliner Retractable followed
a carefully orchestrated choreography of solenoids, motors, and
sensors to automatically raise and lower the top with one press of
a button. The system used 600 feet of wiring, ten power relays,
eight circuit breakers, ten limiter switches, three drive motors,
and four lock motors. The Skyliner retractable hardtop was sold
alongside the less expensive alternative, the Sunliner soft-top
convertible. Every option was available on the Sunliner as was on
the Skyliner, except that it had a folding cloth top retaining more
usable trunk space. The Skyliner was expensive but affordable, and
- as described by Henry Ford - 'could be had by just about anyone
earning a decent salary.' Sales of the Skyliner were initially
strong, with 20,766 in 1957 followed by 14,713 in 1958. During its
final year of production, just 12,915 examples were sold.
Production of the Skyliner ceased at the end of the 1959 model
year, as Ford was introducing a whole new design for 1960. The 1959
Skyliner demanded a $400 premium over the conventional Sunliner
ragtop, making it, at $3,346, the most expensive full-size Ford.
The base six-cylinder engine had overhead valves, a Holley
one-barrel carburetor, four main bearings, a 223 cubic-inch
displacement, and delivered 145 horsepower at 4,000 RPM. The
overhead-valve Y-Block V8 had a 292 cubic-inch displacement, five