Vehicle Description
1953 Ford Crestline Victoria
There is something wonderful, disquieting, and in the end,
embarrassing about America's cars in the 1950's: the lunkers, the
dreamboats, the befinned, the be-chromed behemoths that lurked in
the driveways of our suburban ranch homes in the burbs... only
because they were too big for the garage! These were so American it
drove Europeans to the brink of envy with their excesses in
horsepower, and gadgetry. Throw caution to the wind as gas was
super cheap, and was sold by the gallon, not the liter, so drive
on! (Thanks to Karl Ann Marling from Autoeroticism)
Ford introduced all-new models for 1952, beating rival Chevrolet to
the punch by a full year. The Crestliner became the Crestline and
continued on as Ford's top-of-the-line model. On the outside, the
car was more modern looking, with a wraparound windshield and
curved rear glass, a new grille, and more ornamentation to break up
the earlier "Shoebox" Ford's look. For consignment the example so
defining of the era of car manufacturing it would be an example in
the dictionary under the word excess. This fully restored example
of a 1953 Ford Victoria is certainly dripping with all the
trappings of the era, and then some. Pristine condition, and an
amalgamation of various models all put together for this total
custom creation begging the question "Who's your daddy?!"
Henry!!
Exterior
Up front and center we start with a re-chromed Corvette grille, (ah
you thought it looked familiar), all mirror-like, and framed with a
chrome trim piece on top fastened with a gaggle of round chromed
bolts. Below is the bumper, showing off just as nice as the grille.
Flanking on either side are a single headlight complete with the
chromed visor and round chrome trim piece embedded smoothly into
the front quarters. These are side by side with a bulbous long
rounded hood with a painted pinstripe flourish hood ornament
replacing in white, which is a very nice contrast to the gorgeous
red paint seen on all the straight steel panels. On the mid front
quarters, is a trim spear which starts and ends on the quarters,
and is topped with a round half sphere. On the rockers are lake
pipes with a trio of dummy outlets, all in a background of
beautiful miles deep red paint. On the top of the door starting at
the windshield sides is another swoop spear, and this frames the
two tone white which covers the roof, doors and rear quarters from
the beltline upward, and encompasses the trunk. Fender skirts hold
the curved line from the lake pipes to the rear bumper and show
just a hint of wide white sidewall. On back are nose cone-esque
Olds pointy taillights and another pristine bumper. On the trunk
lid is a contrasting red pinstripe flourish and on the rear
quarters are twin angled rearward antennas. A large curved rear
glass is framed with a massive chrome trimming wrapping around the
"B" pillar with the glass. 15-inch Cragar-like chrome 5 spokes with
faux knockoff hubs blaze the wide whites on all 4 corners and sport
red brake drums peeking through.
Interior
Not to be outdone by the exterior, a mixed use of red vinyl and
white leather covers all the door panel surfaces and seats. The
seats are white tuck and roll inserts with red bolsters, and we
note a large front split back bench in front and a solid bench in
the rear. The original steering wheel has been modified in the
center with a red center taillight replacing the usual Ford
badging. The steering wheel is white bakelite and has no cracks or
marks. Upfront is the original dash with an arched speedometer,
with various gauges arching above it within the red dash top. Super
shiny chrome bezels throughout house white crystal topped knobs and
a neatly inserted AM/FM/cassette player also with crystal knobs. On
top of the dash are more flourish pinstripes in black and white,
and center mounted temperature gauge now in lieu of the original
clock. Beautiful red carpet floods the floors, and a perfect white
headliner floats above all this 50's splendor and excess. Speaking
of excess, a shout out to the trunk which is covered in black
carpet, houses an original ribbed chromed wheel cover and tire, a
fire extinguisher, and chromed Victoria badging with a lower V
spear...excellent!
Drivetrain
Everywhere one turns their eye, you can feast on excess and eye
candy, and the engined bay is no exception. Making use of brass,
chrome, red paint, and black background, it's a 239ci V8 complete
with Edmunds red painted silver ribbed heads. Topping it are a trio
of brass plated Offenhauser 2-barrel carburetors and intake. On the
back is a smooth Ford-O-Matic 3-speed automatic transmission. You
must see this fine mix of metals and painted surfaces to believe
how nice it really is finished off. All rebuilt approximately 5
years ago on the entire drivetrain including the rear.
Undercarriage
I'm in the process of grabbing my knife and fork and my plan is to
turn this car upside down and eat off it, it's that clean. All
straight steel painted a nice black, and structurally solid as a
rock. Independent coil spring suspension for the front, and leaf
springs for the rear, along with drum brakes all around. Sound
construction topped off with clean rust-free exhaust pipes
combining with the headers, and Smithy mufflers to give this car a
low rumble upon approach of it.
Drive-Ability
Obviously it fired up immediately, and that low rumble is a bit
menacing, but is kept at bay with all the trimmings and excess on
this car. A flip of the gear shift lever (topped with crystal of
course!) and I'm off to the test track. She performed excellently,
with great acceleration and handling, power steering for those
tight spaces, and excellent braking. All controls were in working
order during our drive. Honestly, I could not get enough of this
beautiful blinged out Crestline. I would love to have this in my
driveway, even though it would fit in my garage, I'd want to show
it off to the neighbors a bit. Simply beautifully overdone, and if
that is not an oxymoron, I don't know what is!
This writer is a sucker for these 50s pieces of Detroit iron, and
with all the trimmings I'm in LOVE! A fantastic build producing a
Crestline for the ages, a show winner fer sur. Every detail is just
beautifully finished, and no stone left unturned for this excellent
build. A must see if you like this stuff, as there are none others
even close to this one in our massive mall. Trust me between me and
my cohort, we've driven them all...
VIN DECODE
B3MV108547
B-V8
3-1953
M-Memphis, TN Assy Plant
108547-Sequential Unit Number
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 600 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display.
This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown,
Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia
on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is
www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914.
Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the
vehicle in person.
