The restyled 1955 Ford gets a lot more attention than the 1954 Ford and rightfully so. But, the 54’s, which represented the last year of the ’52-’54 Shoebox 2.0 styling, are good-looking cars that offered a glimpse of what was just around the corner: more colorful paint options, smartly-tailored harmonizing interiors, newer, more powerful V8 engines, and a little bit of ’50’s glitz and novelty. The novelty in this case is the 1954 Ford Crestline Skyliner’s tinted transparent panel in the front section of the roof above the front seat area. Ford called it another “Ford first in styling…another Ford exclusive in the low-price field” and promised drivers “an open car feeling never before achieved in a closed car.” Well, more about that later, but for now, here’s one of the 13,334 Skyliners produced in 1954 that was found in a barn in sunny California. It’s not running, but it appears to be all there, and is still wearing its original factory paint. It’s currently located in a barn in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in Petaluma, California.
The photographs posted in the ad are not the best or most detailed, so it’s hard to assess the condition of the undercarriage or the tin worm factor (the ad states there is some rust on the body and engine), but the Skyliner appears to be all there. The Raven Black with Sandstone White top paint is said to be original. It doesn’t look too bad to be 70 years old and it’s far from perfect, but it’s also hard to tell with the dust and dirt that’s on the car (and that’s not peeling paint on the front fenders, it’s brown cardboard that’s been placed in the engine bay). The chrome and glass look good and the distinctive tinted transparent panel on the roof is there with no rust visible around the stainless trim. How long it was sitting in a barn or how many owners the Skyliner has had is unknown. The ad says that the previous owner passed away and his widow and other heirs are the sellers and are motivated to sell.
It’s also hard to assess the condition of the interior, but the one photo showing the front seat and the attractive white, black, and green passenger door panel looks promising. Despite the steering wheel needing painting, the white Astro-Dial Control Panel looks good. Ford was positioning its new instrument panel design as a step forward in fashion and safety with the speedometer now placed high for better line-of-sight visibility for the driver. And another “natural light” novelty touch was added as the back of the speedometer pod was transparent so sunlight could illuminate the dial.
There are no photos supplied of the engine, but it’s listed as an 8 cylinder, which would’ve been Ford’s new 239-cubic inch Y-Block V8 that generated 130 horsepower (a 20 horsepower improvement over the previous year’s venerable flathead V8). The engine turns over (by the fan) and has a new wiring harness for both the engine bay and the interior and the radiator has been removed and is in the trunk. Since the Skyliner isn’t running and has two flat tires that may or may not hold air, a flatbed truck and winch would be needed to get it out of the barn. The car has a clean title recently entered into the name of the trust of the estate and there are no liens on the car. The Skyliner’s fixed, tinted transparent panel was a novel idea at the time and even though Ford’s sales brochure said, “you can shut out the sun in a wink with easy-sliding roof curtains,” in reality, customers complained of the warm (okay, hot, depending on where you lived) greenhouse effect the roof glass had on the front seat passengers. And Ford didn’t offer factory air conditioning in 1954, that creature comfort option was still a year away. So, what do you think? This rather rare glass-top ’54 Ford Skyliner appears to have good potential for a restoration and is listed here on eBay. With Hagerty Insurance valuing a ’54 Skyliner in #4 Fair Condition at $8,400 (#3 Good Condition is $14,900) and with a motivated seller, it’s possible that the next owner could get a deal on this rare old Ford. Could it be you?
Cardboard in the engine bay is a new one to me. My aunt and uncle had one back in the day. They lived in the upper Midwest and loved it until it turned into a sauna during the summer. Very hot apparently, and no air. Other than that they still have fond memories of the car (they are in their 80’s)
Google Jim Lyons 54 Ford, should pop up 10 forgotten gassers, check out the 54 Ford with 55 Chevy tilt frt end..
It’s up to $2100 with 22 bids, no reserve. I’ve never owned a Ford car but I want this one for some reason. The ad doesn’t tell much about the car’s history or how long it has been sitting, and the pictures don’t help much, but from what I can see of the interior it looks like it could clean up very nicely. Someone might get a good deal on this car.
A friend from years back inherited a ’54 Glasstop from his dad. His dad bought it new as a leftover after the ’55’s had already come out.
It had a green interior and was green with a white top.
Only claim to fame was that it had a 6 cylinder with auto.
Unfortunately it was destroyed in a barn fire may years ago.
Certainly was a neat car.
The Ford Skyliner was radical, but so hot in the summer, nothing there to filter out the sun. I cannot imagine how hot the interior would be in a southern state in July-September….! YIKES!!!
mine had a snap on cover and no abnormal heat in Oklahoma in 1959
The 54 Fords were impressive from an employed engineering perspective ahead of Chevrolet’s 1955 rival. Going from flathead to an OHV V8 was progress but the other often not mentioned characteristic was going from kingpin to ball joint steering. That type of progress from Ford was significant considering Ole Henry’s attitude about moving up with the times in his days of reign.
Sometime around 1968 I bought a 54 Ford Victoria fully optioned with electric windows and seat. I bought it from one of my brothers for $75.00 and drove it to work on my first night working at the Boeing 727 plant, on the way home it threw a rod right out the block. Later I bought a 312 engine from a wrecking yard they said came out of a 55 T-bird. I remove the old engine and installed the 312 to discover it needed a new timing chain and gears which I promptly purchased and installed. I had pulled the radiator out and when I went to get it off my back porch it was gone. someone had stolen it. I loved that car but it plagued me with numerous demons keeping me from getting where I wanted to be with it. I sure hope whoever gets this one has better fortune than I did with mine.
God Bless America
johnmloghry if the engine came out of a 1955 tbird it was a 292 the 312 didn’t come available till 1956
Yeah you’re right but it was a 312. I just forgot what year the guy told me it was. I have forgotten a lot in my 77 years.
In 1972 I worked at a gas station/Firestone dealer/repair shop in my home town. I was 16 but a veteran at minor engine repairing/rebuilding. Our shop was a 1910-1920 era horse stable converted to a garage. I was tasked one day to replace the timing chain in a 62 Ford F250 4×4 ag service truck. No room in the shop that day so I did it in the lot, shoveling snow so I could crawl under it. Got the chain and gears replaced but it wouldn’t start seemingly like a timing issue. Took it apart and rechecked and reassembled everything. Still backfired. I went to an uncle who had another repair shop in town and borrowed a shop manual. Turns out setting up a timing chain in a Y block wasn’t the same as setting up a small block Chevy! There was a different link in the chain (bronze?) that had to line up. The 3rd time R&R was much faster, l don’t think my fingers had time to freeze!
johnmloghry 77 your still young I was born in 1945 so next year is a big one I will turn 80 hard to believe but I still think we grow up in the greatest times
It looks like a good candidate for a restoration. However if you want it original it would be best to cheat a little and have air conditioning.
If memory serves, some of these had a green-tinted glass in the roof, partly to reduce the greenhouse effect. Nice-looking cars, I remember in the early 80s I could have bought one of these (it was white, can’t remember if the roof was tinted) for next to nothing, in pretty decent shape, but I didn’t need it at the time.
believe all had green tint
Ford would repeat the fixed sunroof twice in the US – 1977-1979 Lincoln Continental, and 2009-2014 Ford Mustang. Both used glass panels, and both employed one-way tinting, which was darker from outside than it was from inside, and much more efficient than the tinting used by Ford in the 50s. When I was searching for my 2011 Mustang, I was specifically looking for one with the glass roof. Every salesman who didn’t have one in stock told me I’d regret it, but I still have it and I regret nothing!
Good luck if you ever need to replace that. Speaking as a guy with a 1968 Travelalll that has been looking for curved side glass for over 3 years.
Her’s a picture of the engine I found in the eBay ad
from the supplied picture of the engine ,it looks like this car was “abused”.the exhaust has the original cross over pipe switched out to a redirected pipe,probably has “smittys'(duals).the wiring is a nightmare a real candidate for fire..the spark plug wires are laying on the exhaust.maybe the cardboard is hiding fire damage.i’m thinking the motor is “blown”….buyer beware
Currently at $4001.00. Auction ends Tuesday morning. Someone is going to get a good deal on a cool car.
Well, that Jim Lyons one sure was interesting. Had the brain doing flip flops.
can’t find Jim lyons, what did he say
Bidding sold on Tue, May 28 at 12:00 PM.
US $4,051.00
38 bids