I hate to start off by using the word iconic, it’s one of “those words” like patina that always raises the hair on the back of a few necks, but this 1958 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner is iconic! Or at least the whole series of them were. This particular example is listed on eBay with just a day left on bidding and a current bid price of $13,500 and the reserve has been lifted so it’s selling to the highest bidder. It’s located in Auburn, California. Thanks to Matt W. for sending in this Skyline tip!
The Skyliner was made for only three years – 1957, 1958, and 1959 – and even non-car guys and gals and younger folks have most likely seen one. They are, yes, bum-bum-bummmmm.. iconic. The top was an incredibly-complex piece of machinery with “seven reversible electric motors (only six for 1959 models [2]), four lift jacks, a series of relays, ten limit switches, ten solenoids, four locking mechanisms for the roof and two locking mechanisms for the trunk lid,[3] and a total of 610 ft (185.9 m) of wiring.” It was the only hardtop convertible in the world during its introduction.
Now that’s one long rear deck! The seller “bought this car from an 80 year old man that had owned it for the last 45 years. He kept it parked in his carport, and used it occasionally for good weather trips or parades. it is as stock as they come.” They go on to say that “This car was bought in 1958 and never changed. It has some primer on the back tail light area but no damage. I have the 1958 Ford Motor Motor Co. complete shop manual [sic] for this car, It is just like it was then but with a little wear and tear.”
The interior looks great in the photos, the seller says that “The top works as it should, It opens and closes incomplete cycles. The trunk has all the original panels and even the spare tire is original. The interior has no rips or tears and everything is there. It is factory original seats and door panels. The windows roll up and down as the should but there is a crack in the passenger side door glass. the carpet is the one that came with the cat and is faded blue. It has the original keys that work the door and the ignition. The radio does not work but I have a factory original replacement. The brakes were changed to power brakes years ago, but steering is manual.”
This is the engine that most people would want in their Skyline, Ford’s “Interceptor” 352 cubic-inch V8 with 300 hp and 380 lb-ft of torque. The seller says that it has the “original 352 Police interceptor motor that he said was overhauled along with the transmission about 20 years ago” and that it “runs smooth and has power and no noises.” The “brakes were changed to power brakes years ago, but steering is manual.” Power steering is always nice on these heavy cars but I’m guessing that this car won’t be used to commute with so maybe it doesn’t matter. NADA lists a low-retail value of $15,200 so this car could end up being well bought. Have any of you owned a Ford Skyliner?
Sold.
Darn.
It sounds as if someone got a pretty fair deal if it’s not too bad underneath.
Wow. What a car.
Cool….and priced right….and gone….
Sorry. Still doesn’t fit the overused “I” word. Distinctive, yes. Memorable if you’ve seen one? Definitely. But not the I word. If you say “Ford Skyliner” is anybody who isn’t a car geek going to know what you mean? Unlikely. The I word is misused the way “awesome” now means “absence of bad.”
I’m OK with the “I” word. And a tip of the hat to the guy who designed that top mechanism and the folks who assembled them.
That’s a nice car, and the price is right in there. A friend of mine bought a ’59 a few years back and I know he paid a lot more for his than this vendor is wanting. I sure wouldn’t turn something like this down, however, I wouldn’t want to be the one who had to sort out the hardtop mechanism if it needed something major…
Just thinking.
Surely that top’s 3 or 4 panels must be hinged to each other, right?
So if the motors and hydraulics are removed – and a front handle added – can a person just pull or push the top into position?
Like the earlier, non electronic converibles, only difference is, this one has solid panels.
Simple right?
Owned a ’57 in the 90’s, had paint and body done, replaced the interior myself, along with sorting out the top. It’s really not difficult if you have electrical /mechanical knowledge, patience, and a wiring diagram. Entered my first car show and suffered the indignity of a flat tire mid show.
That is some darn good ford engineering
For all those parts working together to bring that top up and down for all these years and hasn’t have to replace any!👍🏼
I’m sure that hardtop is pretty heavy.
They never really worked without issues…very problematic. Relays always blew! The where a warranty nightmare for Ford. Same with the T-bird soft tops that worked in the same manner. (Not as well engineered as they could been) Ford scraped after the bad quality feedback from the consumers.
However they I do like them!
Lovely cars.All three model years.
Dad had a 58 Galaxie sedan with the Police Interceptor 352. I was in first grade in 1962 and I still remember how that motor pushed you back into the seat when he opened that mother up!
He also had a 65 Galaxie sedan with the 352 four barrel with factory dual exhaust and it ran like a scalded cat. Was that an Interceptor engine too?
lonnie93041, it doesn’t look like the 1965 Galaxie had the Interceptor version of the 352 in it, if you believe this Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_FE_engine#352
I believe the police engine for that year was called the interceptor.
Miguel, it looks like the police interceptor engine for the 1965 Ford Galaxie was one version of their 390 cubic inch FE engine: https://barnfinds.com/1965-ford-custom-police-interceptor/
For more information about 1965 Ford Police cars, see this forum thread: http://www.fordmuscleforums.com/galaxie-pages/491751-1965-custom-p-code.html
I remember seeing the first of the ‘retractables’ at a car show in L.A. in 1957 and wondered how practical the ‘garbage can’ – used when the roof was in the trunk – would be for putting luggage in.
Back in the mid-1970s, a buddy of mine was buying every Skyliner he could lay his hands on, knowing that they’d increase in value in the future. The weird thing was finding so many with creased trunk lids. It seems that many had owners who thought they could raise and lower the lid while the car was moving!
Servicing the roof mechanism was a challenge, but provided handy knowledge when working on ’61 and later Continental convertibles, which used a similar system.
How many typos is one write up, an 80 year old man… car not cat lol
You had one,in one sentence.
About 15-20 yrs ago I worked with a guy that was at one time a Ford mechanic. One day talking worst cars, he said it was these Skyliners. When I asked him why he said it was there was about 150 steps that had to happen all in proper sequence and timing for the top to go up and down. He said he drew the short straw when the first one came into the dealership with a top problem. After he eventually got it working he drew every single one that came in regardless of the issue. To paraphrase Jerry, they’re beautiful cars but a pain when that top doesn’t work.
I have to agree, they are beautiful and having seen the top go up and down a couple of times at car shows it’s fascinating to watch. I did have the chance to peek into one of the trunks while the top was going up, looked like a real case of spaghetti in there to me.
One thing that I liked about skyliners was they looked good with the top up or down. Love the front end on a ’58 ford.
One sold over the weekend at the Mecom Auction – can’t remember if it was a ’57 or a ’59 – for over $100,000 !!
A ’59 sold recently at the RM auction for $28,000
Buying cars (or anything else) at auctions will surely have you paying the top price, just saying. Buying a classic?….CL gets it done in my opinion. And for parts, well, ebay gets that done.
Here me now, or believe me later.
“It was the only hardtop convertible in the world during its introduction.”
I thought the Lincoln Continental also had the same hardtop convertible at the time (57/58). Yes?
The Lincoln hardtops were made from 61 to 67. They worked the same way and we’re a bear to fix as well. Go to Jay Leno’s you tube to see a recent video of the one he bought. https://youtu.be/TXc4zYMdnbE
I think the 58 – 60 Lincoln Continental convertibles also had a similar mechanism for folding the top (along with a retracting glass rear window!) into the trunk, and they were also troublesome. However, all of these Lincolns, 58 – 60 and 61-67, were not hardtops, they had soft tops. As did the Thunderbirds. So in that respect the Skyliner stands alone among Ford products as a retracting HARDTOP. My dad had a ’61 Lincoln with the retracting soft top and I remember spending some hours as a child waiting at the Lincoln-Mercury service department. Of course now many manufacturers have some sort of retractable hardtop convertible.
Although the Lincoln system is also very complex, all of the Lincolns were standard soft canvas folding tops – not “hardtops”.
I had a ‘57 back in the day. The only trouble I had with the top was at a drive in theater one night when I tried to put it up mid movie and it stuck going up! It had the 272 then with automatic. Did major upgrades from that. Lots of fun to have. Would be great now!
My Brother inlaw had 3 of these in the late 60’s 2 57’s and a 58 went to the drive inn theater in the 58 it was triple black and very nice shape we put the top down we where the “TOP” show that day.
No, neither Lincoln or Thunderbird had one. 57-59 Skyliners were the only ones. Now days there are several brands, but they’re all small sporty cars not full size cars. I really like these cars and price was really underpriced. My favorite is the 59 model, but they have really soared in price over the past 5 years. Good luck trying to find another one in driving/show condition for under $20k.
For $15,700 and if everything working as the seller claims, someone got a nice price on a great car. Always really impressed with the engineering behind the retractable hardtop. It’s located only 10 miles from me, would’ve loved to check it out!
I watched an episode of My Classic Car on YouTube yesterday which features a couple of Ford Convertibles from the NPD guys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCM3pERtzso&t=44s
I know lots of people don’t like Dennis Gage but for old guys like me, he’s easy to watch and doesn’t involve lots of time.
I would take Dennis any day over the cliche’, tattoos and black t- shirt clowns flooding the airwaves today.
I had a 57 when I was 17 in HS, and it was really rusty. I didn’t know a lot about fixing them, but the only problem I had was one button needed adjusting, but we would just put a soda can in that spot when the trunk was coming down. Otherwise, never had a problem with the top mechanism. It also had the dual headlight conversion, which I didn’t like.
worth every penny
Ford used the same basic setup for the top on the Continental and Bullet Birds. I had to diagnose a 62 T-bird top that would not budge to open. Reading the factory shop manual re leaved much strain as it showed that the engineers had designed hidden access bolts into the top mechanism so that if it failed closed it could be opened without a can opener. Some things were odd on the wiring such as circuit breakers on the ground wiring but the main fault of this wonderful system (IMO) was that the amperage strain from the electric hydraulic pump was run through a bank of relays causing them to wear prematurely. Later on I did my own version for other customers using isolated heavy duty starter solenoids for the pump releaving the strain from the mini relays. Problem solved and they worked without a problem to this day.
the 1/is beter is the hardtop/1958 4door/pillarless crown victoria galaxie/opp 352 or 390 interspetor/thunderbird motor p/steering p/brakes not a town [crown] i had 1961 4 door pillerless crown victoria galaxie 500 this was 1979 ive seen 2 sites/sellers in usa thayt had 57/58/60 61/62 a abandon wone was in a film[1958] in hills of upper sth america/1 blue coloured 1 here on pinterest