Barn Finder Ikey H has been keeping a sharp eye out and has spotted this 1954 Ford Crestline for us, so thank you for that Ikey. The car previously belonged to a gentleman who passed away in 2010. It now belongs to his son, and he has decided to part with it. You will find it listed for sale here on Craigslist. It is located in Suwanee, Georgia, and is being offered with a clean title. The owner has set the asking price at $2,500 for this old Ford.
This 1954 Crestline comes from the final year of a very short production of the model, with the car only remaining in production from 1952 to 1954. The owner says that the car is in overall good shape, and it certainly looks solid enough in the photos. There are no obvious major rust issues, although there may be a small amount visible in the lower corners of a couple of the doors. All of the chrome and trim is present, although the front bumper does appear to have some surface corrosion on it.
We only get this one shot of the interior, and it really doesn’t tell us a huge amount. What we can see is that the dash is complete and is original. The door trim looks dirty, but I think that it could be cleaned okay. I’m pretty sure that the cover on the front seat is not original, and while it seems to be quite good, I would probably replace it if it isn’t original. The other area where we receive no photos is of the engine. We know that the car is fitted with a 239ci V8 engine and automatic transmission. The engine ran when the car was placed in the garage, which would have been around 2010, but it apparently hasn’t been started since. Hopefully, it won’t take much work to get it back up and running.
With such a short production run, Crestlines aren’t in plentiful supply. The Fordor doesn’t command the sorts of prices that a Victoria or a Convertible does, which is surprising because the Fordor was only produced in 1954. Having said that, good examples will still fetch around $17,000. That still leaves quite a bit of room to perform restoration work on this car, so it is one that’s worth considering.
I wondered what happened to the 54 Ford Barney Fife bought from the the old lady.
I think he wound up with a blue 1958 Edsel convertible.
It got scrapped when it pulled that trick of the horn button slowly rising like a cobra toward the driver! Barney: “I’m driving…so I’ll sit in the front seat…”
Somethings up with the rear bumper, but it seems like a smoking hot buy to me.
Let’s hope the seller still has it. Otherwise, you’d have to find one. Looks
like the rear splash pan is missing too.
A ’53 bumper should fit, but always
measure first before buying one. Can’t
recall exactly what I read in a parts
interchange manual years ago, but a lot
of parts will interchange between these
cars. Overall, I like the looks of this one.
Just sort the mechanicals, get it back
on the road, add a rear bumper, and enjoy
as is. Hmmmm. Wonder if it is Barney’s
first car!
This is a steal, and I wish I were in a position to buy it. It’s not a car for which I’d be specifically shopping, but at that price and condition, I’d be all over it if I could.
I had one of these in the early 60s and built one of the first “sleepers”. Put a SBC in it and was a blast to drive. Could put that engine in with my eyes closed. Built front motor mounts,used Offenhauser adapter plates to match up engine to tranny(Chevy and Ford clutch assemblys the same), tap back the firewall to clear distrib……………..
I can’t believe it is not gone already.
No one has mentioned that it has no rear bumper.? It isnt in the ad anywhere.
Far and away my favorite year for postwar Fords. The styling was pretty elegant, the tall greenhouse and ample glass plus good seats giving a bright, airy interior and great sight-lines in every direction. And the new ball-joint front end was a revelation! I had put a lot of back-road miles on a ’53 that a girlfriend had, steering with the aptly-named “necker’s knob” all over central Oklahoma, and the old kingpin suspension was too easily deflected by even shallow ripples and potholes. The ’54 that I drove a couple of years later, in Alaska with a different woman, was worlds apart – calm, smooth, perfectly controlled … even with one hand!
The bumper is sitting on the floor behind the car in the pictures, so I assume it comes with.
Just put a nice set of wheels on it and get rid of the anemic 239 and replace it with a 312 and enjoy it.
update the car is sold , its now in ocala florida what a ride 400 miles each way cold raining , got home at 1:30 am today , car has power steering and power seat , the brakes were updated to a twin master orininal spare ww tire still in the trunk no rot solid . the seller woundnt budge a penny , i gave him the $2.500.00 cash ill keep you posted see how good she runs and drives thank you barn find on this one !!!