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Sun Valley may be the name of a ski town in Idaho, but it is also the name of an option fitted to some Ford and Mercury cars in 1954. It was basically a huge sunroof right over the front seat occupants. It was a cool concept and probably looked great on the dealer showrooms. In practice it just made things hot. Today it makes the cars hot on the collector market. Quite a few were sold, but they are a fairly rare sight today. This one needs restored, but appears to be complete. It’s located in Reno, Nevada and is listed here on craigslist for $6,000. Thanks goes to George G for the tip!
He doesn’t show the condition of the roof. I don’t get why sellers don’t post more pics. I’m of the theory he wants to create more curiosity and have people call or he’s hiding something.
sun block is extra
Advertising a rare roof option and not providing a picture of the roof? Duh.
6000$ is Too Much Considering the Condition I”d Give 3500$
C’mon, guys, he can’t show pics of the roof… the grandkids toys are stored up there! But no worries, he has it protected with a piece of plywood or cardboard. …seriously, though, if you want one of these to restore, seems like a dry-stored Nevada car can’t be too much of a risk… and the motor runs!! Seems like his price is not too far off the mark.
Our next door neighbor drove one . He was quite a dapper guy and the car fit his personality to a “T”. He liked it so much that he sat in the car, turned on the radio and listened to the Yankee games. I never saw another one after he traded it.
I think, but remember I’m old and forgetful, that the Ford iteration was called a “moonroof.” A friend’s dad was the local Ford/Lincoln/Mercury dealer back in the 1950s/60s, and drove a Ford version one year. It was pretty neat; and didn’t seem to get too hot during the summer.
I’ve seen this car in person and its not in to bad of shape, does need total resto though has a rare v8 and carb option on it, hard to find the Mercs.
All Mercs came with a 256 Cu. in. V-8 that developed 161 hp. Their were no options.
Nice looking car with, or without the glass roof. I think a drop top of this model and year would be more desirable though.
If my memory is correct, the Ford version bore the name Skyliner, later used on the “retractable”.
In 1978 my best friend, visiting from Grrmany, and I were “seeing America” & stopped at a huge junkyard filled with older vehicles (in the Dakotas).
The yard owner was selling us pit-free chrome parts for $1 per piece, including hood ornaments! I found a ’54 Sun Valley & bought the entire roof, using several hacksaw blades to cut it off. Also got the firewall data plate too.
The price; $10. (Had to add $2 for the sun visors & snap-in sun shield!) Sold it 3 months later at the fall Carlisle event for $250.
The bad part of this endeavor was strapping it to the back of my Dodge van, as we continued our trip to California, then all the way back to Maryland. Made it impossible to open the back doors.
Our trip was about 9,000 miles thru 36 states & Canada, in only 2 weeks!
A friend of mine had one of the 54 Ford Sunliners. The Sunliners still had the flatheads in them. This one had never had an oil change. When we took the intake off, it was filled to the top of the underside of the intake with sludge. To this day, I’ve never seen anything as bad as that. The floor was completely gone. We replaced it all with sheetmetal and pop rivets. It was originally a metal flake purple that had been painted later with the same blue as the car shown above. How it could be metal flake purple in those days I have no idea.
John, the only 54s’ that had flatheads were the Canadian versions. They didn’t get the “Y” block until 55.
Based on the abuse this one took, the original owner didn’t deserve the Y block.