The 1950s was an era when the American economy was booming, and motorists demanded something special from manufacturers. Ford stepped up to the plate in 1955 with the Crown Victoria Skyliner. It is a dramatic and exciting car with a design feature that guarantees that it will stand out in the crowd. This particular Skyliner is a spotless classic that needs a new home. Located in Carthage, New York, you will find this Ford listed for sale here on eBay. Bidding has been spirited, and all of the action has pushed the car beyond its reserve price. It currently sits at $9,700, and there’s plenty of time left before this auction ends. I have to say a big thank you to Barn Finder Larry D for spotting the Skyliner for us.
The current owner purchased this Ford around 30-years ago, and one of the first things he did was treat the car to a repaint in its original combination of Tropical Rose and Snowshoe White. The paint still holds an impressive shine, with no significant flaws or problems. The car is extremely dry, which means that there aren’t any rust problems for the buyer to stress about. The panels appear straight, while the trim and glass appear to be flawless. The Skyliner hasn’t had a lot of recent use, so there are some accumulated cobwebs in a few locations! However, cleaning these will give the buyer something to do once they get the vehicle home. The whitewall tires add the perfect touch to this classic’s exterior.
This gives us a chance to take a look at the feature that defines the Skyliner. The car comes complete with a tinted Plexiglass roof panel, which could be considered a fixed sunroof. The tinting was a matter of necessity because untinted glass would have turned the Skyliner into an oven on wheels. The take-up rate on this option wasn’t all that Ford had hoped, and by year’s end, the company had managed to sell a mere 1,999 examples. It isn’t clear how many exist today, but time and the ravages of rust have probably claimed a fair percentage. The owner doesn’t include any engine photos, but we know that the Skyliner comes equipped with the venerable 272ci Y-Block V8. This should be producing 162hp, which found its way to the rear wheels via a 3-speed overdrive manual transmission. For a six-seat family sedan from 1955, performance figures would have been considered mighty impressive. It could gallop through the ¼ mile in 18.5 seconds before winding its way to 101mph. The owner has swapped the transmission for a 4-speed unit, but he includes the original with the car. Also included are a pile of suspension pieces, along with a cool Tri-Power intake and carburetors. The electrical system has been upgraded to 12-volts, and the Ford appears to be ready to be driven and enjoyed by its lucky new owner.
American auto manufacturers in the 1950s did their best to make owners feel special whenever they climbed aboard their shiny pride and joy. This Ford is no different, with an interior trimmed in a combination of red and white vinyl. There’s nothing here that warrants criticism because it all presents superbly. From the upholstered surfaces to the paint and plated components, the presentation of this car is superb. There are a few aftermarket changes, but none of these are irreversible. There are speakers mounted in the rear parcel tray, a console fitted under the dash that houses some gauges, and a Hurst shifter for the 4-speed. Thankfully, nothing (apart from the parcel tray) has been cut to accommodate these changes, so returning the interior to its original appearance would not be a complex undertaking.
I said initially that the bidding on this 1955 Ford Crown Victoria Skyliner had been spirited, but this may merely be the tip of the iceberg. Values have taken a hit in recent times, and they show no signs of rebounding. Whether that means they’ve hit rock-bottom is hard to determine, but if they have, they will eventually start to increase once again. If that’s the case, now would be the perfect time to consider this car before values take them beyond the financial reach of mere mortals. I would be surprised if the bidding n this car stopped below $20,000, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it hit $30,000. This is down from the highs that the vehicle would have achieved 3-years-ago, and it’s one of the reasons why this is a classic that could deserve a closer look. Of course, the fact that it’s a nice car doesn’t hurt either!
It’s a shame that someone cut and drilled the interior to install all of that aftermarket crap.
There’s probably no picture of the engine bay because the seller doesn’t want to scare off potential customers with his personal ‘mods’ – lol
I don’t know why all those extra gauges were added, as if a 272 was somehow a hot setup. Still, these Crown Vickys are all very nice, with and without the glass roof. And if you put glass packs and straight pipes on these, they sounded great too.
….must monitor 312 y block vitals…. pushing max power… Will she hold past 3200 rpm…
Ford never called these glass-top ’55s a “Skyliner.”
…Actually, they did. Then in ’57 they started using the name Skyliner for the retractable hardtop.
Actually, they didn’t. Check the ’55 brochure. This was the “Fairlane Crown Victoria with transparent top.” In ’56, Ford did use the Skyliner name for the glass top Crown Vic, but only in the brochure.
Back in the 60’s I did some summer field work for a farmer putting hay bales in the barn. He has a couple of other guys hired, and one of them had a plexiglass topped car like this one. That was the first one I’d ever seen and it was fascinating. Always wondered how break resistant along with leak resistant the tops were. Back then the car was only about 10+ years old, no telling how those seals have held up over the years.
http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Ford/1955_Ford/1955%20Ford%20Full%20Line%20Prestige%20Brochure/image5.html
Thanks for the graphic. I see ‘Skylighted top’…and a V8 with dual exhaust.
Yes, those ‘Y’ blocks had lots of fun with those cam bearings turning and then the oil holes becoming blocked so no oil gets to the rocker assembly. We used the aftermarket oil lines through the valve cover on our 292
Thank you, Mikefromthehammer. For a few minutes there I was transported back to my senior year in high school.
While I accept that those aftermarket speakers look like a POC, the fact remains there is not an ideal solution to rear speakers if you want to enjoy music that doesn’t sound like its been strained through a tin can.
A dual cone dash speaker is a good start and able to be hidden, but the fact is that solid and aesthetically pleasing speaker solutions for the rear parcel shelf are few and far between.
Putting those stupid aftermarket music note covers – color coded of course – over a couple of 6x9s is not a sensible option either. Nor is installing white marine speakers.
Be interested to know what other BFers have done with speakers to discretely improve their classic audio aural experience beyond the stock AM radio?
What I did to solve the audio issue in my cars was to buy a Bose bluetooth speaker system and just steam from my phone. They make some really great sounding small bluetooth speakers (much better than vintage audio systems) and you can easily move them from car to car. I usually set it in the center of the car, but you can place it to your liking.
Nice looking car but the number of quartering shots is excessive. Anyone thought about a plain side shot to show what your bidding on?
Gorgeous ’55! Too bad the true value was taken away from not restoring it to the original & putting in the add ons!
Surprised plexiglass was used in the top (thought it was glass). I thought UV would discolor it over time.
Great car. HOWEVER , on a sunny day you will roast. Mercury had a Sun Valley model of the same design. The sun acted on you like a bug under a magnifying glass. Nice design but a serious flaw.
@Lance
You wrote: “The sun acted on you like a bug under a magnifying glass. Nice design but a serious flaw.”
Of course the glass was heavily tinted for one thing to prevent heat coming thru but the main thing Ford did was to provide a vinyl cover inside each of these cars which would zip shut to close the entire glass roof off from letting any sunlight it the car. Sort of like the sliding sunroof cover cars have today.
Yup. No mention of that. tint or no tint you would roast out here in Cali. Have to have the zippered cover on except at night :) While I’m a freak for original, but I like it has a 4 speed but definitely get rid of the Star Wars command center hung under the dash.
Pretty car though
So I guess calling it a “glass top” is out of the question, since it’s plexiglass.
The only serious modification is the 4 speed, and the original overdrive tranny comes with it. Fail to see how the “true value was taken away” 🤔
Also, all engines are subject to failure, and benefit from the protection offered by a good set of gauges, not just on “hot setups”, whatever that means.
A rare and beautiful car, nicely presented. I would love to have it in my garage.
I think they probably had to cut the floor, because I am pretty sure the 3dp OD was column shifted.
Had a friend in high school (1967) with one of these, black & white with red & white interior just like the brochure. Beautiful car. IIRC, he paid $300 for it. Those were the days.
All that space and the photographer (sic) couldn’t get far enough away in order to include a picture or three of the whole car! As for taking the pics in portrait mode instead of landscape, well, words fail me. Beautiful car which I would love to own, cut out speaker holes and added instruments included.
The description says it was re-painted in its original Tropical Rose. This car is NOT Tropical Rose, it’s Torch Red w/red/white int. Rose cars had a rose/white interior.
Apparently some on this site are happy with “idiot lights” instead of gauges on their daily drivers. So probably don’t do their own restoring or maintenance. Gauges are helpful to those of us interested in what’s going on under the hood, be it a mild 4 banger or a “souped-up” performance engine.
Has always been one of my favorite cars … perhaps somewhere down the road …
My parents had the very same car, except it didn’t had the plexiglas roof. Same exterior and interior colors. It must have been a Crown Victoria because I remember the stainless steel trim over the roof. It’s the first car I remember my parents having as I was born in 1955. Later on they traded it for a turquoise 1959 Galexie then a black 1962 Galaxie with a 390 Thunderbird engine.
1957-1959 was skyliner
I see “muchos” complaining here about the extra mods, especially the gauges. Well hell guys and gals, call me old school but knowing the exact oil pressure and temp as well as water temp, revs and various other parameters, strikes me as being the smart way to drive a car if you love cars. It’s not as if he can plug a bluetooth dongle into the OBDII slot and see his engine health and stats on his phone. I’d like to see trouble before it happens, especially on a classic that can cost an arm, leg and your firstborn to repair. This is clearly a driven car. The speakers could be more discreet but you’ll take my gauges and goodly smart to know data from my cold dead hands when hell freezes over.
My thoughts exactly Ward. I like to know what is going on under the hood before, not after the damage is done. Love the skirts and the wide whites.