If you ever wanted a car that captures the colorful spirit of mid-to-late 50’s America, then this is it. A gleaming turquoise and white 1959 Ford Fairlane 500 Galaxie Skyliner (that’s quite a moniker). Detroit introduced a number of “gee whiz” gimmicks on automobiles in the ’50’s and, in my opinion, Ford’s retractable hardtop was the king. It definitely had the cool factor, but it also had some drawbacks, including a high price tag, limited cargo space when the metal top was stored in the trunk, and the untested technology of all those electric motors, screw jacks, solenoids, and switches needed to make the disappearing top act possible. With dropping sales, the 1959 would be the last model year of the Skyliner. In total, only 12,915 were produced, and here’s one that has survived and is for sale at Motorland Cars in Arundel, Maine. It’s listed here on Facebook Marketplace for $45,995. Thanks to richardinmaine for spotting this Hideaway Hardtop!
Turquoise was a very popular color in the 1950’s, and this particular shade of turquoise (Indian Turquoise) is gorgeous. With the contrasting Colonial White top and all of that sparkling chrome, it’s a head turner. The retractable hardtop is said to work and this Skyliner has a continental kit that was optional on the ’59 Ford. It was shown as the “Sport Spare Wheel Cover” on the Genuine Ford Options and Accessories page of the ’59 Ford sales brochure. The car’s paint has an impressive shine, the trim and glass look good, and the period-correct whitewalls and full wheel covers (Ford called them Sun-Ray Wheel Covers), completes the pretty package.
The Oh-So-50’s turquoise theme is continued in the Skyliner’s interior and in a tasteful way. Ford had really upped their game when it came to colorful and comfortable interiors, and it shows in this Skyliner. The seats are upholstered in a turquoise, white, and cloth insert tri-tone and look to be very good shape. The rest of the cabin, from the instrument panel and white steering wheel, to the door panels and headliner are in very good shape as well.
Ford offered three V8 options for 1959, and this Skyliner has the desirable top-of-the-line 300-hp Thunderbird 352 Special V8 under the hood. The odometer shows 46,356 but nothing is mentioned if they’re original or have a “1” in front of it. The 4-barrel 352 is paired with a 3-speed Cruise-O-Matic automatic transmission. Hagerty values a 1959 Skyliner in #2 Excellent condition in the $40,000 to $45,000 price range, so the asking price for this remarkable retractable seems to be in line.
At least the continental kit doesn’t look like a high house deck hanging off the back of it.
Probably because it was factory designed, not a custom add-on dealer unit. It doesn’t look bad on this, but the ’59 Ford in general is attractive without it.
What an “attractable” retractable! They were so unusual at the time and off the top of my head I don’t know of any other manufacturer that was making one at the time. Now they aren’t that rare. A few car makers offer them including Mazda, Mercedes (I have an SLK) and BMW. I’m curious if Ford’s system was troublesome. I know it took the equivalent of a mechanical mosh pit to make that top go up and down. The ’59 Ford in general was a very successful model for Henry’s company. It was the last year they’d outsell Chevy until the late 80s.
My dad had a brand new ’57. The 26 switches, relays and motors were wired in series. When 1 unit failed that’s where the top action would stop and go no further. That is to say: if number 8 was bad you could go back to 1. Going in reverse (top going up) if 18 was bad you coud go back to fully retracted only. There was always a mechanic at the dealership service dept who knew how to diagnose it with the shop manual and multimeter.
I have owned 5 retractable. My first I bought when I was in high-school. The first problem I took to the dealer I was informed they didn’t have a trained mechanic to work on the Skyliner. Needless to say. I bought the manual and trained myself. I had 1 1957,1 1958 and 3 1959’s.. Great cars!
In my opinion the 57 and 58 were the best looking of the trio as they each looked like big t-birds of the same years.
Nice. No wait, I’ll have the blue one from a couple of days ago for half the price, Alex.
As nice as it is, the time for these has passed. The guys who took these to the drive in theater with their girlfriends are now 75+ years old. They’re not buying pristine examples like this anymore and certainly not at this price.
Anyone younger is into 1960s era iron. There’s little appeal left at the local cars and coffee for this era of car, beyond a glance and a nod.
If you need it, this is listed at a dealer, so you can expect that there is a huge amount of flexibility in that price.
Dealers never box themselves into a corner regarding price. They typically get these kind of cars for low cost from estates or other liquidation situations that need immediate cash. Then they bump the price hard and start the fishing process for buyers willing to pay up.
Many dealers get their inventory on consignment now. They have no money involved. The seller brings their car to the dealer and states how much money they want for the car. If the dealer agrees they take the car in and jack up the price to make their profit. I sold a car this way. The dealer never pressured me to lower my dollar amount but did inform me when there was an offer. Those process has raised the price substantially on the cars but there again you can make an offer
100% that consignment is prefferred by the dealer. Free inventory is hard to beat.
Eventually, it amounts to an auction where the seller decides the reserve as you go.
Why no photos with the top retracted?
My dad had one in the same color, except a standard 4-door
My dad had one in the same color. Except it was a standard 4-door
Beautiful, and a little more practical!