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.
Nice looking 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 they had a ton of hardware 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.