55 and 56 Fords were so close but the 56 just looks better with the "flatter" and not round front turn signals. Thanks to Adam for his time, work and posting.....
1956 is one of my favorite years for American car design: The Mercury, Lincoln, Continental, Oldsmobile, and Chrysler all had 1956 cars that are among my favorites.
My uncle had a 56 Victoria that was tu-toned coral and white. I thought it was stunningly beautiful. My dad said the transparent top Ford's had a cover that snaped on the inside, but they were such a nuisance that people would never put them back on once off. And yes, that glass top would bake your brains out!!
Weird fact is that that a good percentage of the Skyliners in -56 were shipped to Sweden! I have not found any reliable source with an actual number, but my guess is at least 30 cars. Back then US cars here in Sweden were mainly black four door post models used by Taxi and Police, so a Crown Victoria Skyliner really stood out!
The Tucker "Torpedo" was the name of a sporty car that Tucker wanted to build, but never did. The Tucker we all know and love is just known as the Tucker 48. That Fairlane in the video is a beautiful car!
The 1956 Fords were in my opinion the best looking Fords of the 1950’s. My father had one. I can remember going with my parents to buy it in 1960. It was a white Mainline Tudor with a six cylinder engine and a manual transmission. My father was on an economy kick after coming out of a gas hog 1955 Plymouth with a V8 and Powerflite. The Ford had overdrive too.
There was a couple of Skyliners in my area. One was a blue and white two tone, and the other was a white and yellow one. I always used to see them at the local cruise nights. I knew they weren’t a common car, but I didn’t realize how rare they were.
The first skyliner that I'd ever seen was that a Mecum auction in Dallas a few years ago. I'm 66 years old and I was amazed that this was out there and I had never known about it. LOL
This twangs on my heart strungs, my granddad had a autralian mainline ute in this year model. Baby blue with a colour coded canopy. I vividly remember driving with him down a dirt back road and having him lean over and say" wanna see the back wheels race the front ones?" And spending the next couple of kilometres truing to get a grip on the vinyl bench seat as we went full tokyo drift mode. I still have a triple carb intake he ran on it for a while in my shed. Thanks for the memory pop.
My dad had a one of these that he bought new. It was always his favorite car. He traded it in '61, and sometime in the late '60's, when we were again shopping for a car, he spied it back in the weeds behind some dealership, looking like it had had the crap beat out of it. Dad wasn't happy to say the least. Anyway, I always thought they had the best looking hood ornament, with how it actually cut into the hood. My favorite part of the car..
My grandmother's next door neighbor had one of these in a light blue when I was a kid in the 70's. It never left her garage but she would let me and my dad go in there and check it out. I was fascinated by it
55 and 56 both looked great. My older sister owned a new 1955 which I was allowed to drive occasionally. There was one Crown Victoria in my small town. I don't recall who owned it but I admired it too.
Both my Dad & Grandfather had 56 Victorias. Both blue and white Only way i could tell them apart was that Dad's had 1 radio antennna, grandpa's had 2. On rear fenders.
As a little kid I always had strong opinions on favourite cars. The 56 Ford was all time favourite, maybe partially because the cars were built when I was born. Btw, Nash and beetles were my most detested car of the area which always made my parents laugh. I was a preschooler with opinions lol. Nice find again Adam!
That 55 T-Bird has some 1956 characteristics. It has those wind-wings on the door behind the windshield. For some reason they also took off the front grille guards. And the Victoria should have white painted hubcaps; red was for 1955 and white was for 1956. They are a two piece affair. The dog dish hubcaps are topped off by the wire caps which are held on buy 6 spring-like clips.
I had a 56 crown vic CHP pursuit special, it had a 312 T bird dual four barrel with a 3 speed plus overdrive, I blew a hole through the left side of the block racing a Camaro Z 28 on Sunset blvd in Hollywood California around 1981
Beautiful Cars Great Design, Owned 2 Fairlane"s 1956,Were Burmuda Blue and White Both 312 Thunderbird Powered, Had a 1957 One was yellow and Black 292 and The last One was a Green and White with a 312, Both 56"s were club Coupes and the 57"s were 4 Dr sedans, Wow do I miss these Cars.....
I think I remember the TV ads for the '57 Fords..."LONGER....LOWER....HEAVIER! FORD!". There was even an example of Ford's economical use of fuel - a small model airplane engine and a Ford were supplied with maybe a pint of fuel in a glass container for each, started at the same time, and run until the pint on each engine was gone and, of course, the Ford won the contest. LOLOL!
Beautiful cars. I am a pretty much a GM guy, but I have a soft spot for 56 Fords as my mom had a brand new 56 Victoria 4 door hardtop with 312 4bbl. She was given this car as a gift when she graduated from Lakeview High School in Saint Clair Shores Michigan and received a full college scholarship. Sadly that car later totaled in an accident in the mid 60's while being drivin my grandfather on my dad's side. While he was badly injured he was not killed somehow so maybe those safety features played a role.
I was 11 years old when this car came out. I loved the look of the new Ford. All the cars were getting revamped that year, but not like what 1957 would bring. I always thought the 1956 Ford was prettier than the Chevy. Ford had so many more new features than GM offered, especially when it came to safety features. As a preteen boy, I was excited every year when the new cars came out. My best friend and I would go to every car dealer in town and collect the new brochures they had. I still have a fairly good collection from 1955 . Ford, Chevrolet, Mercury, Dodge, Plymouth, Chrysler, Imperial, Cadillac ,Buick, Oldsmobile, and Lincoln. In the later years, I've added Riviera, Eldorado, Seville, All the Lincoln Mark series, and Mercedes. Great memories !
Absolutely magnificent car, as a lil fun fact, I believe a 57 Fairlane is featured on the cover of the band UFO's album "Phenomenon", but it has a two-tone paint which in my opinion looks way better than the black on black featured here
Very informative as usual Adam. Thanks for clarifying the differences between Fairlane and Crown Victorias. Also interesting how these Victorias had a 2 inch lower roofline than the other less $$$ Ford models. Wasn’t aware of that but makes sense and one reason these cars looked so sporty. Im guessing that was rarely done back in this era and any era for that matter.
Awesome car ! Thank you for making and sending me this video, my mother had a 1956 Crown Victoria when she was in her twenties, it was her favorite car, if you run across more nice examples like this one please capture them on video, I would love to see them. Thank you..
Yes, the '55-'56 was a great looking Ford, especially in 2 door ht or Skyliner sedan configuration. These Fords were also known for their striking two tone color schemes, which were among the best looking color combinations from any makers during those years. The Skyliners of '54 to '59 were spectacular cars, whether in the clear or the retractable top form, and no other cars "in the low price field" had anything that was as conspicuously elegant or extravagant. As Adam mentioned, though, neither type of Skyliner was entirely practical.
I think Fords of this era were better proportioned than Chevys. It looks lower and wider. The Chrysler products were too. The 56 Fords are one of my choice cars but I'm a GM guy. This is a very nice example. The convertibles are especially beautiful.
Had a Customline in dark cherry, looked black, the cherry showed on a bright day, 292/3sp/loud pipes/full wheel covers/inch white walls, perfect period piece, she'd peel out real good and the pipes would rap on the up shifts. Not a car show guy so it went down the road, my curse due to drag racing habit.
Robert McNamara was the driving force behind the safety push in Ford vehicles. On a lower level at the company at the time, I understand Iacocca was an advocate for this as well
Adam, Do you have a late model Ford Crown Victoria or Mercury Grand Marquis in your collection? Surely the last body-on-frame 'American' sedan is worthy of preserving. 🤔
That's a good looking car as a two door hardtop! I prefer the Chevys of this era, but the '56 is my least favorite of those, so I'd take this car instead.
Thanks, admittedly, the 1956 Fords were extra good looking: **my 1956;; THUNDERBIRD Eng/ PS/ P Brakes/auto/4 Door *Sedan(?Oddly, I have forgotten Model Designation)/ All Baby Blue interior’s/ White P/Dual EXH : was totalled early after buying ……. Interestingly, also, I just had started laying out “ rebuild;plans””……as
When the Ford-o-Matic came our in Falcons they DID become 2 speed. First gear was too low to be a good passing gear and too high to be a good launch gear.
The 1957 Ford Thunderbird was a slight improvement on an already beautiful car. The 1957 Ford Fairlane was a dud compared to the 1955-56 Fairlanes and Victorias (Victoria was Ford's nomenclature for the two door hardtop that came out in 1951).
I have been told the crown Victoria the chrome molding was mirrored inside and was something you could easily smash your head on. The generation that drove these that is fading has long told me the 57-59 was a much better car.
I just bot another 1990 LeBaron V6 Mitsubishi 5 speed convert in Sioux Falls South Dakota, super duper clean all original survivor. Now I have 2 speeds!
Safety in 1956? Those swept-back A-pillars are death traps in a head-on collision! Watch an Impala with a similar design disintegrate. I could not find a Ford equivalent but see no reason to believe there were a lot of differences. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fPF4fBGNK0U.html
I am sorry Adam this vehicle is Ridiculous, the designers apparently lost on another planet, not the beautiful Earth. Really what sort of Aesthetic and Thematic Nonsense motivated them. Utterly silly! Strange as the cars flanking it are imitating the beauty of Nature and are quite inspiring and attractive.
