Two-Year Experiment: 1954 Mercury Sun Valley
FOMOCO had a novel idea in 1954: build a 2-door hardtop with a Plexiglas roof to let the sun in. While a nifty piece of engineering, it wasn’t practical because of the additional heat it brought to its passengers. Ford’s version was called the Skyliner, while Mercury went with Sun Valley, craftily named after the resort town in Idaho. Both cars only lasted two years. This 1954 Sun Valley looks to be a solid machine with a previously rebuilt engine that doesn’t run. Located in Healdsburg/Windsor, California, this interesting project car is available here on craigslist for $15,000 OBO. Thanks, T.J., for this tip on a rare automobile.
The Sun Valley offered Mercury buyers a see-through roof on its 2-door Monterey hardtop. Though supposedly tested in the desert, the car was not the most comfortable to drive on sunny days. To compensate for that, a “snap on” interior shade was offered, and you could opt for air conditioning, but back then it would cost you an arm and a leg. After selling just 11,500 Sun Valleys in 1954 and 1955 combined, Mercury threw in the towel (as did Ford with its similar Skyliner). The Ford nameplate would return for 1957-59 on the retractable hardtop, which was a much bigger seller.
We thought that the Sun Valley only came in two primary colors, yellow and Parklane Green. But the seller’s car, loaded with patina, suggests otherwise. The body is solid, so perhaps an exterior restoration won’t be a huge challenge. We’re told that everything is original except the motor which was rebuilt years ago (should be a 256 cubic inch V8). All the key parts are said to have survived, but we’re wondering if there isn’t some problem where the chrome molding would go around the plexiglass roof.
The biggest challenge may be the wiring, which the seller says needs to be redone. That may be why other projects have jumped before this one and thus the seller wishes to pass the car along to someone else to do it. We’re told the interior is clean, but not many photos are offered, but the dashboard and driver’s door panel (with power windows) look good. The ’54 Sun Valley is rare at 9.761 copies built, but the ’55 is the scarcest at just 1,787 units. When was the last time you saw one of these in person?
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Comments
In answer to the question, never! Goes to show though that when a design engineer thinks they’re being smart by stealing someone else’s idea they get karma right back in their face. Emulating the jet cockpit glass in the design of the time may have been in keeping with the design fad, but then again pilots had air conditioning.
Still and all though a unique car, much like Jimmy Stewart’s B57 Canberra (“Strategic Air Command”)…maybe THAT was the initial epiphany!
Except when on the ground pilots could use the extra heat at higher elevations.
Watch the movie PEGGY SUE
Movie was shot in Sonoma CA
Featured a 54 merc sun valley with plas top
I saw the movie car 5 years ago but since lost track
Robert in Napa CA
It’s not exactly stealing when Ford owns Mercury. Mercury is an upscale version on the totem pole. Same goes for Lincoln. Lincoln is a hyped up version of a Ford. Either way same internals. One thing that is true, today’s cars don’t have character like the old cars and they won’t last forever like the cars 50-70+ years ago.
My aunt and uncle had the Ford version bought used in the early 1960s. Lived in the upper midwest and took it on their honeymoon. They have spoken about the car often. Not sure if its because it was a great car or a great honeymoon, or because they were almost killed in a traffic accident in it on the way home
Now days, sunroofs are as common as cars themselves, go figure, not much different really. I’ve only seen one in my life, which was a 55 Ford version. Hopefully the stainless roof molding isn’t missing, that could be next to impossible to replace. Nice car, well worth a full restoration.
The ad says he has all that molding and some doubles.
Good floors so a restoration, though time consuming, will be much easier.
My sister has one in her barn covered with lawn furniture and junk. The roof actually holds alot of weight, it hasn’t collapsed under the weight of the junk yet.
Does she want to sell her car ? What state is it in if so ?
Absolutely beautiful cars and this is from rust free land. I looked at a few of these years back but in the northeast rust especially the frame crossmember between the lower control arms was the death sentence. I found one that was rather nice but the roof was cracked and of course the ones that had been lying in state in yards were gone so I passed. This to me is a good value for a very unique car.
Chris: “glass” tops have been reproduced, available for some time.
http://www.archer-plastics.com/projects/ford-crown-victoria-roof-tops/
It was more than a two year experiment, Russ. Not sure when it became available again, but I bought a ’09 Mustang GT that had a glass roof. It was a refugee of an Oklahoma hail storm, so I got it for a good price, as the glass portion was cracked – cost $3,000 to replace. It had a sliding “shade” to block the sun. It was mostly a gimmick, but came in handy during my Oklahoma to Indiana commute, keeping an eye out for State Patrol airplanes pacing speeders. It was enjoyable watching the night sky when it was clear.
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/how-rare-are-glass-roof-s197s.172042/
I saw where the tops are being reproduced and were not all that expensive. When I was around 12 my dad and grandpa said they would get me a car to work on. My Granpa was a car guy and my Pops crewed on a A/Gas coupe when he wasnt running his 57 Chevy so I came by it naturally. I saw a two tone green 55 Ford Sunliner when we went out to the farm to see my other grandparents (mom’s side). It had no motor but was pristine otherwise. Pops said it would be to hard to find a motor for it so I was shot down. It sat there for two years and one trip it was gone. They had crushed it with a dozer and used it for fill long the creek, what a shame.
A car exactly like this was seen in my little town, where a different classic is revealed constantly. I saw’r a “Commutacar” at a yard sale, for heavens sake. Not for sale. I think it’s the eclectic group of people this state attracts. What? Who are you looking at? In an alley, was a car just like this, outside for many years, in poor shape. What did amaze me, was the years of someone trying to seal the roof panel. You could almost see the progression in sealants over the years, none seemed to work. During this era, Mercurys were not just Fords with lockwashers, they were different cars using Ford components, not the badge engineered cars they became before their demise. A major blunder on Fords part, but in an era of “who cares?”, probably just as well everyone drives cookie cutter vehicles, they wouldn’t know a nice car if it ran them over.
Will these “projects” of such nice then cars ever be attended to, or lay dormant like this for future auto sites to comment on? These were fantastic cars, everything Ford knew about cars to this point was thrown at them, and the consumer had a myriad of choices. Sure was a different time, a time, if you are reading this, would like to relive, but won’t happen. It’s tough, coming from that era, to make peace with that.
The Ford ‘Skyliner’ was an option for 3 years, not two. Both `55 and `56 Crown Victorias offered it before it was cancelled. In `56 Ford ALMOST put this option on Lincoln Premiere coupes. which I think would have been cool. And Mercury total production of Sun Valleys was just over 13K, not 11,500. While I don’t own one now, it’s my quest to one day acquire a Sun Valley. My personal fave of the `50s.
Almost? Sure, that’s like saying I almost won the lottery.
TomP, only if you bought a ticket……
FoMoCo had a final design for a `56 Lincoln Premiere coupe with the transparent top. When Ford realized sales weren’t what they expected on these `54-`55, they dropped the idea. So YES—they ALMOST built one!
As for the odd colors on Sun Valleys, after June of `54, Mercury allowed almost any color combination on Sun Valleys. I myself have seen `54 models in red/black, red/white, blue/white, and yes even black/white. This one originally had a light green roof if you look where the missing roof moulding was. Very likely, the body portion was probably dark green to coordinate with the lighter shade. The black paint is a re-spray done some years later, and it didn’t hold up as you can see.
always loved these cars since first time I saw one it was the light green with dark green roof in September 1953 on the show room floor of the local Lincoln Mercury dealer the day the 1954 models came out
It was the mid 70’s last time I saw one, actually it was several as a neighbor had several Fords and Mercury’s all plexiglass roof models parked in his front yard. None of them ever moved so I doubt any of them ran. I once owned a 54 Ford Victoria fully loaded. I bought it from a brother for $75.00. It was a nice little car but the 239 through a rod shortly after I bought it so I bought a 312 from a junk yard and installed it. It was in 1968 or 69 if I recall correctly. It was 2 tone green. First car I ever had with electric seat and windows.
God Bless America
312 one of my favorite engines parents bought a new 1956 Ford wagon with a 312 it was the first year for it called it the thunderbird special v8 the 292 was the thunderbird v8 it had 225 HP 4 Barrell with dual exhaust
As a kid, I remember a family member buying a Skyliner in 1954, and one of the people in the neighborhood had a yellow Sun Valley. I loved the 54 Merc because it was really a final facelift of the 52 and the 53 Mercurys, and with the new OHV V8, and the added improvements, it turned out to be a winner. The Glass top, however, really wasn’t that popular since, even in NY, and the hot summers, the younger crowd wanted a ragtop and not the glass roof. Those who had them liked them, and the cars, both the Ford and Mercury of 1954, were really nice cars with a decent design, and were strong, solid, well built cars.
Sun Valleys were actually sold for three years 54 thru 56 with the 54 producing the most. My dad was an LM dealer in NC and told a story of delivering one to Florida. He said they nearly cooked just getting there. I can’t imagine living with one in Florida. I found a rust bucket no-engine basket case in a junkyard in the early 70s. $25 and it was mine, but as a teenager I passed. Surely worth it today for the trim and badges alone. The top was intact but badly weathered. I salvaged a 54 dealer service manual that I used as a guide for my 56 Ford. Virtually the same car.
The Mercury glass top was produced for two years (1954 and ’55); the Ford version for three (1954-’56).
I stand corrected. Based on internet photos, it seems some 56 cloning has been performed. I seriously considered that junkyard SV glass top for my 56 Ford. I had all the Crown Vic trim and interior from another junker to do it.
Chris: “glass” tops have been reproduced, available for some time.
http://www.archer-plastics.com/projects/ford-crown-victoria-roof-tops/
It was more than a two year experiment, Russ. Not sure when it became available again, but I bought a ’09 Mustang GT that had a glass roof. It was a refugee of an Oklahoma hail storm, so I got it for a good price, as the glass portion was cracked – cost $3,000 to replace. It had a sliding “shade” to block the sun. It was mostly a gimmick, but came in handy during my Oklahoma to Indiana commute, keeping an eye out for State Patrol airplanes pacing speeders. It was enjoyable watching the night sky when it was clear.
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/how-rare-are-glass-roof-s197s.172042/
Ford did the glasstop (SKYLINER) for three yrs. 54-56. Then in 57-59, the SKYLINER became the Retractable Hardtop. Also, they came with a cover that snapped in and covered the glasstop. I’ve owned a 54 Glasstop for over 28 yrs and we’ve had the car up and down the East Coast and now live in Las Vegas. By the way, we were on our way to the Woodward Dream Cruise one time and I put the cover in. We didn’t go more then about 2 miles and my wife said to take out the cover because now it was like “A Regular Car” and I never put it in again, it rides on the back seat.
Back in the 1980’s my then next door neighbor had a scrap car hauling business, he’d scour the countryside and find old cars sitting and haul them off, many times getting them free just to get out of somebodies yard. He drug in a 55 Skyliner once, pretty nice body except the rust in the rockers, floor, and quarters. It had sat a good while, but when we poured a little gas in the carb and hooked a battery on it, it roared back to life. Sadly, the seats were more springs than padding, the covers rotted off, the result of sitting with the windows down or broken out. The glass top was perfect. We both toyed with the idea of fixing it up, but back then, pre internet days, parts were harder to find, so he ended up hauling it to the crusher. If we had only knew what it would been worth, we would have saved it.