$5,000 Retractable: 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner
There is a stark difference between a 1957 Chevrolet and a 1957 Ford and I’m betting that the Chevy would win almost any popularity contests between the two. But, a car like this 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner is a different animal altogether. This retractable roof project is posted on Craigslist in Rice Lake, Wisconsin with what seems like a very reasonable asking price of $5,000.
$5,000 for a ’57 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner?! It sure seems like a deal to me, despite the fact that the car needs a full restoration. You can see some dings and a bit of rust on the bottoms of the quarter panels and elsewhere, but NADA lists the average value of a Skyliner as being worth $35,800. Ok, $30,000 in restoration costs wouldn’t bring this one back to perfection again unless a person did a lot of the work him/herself. Maybe the next owner could do the bodywork and interior and leave the electrics and other complicated work to experts. They list a high-retail value of $66,600 so there’s more than enough room to turn this $5,000 car into a show piece and still not be upside down financially. There are working, fully-functioning Skyliners for sale from the $30,000-$50,000 range so the next owner will want to do most of the work on this one.
I got pretty excited when I ran across this car, it really looks like a great example. The seller has included a photo showing the rear deck raised a bit but I don’t know if it was manually raised or if it works? The more I look at the photos and read the seller’s listing, the more I want this car. “Complete car, all trim even 4 hubcaps. Body is extremal [sic] strait. can use some restoration. Solid floors and frame”.
It took quite a feat of engineering to get that folding steel roof to fit under and into the trunk. If you haven’t seen one in action before here’s a YouTube link showing one in action. It’s a work of art. Here is a great 1957 Ford ad on YouTube showing a similar car, now that’s cool! Give me a ’57 Ford Skyliner over a ’57 Chevy convertible any day of the week.
There are no engine photos, unfortunately, and there is no mention of which engine is in this car. They say that they have an extra running motor so that’s good. It should be either a 292 or a 312 cubic-inch V8 with between 206 and around 300 hp, depending on the size or carburetor configuration. This car has power windows which I always love to see on an old car, especially one from the 1950s. There are only three photos of the interior, the driver’s view above and two showing the power window switches. I’d be prepared for a full gut job inside, too. I think that this would be a super fun project car and what a rare and fun ride that you’d have when you were done with it.
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Comments
Seems like a fair price for a retrac and the best body year for me….good luck with it !
Even more interesting is the video of the 63 Ford Falcon with the retractable hard top that popped up on the side bar when I was watching the top lowering video for the 57.
My dad told me he had one of these in the early 70’s and loved it until he put the top down one fall day and it would not come back up. Had to drive around all winter here in Milwaukee with a shovel so he could clean it out. Needless to say he go another car as soon as he could
Could have fixed the top.
I remember seeing the Skyliner when it was on display at the L.A. Auto Show back in 1957 and was amazed that there was even a ‘garbage can’ in the trunk for your luggage and/or shopping to use when the top was down. ;-)
A buddy of mine was collecting these in the 1970s and would pay up to $175 for a good example. He noted that the biggest issue, outside of electrical problems with the top mechanism, is that a number of previous owners tried to open the trunk while the car was moving! A number of deck lids in the cars he bought had creases, as a result.
This one’s going to need some work…
sorry beatnik, but the top won’t open when the car is driving, it will only open when the car is parked, nice try though
beatnik, that’s bull-s–t, the top won’t function when the car is being driven, it will only work when the car is stopped and in neutral.
bull sh-it, you can’t operate the top unless you are in park, so shut the he–ll up. dum–b a–ss.
Great color! I love the ’57 Fords. I’d actually like to find a Ranchero. As I recall the switches, motors etc of the top were as complicated and numerous as those of a ’61-’63 Lincoln. A real pita. We had a much older fellow cruising into his nineties who had a beautiful ’57 red and white retrac. One summer during our annual town parade he sat in his car under a tree with the top half retracted……..I believe he was cursing :)
My uncle Jim lived in Lima, Ohio and worked for Ford, He bought one of these in1958 and had nothing but trouble with the top. .He sold it and bought a regular top car. Later in life he bought a 1961 Cadillac Limo. He wasn’t allowed to park it at the Ford factory , so he walked to work. We would visit him every summer ,he was a fun uncle. He would have Blatz beer & Pepsi delivered to him three times a week by a store called Himmeys they delivered beer ,pop ,chips&etc This would be a good business to have today ))
This was in the 50s and 60s
You will restore it…and you will keep it
My math does’nt see where you could flip this puppy for a fat enough profit anyway.(given current values)
The 57 Chevy is a much better looking car, but the Ford wins on originality.
There’s probably 30 times more Bel Aire’s in existence now than there were in 57.
I think the ugly front fascia/headlights might have something to do with this
Poppapork is right. Those bug eyed headlights are a turnoff for me.
Owned several Fords and one Mercury in my 75 years! None worked out well, so, since I lived in a GM family I gave up and dumped Ford products for GM! Chevrolets, Pontiacs and later Cadillacs. My best car ever is my 2006 Honda CRV SE, fully loaded, with 79,000 + miles. I also own a Cadillac Eldorado, very low miles and MPGs! A beautiful red, red and white and white slowly under restoration that has been upgraded for convience, road worthy and safety. Very original but several normaly unseen systems with the best of modern technology, NOS and new, all expensive! Before I knew it I had $ 50,000.00 + in her but I love her ride, torque and drop top which works great every time. I even had her clock fixed! I’m still going to up grade some parts of her like electrically operated windows and other vacuum operated systems, climate control, as well as power front disc brakes. I removed some original parts and pieces but saved all for the next owner, some new parts left off and not saved were non repairable but replaceable with NOS and/or new like all poly suspension, including body to frame bushings. I did very little work myself because I had help from a son-in-law and a great classic vehicle restorer!!!! Now this Ford Skyliner is making me drool as I’m a big convertible and especially hardtop convertible lover but don’t need a true problem classic. Think I’ll stick with restomoding my ’86 Chevrolet Silverado Suburban “Custom Trucks of Texas dually!!! By the way, that was no garbage can in the trunk but was instead a laundry tub for a reciprocating clothes washer, with clothes wringer and a two stage, two tub, rinse system! See how smart old guys are so ask us anything and we will be glad to tell you what we know, especially if we’re pretty sure you’ve never seeen one before!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Someone take his exclamation points away….
Howard Munday The best you’ve gotten out of a car is 79,000 miles? I think that says more about the maintenance than it does about the brand. I’ve probably put 200K-400K on at least a dozen cars in my lifetime and with only one exception have I ever had serious mechanical issues. Most of them Fords but also quite a few Dodge trucks. However, I am scrupulous about oil changes and routine maintenance.
I first learned of these from an article in Special Interest Autos in the 1970s. I thought it was the coolest thing Ford had done in the 1950s. The article warned of the complexity of the top’s retraction mechanism, and I think it stated that repairing it was very hard and something of a lost art at the time.
Used to work with a guy that was a Ford mechanic at one time. Said he drew the short straw on fixing the top of one of these, no one had any experience. He got it working and from then on any that came in was his. Apparently there were a lot of relays etc that had to all work in perfect sequence for the top to go up and down. He had nothing good to say about fixing them.
It’s more of an electricians car. I’ve heard once from my electricity teacher who had one, “once you have fixed one in your garage, it’s like falling off of a log”.
If I remember correctly I think there were at least 12 relays for that roof. A lot of odd parts NOT interchangable with other 57 Fords i.e. gas tank . Good luck whoever buys this thing. You’ll need it.
I’ve always been fascinated by the Ford/Lincoln retractables. Marvels of tech back in their era. I can’t imagine trying to troubleshoot that system, with it’s miles of wiring, switches/relays.
Not a bad price for this one, the majority of your restoration expense will be the rewiring of the top
In Minnesota, the late ’50’s Fords were known as rusters. 4-6 years and the headlights would be falling out.
Did they use thinner metal than GM?
Or was it the inner fender well design?
’57 and ’58 Fords are still my favorites.
DaveMc, In 1957 Robert McNamara who worked for Ford at that time, made a decision not to use any type of undercoating on any Fords. Later he came to regret that. Seems like a life’s pattern for that man.
McNamara saved a buck or two not undercoating those cars. Just think of the damage he did to Ford’s reputation.
Oh yeah, the Viet Nam genius.
Sent everyone over with defective weapons because “they’ll get used to it”
I remember.
Okay, a gift for those that like to win bets. The real youngsters don’t know these cars were made and likely believe this is a more modern idea ala BMW etc (just like they believe that electric powered cars are a recent thing only). But the bet winner isn’t this vintage Ford; look up 1934 Peugeot Retractable hardtop.
No way!!! How cool is that. And 1934 no less. What a great looking car!
Dad bought one of these new for my Mother. Yellow with white top and interior was black and white if I recall correctly (I was 7years old). Top was a constant hassle and Mother and I still laugh about the drive across town with the top stuck half way up.
Funny story:
In 1958 or 1959 we drove back East on the Pennsylvania Turnpike to visit Dad’s family and relatives. In a heavy rainstorm, the windshield leaked like a sieve along the seal with the top. Water poured in as my mother tried to stuff towels and etc. into the crack to stop the deluge. She was laughing away as my Father swore a blue-streak at the car, the dealer and Ford and probably Henry Ford too. Good memories.
Did he buy a Chevy after that?
I don’t think he was that hard up.
Actually, he replaced the Ford with a 1959 Oldsmobile 88 2dr coupe with the huge back window. It was sort of a weird pink color. My mother’s father was an Oldsmobile man so I think Dad got talked into it. After the Olds, it was always Ford, Mercury and Lincoln with only a couple of exceptions.
Re:McNamara-Being a Whiz Kid was like being an actor-you get typecast for certain kinds of roles. Mac’s gig was cost-effectiveness. It’s what he was hired for and one might argue that technological trickledown would be almost non-existent without the concept of cost-effectiveness, which Mac practically invented! As for Vietnam, It wouldn’t have mattered who was in charge of the Pentagon. Read Mel Laird’s biography if you don’t believe me. It’s too easy to take playground potshots at people and ideas you don’t understand (waiting for the next Nader rant). A little forbearance on public forums goes a long way.
Having owned and restored both cars, 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Coupe and a 1957 Ford Skyliner, I can honestly say that I preferred the Skyliner. It drove better, rode better and was an all around better car. The only downside was when the top was in the trunk, it had very light steering in the front end. As far as the electric relays and limit switches, etc, the secret was in keeping the electrical connections free of corrosion. JMHO.
Both 57s were great looking cars, as well as those from Chrysler, compared to what we have available today.
The Skyliner was, in a way, like a Corvair. Too many people knew too little about them, so it was easy to criticize. Actually, the top mechanisms were not that hard to understand. Far easier than todays electronics. Any of the techs that specialized in them, back in the day, were well compensated for their efforts.
I just finished getting the top to work on a 66 Bird it almost got the best of me, it has hydraulic solenoids that send the fluid to the trunk lid then the top and a lot of relays. but I think it is more complex than my retractable, the retractable has an electric motor that raises and lowers the top and a long screw drive…Good price on this one, I wish it was out west
Totally redone these are very stylish cars! Love them, I have seen many all redone and put back original they are intriguing in every way! Great find! Good price!
I have always like the kook of the 57 Fords. That said, I am not a big fan of the retractable hardtop. It looks great with the top down, but rather dumpy with it up. The trunk is useless, and working on the top electronics and hydraulics is a nightmare. Give me either a convertible or 2 door hardtop, but not a combination.
@ FarmerBoy. Those were nice looking too.One of the better looking cars in ’59 even though the Ford and the Pontiac were the best looking of that year.IMHO
Lived across from a Ford dealership and when I saw a salesman demonstrate the top function in the back lot…well WOW ! And yes, we were a Ford family. I happen to like the Ford over the Chevy. Ended up “inheriting” my Dad’s ’57 Merc 2 dr hardtop. 312 with pushbutton trans. Ran pretty darn good, and smooth on the highway. Saw many, many ’57 Chevs at drag strip that had been significantly modified to run “Gas” or “Modified” classes. Lots of fiberglass back then.
I think 57 ford out sold 57 Chevys that year .