Next Blog - ’57 Skyliner
Ok, it’s cold outside, so why not talk convertibles to focus our minds on more pleasant weather. My first ride in a convertible was in a 1957 Ford Skyliner driven by Mike, an older kid in our neighborhood who had a Skyliner with its retractable hardtop. The car was exactly like pictured below which my wife and I ran across at a car show a few years back. It was great fun riding in his car with the top down, plus it looked so much better with the hard top up than the canvas top of a conventional convertible. Mike had one of several Kushman scooters in the neighborhood that were also tons of fun as described in this past blog.
As a budding engineer back in high school, my interest in Mike's car expanded to the complex mechanism that raised and lowered the top.
Mike was pretty mechanically inclined, so I learned a lot by helping him fix the top. Wish we had these schematic diagrams and shop manual when trying to diagnose and fix the Skyliner's top, as it was all "seat of the pants" back then. But that’s how I honed my engineering skills.
The mechanism was powered by electrical screw motors that articulated the various parts of the top in a carefully choreographed sequence. Most people thought the top was powered by hydraulic or pneumatic pressure. It was quite a nifty sequence of events as shown in this video If the car wasn’t parked on a flat surface when the top was raised or lowered, gravity would cause the top to tilt causing the mechanism to hang up and get out of sequence, a common problem.
The Skyliner models were manufactured at Ford assembly plants in Dearborn, Michigan; Mahwah, New Jersey; Louisville, Kentucky; Kansas City, Missouri; and San Jose California, all plants that I had visited years later during my Ford career. Mahwah and San Jose are now closed, but the others are still going strong assembling trucks and SUV’s. Dearborn is currently being converted to the electric-powered Lightening model F Series pick-up truck. Demand has been so good, the capacity is being doubled from initial plans. Recall my recent blog about electric vehicles.
Thousand’s of the Skyliners were produced; however, today most are in junk yards like this one or crushed for scrap metal.
As a kid, I would build model cars and the Skyliner was one of my favorites. Shown below are all the pieces that had to be meticulously assembled, glued and painted. Decades later, thanks to my father-in-law, who collected pre-assembled Franklin Mint models, I was given all the Fords in his collection including this Skyliner currently offered on eBay for $199. My collection is not for sale.
Here’s more info on the famous classic:
As indicated above, the Skyliner ads featured show biz celebs Lucy and Desi Arnaz, of the I Love Lucy hit TV series during the 50’s.
Ok, Fish Report readers, back to reality with the cold weather and snow! Until next time.
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