1959 Ford Skyliner

By: Guy Allen, Unique Cars mag, Photography by: Dynamic Style & Owner

Date: 10.07.2023

Ford's elegant and ambitious Skyliner was an image-maker for the marque

This car is now for sale - see the ad here

We’ve kind of got used to the idea now, but go back several decades and the whole idea of a retractable hardtop, instead of a ‘ragtop’, was attractive and technically difficult to get right. Almost impossible.

By far the best-known pioneer in this area is Ford’s Fairlane-based Skyliner of 1957-59 (which covers a couple of significant facelifts), a behemoth of a car and in many ways a typical 1950s American cruiser.

However Ford had been beaten to the retractable hardtop punch by Peugeot, with its 402 B of 1938.

Folding hardtop was innovative and hugely complex

Nevertheless, the Skyliner became something of a style icon, particularly in 1959 form.

That was the year Ford’s entire range won a gold medal at the Brussels World Fair from the Comite Francais des L’elegance (French Committee of Elegance) of Paris.

The Skyliner was very much a halo car for the brand and the story goes that they were built at a loss – given their high level of hand assembly – but were nevertheless a worthy image-maker.

| Read next: Ford Skyliner review

Styling for the 1959 Ford range was an international award-winner

Production totalled 20,766 in 1957, 14,713 in 1958 and 12,915 in 1959. Of the latter, just 1000 are thought to survive in the USA and there are around six in West Australia.

West Australian owner John McSweeney cheerfully admits that he’s a sucker for a unique car and something that represents a challenge. Enter one Skyliner in bits, advertised in the pages of Unique Cars magazine, over a decade ago.

| Read next: 1958 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner

You have to admit it’s an eye-catching rig

John and mate Jeffrey Clarke were then very prominent in the world of drag racing, criss-crossing the country chasing records, and it was on one of those trips the Ford popped into view. "I’m on the plane heading to Queensland, and as usual had a copy of Unique Cars with me to read. In there was an ad for a Skyliner in pieces, for sale to the right person.

"The meeting got rained out so we had time to ring the guy and it was like a job interview. He was called Bill and was in his eighties.

| 2023 market review: Ford US models 1936-1962

"I asked how much he wanted for the car and he responded he didn’t know if he wanted to sell it to me. I’m thinking does he want to sell the car or not?

"There was a bit of discussion and after three days we eventually got to look at the Ford. On his driveway were half a dozen really amazing cars that he’d built, in different styles.

Space-age tail just screams the late fifties

"And there’s the Skyliner, just a body painted in red. On the pool table was the bonnet, in the bedroom a set of guards and the engine and transmission in a corner. It was all documented and converted to left-hand-drive.

"He goes, ‘I’ll let you know,’ and that was the end of the discussion!"

Next time they were in Queensland, for the rescheduled meeting, Bill had dropped in to see the team in action and decided they were okay. The deal was done and the car squeezed into the team transporter for the long trek back to WA.

On closer inspection, John decided that much of the work on the Ford needed to be redone. That meant a complete strip down to the chassis and converting the car back to right-hand-drive while they were on the job.

Stock power in the Skyliner was a 332ci (5.4lt) FE block V8 with Cruise-O-Matic transmission. People involved with the race team helped with the build, so Galloway Engines handled the powerplant while Welshpool Automatic Transmissions did the auto and diff.

Brakes remained drums, with a power booster. One of the few concessions to modernity was an upgraded air-conditioner.

John is at pains to point out that he’s not a concours restorer – preferring to indulge his own tastes. To that end, the paint is a variation on the stock scheme, using a Spies Hecker Bright Red and a Crystal Pearl, all applied by Adam Pollock.

Acres of red upholstery has you reaching for the sunglasses

The real bugbear is of course the incredibly complex and heavy hardtop, which uses three drive motors, seven reversible motors, 10 solenoids, eight circuit breakers and 12 limiter switches, plus 185 metres of wiring. Adding to the difficulties is that while the chassis is massive, the car still flexes. As John explains, "If you put it on a hoist, you can’t open the doors." That flexing also means the hardtop became notorious for getting stuck if the car was parked on uneven ground. And that’s aside from its other issues.

John found a USA-based specialist in Skyliners and discovered that while many components were available, items like limiter switches had to be rebuilt, at considerable expense.

That was when he turned to his in-house electrical genius, Chris, looking for an alternative. He eventually came up with a system that bypassed the limiter switches and ‘manually’ operated the solenoids via remote. John reckons the frustrating thing with the standard system is "it will work perfectly 20 times and then it won’t". The Chris solution is, apparently, far more reliable. Even so it remains a dry weather car as all the hardtops leak.

That whole effort took four years – "I promised my wife it would take one". Nevertheless, the effort was worth it and John reckons half the trick with overcoming a difficult project is to surround yourself with smart people.

The car has been in regular use and has become a fixture on the WA Variety Club Creative Cruise, an alternative to the Bash theme that’s unique to the west. John explains it’s a four-day 1000-kay cruise on bitumen and a major fund-raiser. His crew, with the Skyliner, has been among the top fund-raisers across seven years.

So what’s it like to drive? He laughs. "It’s a big whale, it just rolls into corners but it will do 100mph and hold the ground. Trying to stop it? You have to have your wits about you. It’s a cool car to drive."

Yep, if you’re taking it for a spin, you might as well dress up

It seems all good things have an end point and John has put the car on the market so he can pursue some other projects. See the car for sale here. 

1957-59 Ford Skyliner specs

NUMBER BUILT: 48,394
BODY: All steel, separate body/chassis hardtop convertible
ENGINE: 4458cc, 4786cc, 5114cc, 5441cc or 5769cc V8, OHV, 16v, single or twin downdraft carburettor(s), supercharger on 1957 F-Code
POWER & TORQUE: 155kW @ 4000rpm, 420Nm @ 2800rpm (5.8-litre)
PERFORMANCE: 0-97km/h 9.8sec, 0-400m 17.4sec (1959)
TRANSMISSION: 3-speed manual, or automatic
SUSPENSION: Independent with wishbones, coil springs, telescopic shock absorbers and anti-roll bar (f); Live axle with coil springs and telescopic shock absorbers (r)
BRAKES: Drums, power-assisted
TYRES: 7.50 x 14 crossply

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