1959 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner Hardtop Convertible
The Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner is a two-door full-size retractable hardtop convertible, manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company for model years 1957-1959. For model year 1959, the name changed to Ford Fairlane 500 Galaxie Skyliner very shortly after production began. The retractable roof mechanism, marketed as the “Hide-Away Hardtop,” was unique to Ford branded products, and was not offered on Continental, Lincoln, Mercury, or Edsel branded vehicles. A total of 48,394 were manufactured.
The Galaxie joined Ford’s lineup at mid-year, replacing the Fairlane 500 as the top model in the full-size Ford series. The Skyliner, formerly part of the Fairlane 500 line, would be renamed a Galaxie mid-year, befitting its top-of-the-line status. The new model helped Ford to all but tie rival Chevrolet for number one in industry sales. Ford called its 59s “the world’s most beautifully proportioned cars.” Others agreed, too, as the conservative, squared-off design would be the first American car to win an award from fashion authority Comte’ Francais de l’elegance at the Brussels International exposition.
This 1959 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner is finished in red with chrome trim over a tri-tone red, white, and black interior, and it is equipped with a retractable folding hardtop and a Continental kit. Power is supplied by a non-original 352ci V8 mated to a three-speed automatic transmission and a 2.69:1 rear axle.
Wheels with wire-style covers and red Ford center caps are wrapped in Dayton whitewall tires.
The interior is upholstered with a red, white, and black motif with a matching red dashboard and steering wheel; the door tag indicates that this Skyliner was originally equipped with a “Radiant Geranium Sof-Textured Vinyl Bolster and Raven Striped Nub Fabric with Silver Strand” interior. The three-spoke steering wheel fronts a column shift lever and a factory instrument panel including a sweep-style 120-mph speedometer and auxiliary gauges.
In 1959 America was in a postwar boom cycle. Gas was cheap, jobs were plentiful, optimism was at its peak, and there was barely enough chrome to go around to meet demand. It was the era of tailfins and fabulously-appointed dashboards and interior styling, and the competition to be over the top was fierce.
The 1959 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner was Ford’s attempt to marry style with substance, attempting to sidestep the growing criticism in the 1950s that Detroit more often than not attempted to pass off the former as the latter.
