The Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner is a two-door full-size car with a retractable hardtop that was produced by Ford Motor Company for the model years 1957 to 1959. In 1959 the model name changed to Ford Galaxie Skyliner very shortly after production of the 1959 models had started. The retractable roof mechanism – also known as "Hide-Away Hardtop" – was unique to Ford branded products, and was not offered on Continental,, Mercury, or Edsel branded vehicles during this time period. A total of 48,394 units were built.
Design
The Ford Skyliner Retractable was only the second car in history to be mass-produced produced with a retractable hardtop; the first to reach four and five digit mass-production numbers, and the first series produced coupé convertible to feature a roof composed of more than one segment. Additionally, the trunk-lid also consisted of two pieces — one segment took the place where other convertibles typically had a separate lid to cover the soft-top stowage compartment. Both the folding roof and trunk-lid are power operated through an exceptionally complex system. At the time of its introduction, the Skyliner was the only true hardtop convertible in the world. Part of the Ford Fairlane 500 range, the Skyliner had a complex mechanism which folded the front of the roof and retracted it under the rear decklid. No hydraulic mechanisms were used as in regular convertibles of the era. The Skyliner top has seven reversible electric motors, four lift jacks, a series of relays, ten limit switches, ten solenoids, four locking mechanisms for the roof and two locking mechanisms for the trunk lid, and a total of of wiring. The large top took up vast amounts of trunk space, limiting the car's sales. Production totaled 20,766 units in 1957, declining to 14,713 in 1958 and to 12,915 in 1959. An electric clock was standard. Fuel consumption was around overall. The fuel tank was placed vertically in back of the rear seat, which inadvertently added safety in rear collisions. The wheelbase of the Skyliner was and the overall length was. During the 1959 model year the Galaxie series was added to Ford’s full-size range and the Skyliner model was absorbed into that series. Although the 1959 Galaxie was designated as a separate series, Galaxies carried both “Fairlane 500” and “Galaxie” badging, on the rear and sides respectively. It came with the standard 2-barrel V8 engine. The design attracted more attention than sales; the option was expensive, suspected to be unreliable, and took up almost all the trunk space when retracted. It required the roof to be made shorter than the other Fords, and the trunk to be larger. This was because the design was originally to be a Continental coupe. Projected losses of the retractable roof Continental resulted in a decision to restyle the vehicle, from the bottom of the windows down, as a member of the Fairlane 500 family because it could attract more buyers as a Ford with more reasonable retail price compared to adding extra costs to the already expensive retail price of a Lincoln Continental. The solid roof pillar of the Skyliner is similar to the appearance of 2nd generation Ford Thunderbirds of 1958-1960. Although the actual mechanical differed, the Skyliner's retractable roof design was adopted for the Lincoln Continental convertibles of 1961-67.
Engines and transmissions
The following engines, all V8s, were available on the Fairlane 500 Skyliner.
Size
Horsepower
Model Years
1957
1957, 1958 & 1959
1957
1958 & 1959
1958 & 1959
Two manual transmissions, a three-speed and three-speed with overdrive were available, as well as three-speed Ford-O-Maticautomatic transmission. Starting in 1958, Cruise-O-Matic was added, which provided a second "drive" range, allowing for an intermediate gear start.
The Skyliner name had been used by Ford on earlier models, namely the two-door hardtop Crestline Skyliner of 1954 and the Fairlane Crown Victoria Skyliner coupe of 1955 and 1956. These models feature a clear acrylic glass roof panel over the front seats.
