Fairlane 500

Fairlane, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

A Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner. If that sounds complicated it's cause it is-the Skyliner is the one with the retractable hardtop. This is a full sized car, by the way, with room for actual grown ups in the back seat. The rear deck is enormous, to accommodate that long roof-you can practically land a helicopter on it. And it's a fascinating thing to watch-the owner of this car kept running the top up and down every so often, and people always stopped to watch.

Eagle eyed readers will note the vintage ex-CTA "Green Hornet" trolley car trundling past in the background.

Shoebox

Shoebox, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

A great little '50 Ford convertible, which contrasts nicely with the Southern Pacific 1518, an early EMD SD7 locomotive dating from 1951.

Skyliner

Introduced in 1955, the Ford Fairlane was the company's new full sized offering, and proved fairly popular for it's short two year lifespan. The model received a restyle for the '57 year, and along with most of Ford's range the Fairlane grew in size and gained a lower, leaner look. The model also gained a new top-line designation, the Fairlane 500, and a new top, top of the line model, the Skyliner.

The Skyliner was something really special-a hardtop convertible. Retracting hardtops are a bit more common these days, but in the late fifties this feature made the Skyliner unique-it was the only model offered anywhere with such an option. Sadly, although watching a Skyliner go through the motions is a traffic-stopping show, it was an expensive option, prone to malfunctioning (there's a zillion miles of wiring involved), and worst of all took up most of the trunk space. So, only about 20,000 Skyliners were built in '57, and way fewer for the restyled '58 and '59 years.

This one's a '57, and is resting peacefully behind a body shop out in the country. It seems pretty solid-I hope it gets the restoration it deserves.