56 Ford

[56 Fairlane]

nice Crown Randall, I also agree with the others that they look much nicer without the continental kit.

[Randall Hornback]

Hi Fairlane, thanks for the nice reply on my 56 Crown Vic.. You have a nice looking 56 Ford also i think any 56 ford looks Super. I was in Canada about 15 + years ago nice place stop by the Falls going or coming cant remember. Thanks again.

Randall

[mercman from oz]

Earlier in this Post, I added a picture of the 1956 Ford that Ford Australia released, the 1956 Ford Customline, and mentioned that apart from the Ute, this was the only model that was offered for sale locally. For 1957, Ford Australia decided for the first time ever not to offer the same updated models as the Parent Company in the USA. So, for 1957, they released the "new" 1957 Ford Customline. You will notice that the Side Trim from the 56 Ford Fairlane was used, as well as adding Chrome Plated Headlight Rims, together with a large V8 Badge in the centre of the Grille. You will also notice that the Right Hand Dash from the 1955 Fords was retained. Two Tone cars were also offered, and so that a Third Colour could be added, Ford Australia added an extra Chrome Strip under the main Strip on the Doors and Rear Quarter Panel. This two tone Customline has the "third" colour added in this area. Lastly, on the Badge on the Trunk, you can see that Ford Australia had them redone to show the word "Customline" in place of "Fairlane". So, this is the car that Ford Australia sold in 1957. The same body was carried over into 1958, but was updated using a 55 Meteor Grille & 56 Meteor side trim. No true 1957 or 1958 Fords were ever sold in Australia. Ford Australia did catch up in 1959, but this model too was sold for 3 years with slight changes, until Ford Australia released the downsized "Compact" Fairlane in 1962.

[mercman from oz]

In my previous Post, I added pictures of the Australian 1957 Ford Customline.
While these big Fords were quite popular when new, not many have survived, so quite a few 1956 Fords of various body styles including Sedans have been recently imported from the USA. It was a coincidence that both an Australian 57 Customline and the American 56 Fairlane were on display at he same venue.
Regarding the Australian Customline, I personally don't like the addition of Chromed Headlight Rims and that V8 Badge would be better off on display in a Work Shop? These are just my thoughts.

[mercman from oz]

Here is yet another recent import to Australia, a 1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan. It is great to see all these cars coming in, but with the value of the Australian Dollar on the slide in recent days, that will definitely have an impact on the market.

[mercman from oz]

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A couple more 1956 beauties that have made the long trip Down Under. Enjoy.

[Randall Hornback]

Hi MERCMAN, wow the information and pictures you place sure gave me a lot of information i never knew. So glad you are getting more of the 56 Ford your way, the pictures you showed are some beautiful fords with even the change they made after they got there. Thanks for letting us see them, hope you get lots more of them over there.
Randall

[Roadster5040]

Beautiful car thanks for sharing

[mercman from oz]

Hi Randall, Thanks for the compliment. Two years ago, our Aussie Dollar was trading about Par or worth slightly more than your American Dollar. Today, it has slipped to around 77 cents. That means if we were to buy an American car for say US$10,000 today, before we even moved it, our cost would be over A$13,000. Add to that the Shipping, 10% GST, Quarantine Fee & getting the car Complianced for Registration, the landed on the road cost would be in the A$20,000 bracket. If the car was not located in the Long Beach area, the transport cost would have to added to this figure. the further away, the more expensive the transport cost. As mentioned in an earlier Post, you guys can't appreciate how well off you are in respect of old cars.
If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

[mercman from oz]

Did you notice on the fully restored 1957 Customline, that it was only fitted with Dog Dish Hubcaps? That was because the Full Wheel Covers were never ever offered in Australia on any big Ford until the 1965 Ford Galaxie. In the rival camp of Chevrolet, which were sold here continuously every year until 1968, Full Wheel Covers were never ever offered. Today, if we are chasing Full Wheel Covers to dress up our cars, we have to do our shopping in the USA.

[5851a]

Have been dreaming of a black 56 crown for years that's absolutely beautiful. Hard to believe Chevrolet could have sold anything in 56 after a buyer would have seen that Ford.

[mercman from oz]

Regarding the fully restored 1957 Ford Customline (above), it is just a pity that the owner never painted the car in the original Ford colours. These 2 greens are so close a match that at first glance, it is hard to pick that the car is in fact Two Tone. It would have looked much better had he painted it an original colour. Too much work and expense to change it now.

[mercman from oz]

In my previous comment, I mentioned how good these 57 Ford Customlines look in original Factory Colours. Check this beauty out and see how "alive" this car is in these two original contrasting colours.
In addition to the Chromed Headlight Rims, & V8 Badge on the Grille, these 57 Fords also got a new Chrome Ornament on the Hood. I forgot to mention this in my previous Post.

[mercman from oz]

Here is another 1957 Australian Ford Customline, again in contrasting original colours. The owner of this car is not a fortunate at the owner of the two tone green Customline, as plastic part of the rear Customline badge is very faded and needs replacing, but he may have to replace it with a Fairlane Badge?
The Exhausts on Australian Fords never exited out of the Bumpers like they did on the 56 Fairlanes.

[69torino]

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-other-auto-pa...ationFlag=true

These are local to me if you might be interested. The 57 here tho is different than the Oz version apparently
.

[mercman from oz]

69torino, Regarding Hubcaps, all American big Fords had 15" wheels up to and including the update 59 Ford that sold here until it was replaced by the new size Intermediate 1962 Ford Fairlane. In the USA, and also Canada, the wheel size was reduced to 14" on the 'true" 57 Fords. The Hubcaps that you mentioned in your Attachment are off an American 1957 Ford and are 14" so will not fit our cars here in Australia. As mentioned in an earlier Post, Ford Australia skipped the "true" 57 and 58 Fords but caught up again with the big 59 Fords. While the American big Fords had 14" wheels, the ones sold in Australia continued on with 15" wheels. If an owner of an Australian 59 Ford wanted to dress up his car by adding the Full Wheel Covers, he would also have to change his Wheels. He may even have to change the gears in his Speedometer, so that his Speed and Mileage were accurate?

[Y-Blockhead]

Originally Posted by mercman from oz

Here is another 1957 Australian Ford Customline...

I noticed that the backup light lens on this car (and others in your photos) appears red instead of clear. Is this stock. I don't believe US cars ever had red lenses there.

[mercman from oz]

In reply to Y-Blockhead regarding these rear lights, in Australia, when these cars were new. they never came equipped with Indicators. The original Sales Brochures makes the comment on Item (3) as follows:- "Jet Tube Tail Lamps - straight-line fender is fin-shaped at top rear includes safety features of extended Jet-Tube tail-lamps with inbuilt reflectors. Smart assembly allows reversing lights to be fitted easily." Originally, the Lens were clear & were just "dummy' lights". In this day and age, for safety reasons, Traffic Indicators are a must, and most owners of these cars have wired up these "dummy lights" to act as Indicators. In Australia, all Indicators have to be Amber in colour, therefore, in the case of the car pictured above, as well as the two tone green example have after market Amber Lens attached. In the USA, I believe that these Clear Lens were used as reversing Lights. You have to remember that Australia was way behind the USA when it came to things like Automatic Transmissions and Traffic Indicators. These 57 Fords did offer an Automatic Transmission, but not Indicators.

[mercman from oz]

Just to show how slow Australia was to adopt Traffic Indicators, this Factory Brochure for the new 1958 Ford lists under the (K) Quote:- "Jet-tube tail-lamps now made even smarter by new chromed base extension strip. Reflectors are inbuilt and assembly design allows easy fitting of approved traffic signals and reversing lights."
By 1958, I believe that most buyers had these Traffic Indicators and Reversing Lights wired up by the Dealership on their new 1958 Ford Customlines, as the new trend was to have Indicators on all new cars. Back then, it was OK in Australia to have the Tail Light flash, but that was soon outlawed. The FC Holden that was released in 1958 had their Indicators wired up to the Tail Light, & it flashed, similar to what the USA cars had. On these big Fords, I believe that the Indicator was in the clear Lens above the Red Tail light, but I could be wrong? would appreciate someone in the know to correct me if I am wrong?

[mercman from oz]

This 1957 Ford Customline badge has seen better days, but I don't believe that they are reproduced? I know that the similar looking badge that reads Fairlane is reproduced, but is the one that reads Customline reproduced? Were these originally made in the USA, or were they made in Australia specifically for the Australian 1957 Fords?