My friend has a 54 sunliner hardtop w/ a Special hood that has a plexiglass window to show the first year of the overhead valve V8. Can you tell me anything in the way of documentation about this hood's factory authentisisity? The story is that there were only 50 of these, and that they were distriduted to the dealers as display only. Please confirm or lead me to someone who will help in that documentation I seek.
James
06-Apr-2008 12:15
Hope it is ok to ask a question about parts. I'm restoring a 1954 sunliner and I need some covertible parts. Would you happen to have any or know where I can find some? Thanks, James
Rick Johnson
30-Apr-2005 05:20
1954 Ford Crestline Sunliner. For the 1954 model year, the big news at Ford was the new Y Block Overhead Valve V-8 engine displacing 239.4 cubic inches. It relaced the long-standing flathead eight that had been the mainstay of Ford and Mercury automobiles from the nineteen thirties. The new engine got its "Y Block" name from its deep crankcase design. The new engine had about the same displacement as the flathead V-8, but its "turbo wedge" combustion chambers provided the most advanced V-8 in the industry at 130 horsepower, and the only overhead valve V-8 in its price class. The new engine is given credit for Ford outselling Chevrolet for the model year by a margin of 22,381 units. Ford also introduced ball joint front suspension in 1954, and once again, was the only car in its price class to have this feature that provided longer wheel travel and a much smoother ride on rough road surfaces.
The Ford Sunliner in Ken's photograph sold for $ 2,164 and was the top selling convertible in America that year with a production figure of 36,685. Style-wise, the 1954 Ford was the second and last facelift of the very successful design first introduced in 1952. 1954 was also to be the last year that the Ford grille featured the famous center chrome "spinner" theme first introduced on the 1949 Ford. Perhaps the most interesting model in the 1954 Ford lineup was the Crestline Victoria Skyliner that featured a tinted green plexiglass panel insert above the front seat. It was priced the same as the convertible Sunliner in Ken's picture. Without air conditioning, the plexiglass roof did not provide any insulation or relief from the Sun or the Summer heat, and cast an unnatural green hue on the interior and passengers in the car. Although the Skyliner was carried over for the 1955 and 1956 model years, it never sold well, but the novelty and rarity has made it a collector's favorite along with its Mercury companion car, the Sun Valley. In 1957, Ford recycled the "Skyliner" name for its new retractable hardtop convertible.
It's great to see an excellent photograph of an important transitional car in Ford's history....the year Ford said "goodbye" to the venerable flathead, and "hello" to a modern overhead valve V-8 and ball-joint front suspension.
