This is the first American-made "production" automobile to have anything other than a convertible, fabric, or steel roof.  That makes it the Great-Great-Great-Grandfather of all the moon roofs & sun roofs we have today.  There were only 13,344 Ford Skyliners made in 1954 in the USA and in 1954 you could own one for the whopping price of $2,164. 

 

To my knowledge there are only 100 or less 1954 Ford Skyliners in existance today.  I know of only two others in Florida, only 41 East of the Mississippi, one in Belgium and one in Austrailia.  If you attend car shows or car cruises you will probably NOT see a Skyliner. 

 

There were also about one thousand more 1954 Ford Skyliners made in plants in Canada.   About 1/2 of those made in Canada  were put on 1953 Ford frames with the old king pin suspension (not the new 1954 ball-joint suspension) and of course the old "239" flat head V8 in them.  Four 1954 Skyliners made in Canada had 1954 Mercury dashboards installed in them because Ford Canada ran out of 1954 Ford dashboards.  Ford knows the serial numbers of these four automobiles but have stated they do not know the location of these four automobiles.  It would be fantastic to own one of these even more rare Canadian Skyliner cars.

 

In 1954 Ford introduced the new, and very impressive, Y-Block engine (239cid 130hp) which replaced the "flat top" engines of prior years.  This is the first Ford with ball-joint suspension providing a smoother ride.  Some  people thought the Plexiglass would be too hot in Summer.  Ford did a test placing two cars, a Plex top and full steel roof, in the Arizona desert.  The Skyliner was only 5-degrees warmer inside than the full steel roof model.

 

I located this car on the internet.  I was looking for a 1953 Ford hardtop model (first car I owned) but decided on a 1954 model because of the advances in the 1954 model.  I bought the car in February 2004.  

 

This car was assembled in Richmond, California and sold to a California owner.  The car was later moved to Florida.  It was purchased in Florida by a classic dealer and moved to Chicago but was never driven on snowy salt-covered roads.  The frame and body are in excellent shape.  I bought the car from the dealer in Chicago and returned it to Florida.  The car is totally rust and bondo free and in excellent condition. 

 

Although the car is a 1954, the engine is one year newer and from a 1955 Ford T-Bird.  This gives it more power (292cid) to keep up with today's Interstate traffic.  The car has overdrive which conserves on gas (21mpg).  The horn has a destinctive 1950's sound, the type you don't hear anymore.

 

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If you have any questions, comments, or own one,  use the E-mail link on this web site to get in touch with me.