by 1957 was a pretty good year for Ford, as the company finally managed to surpass long-time rival Chevrolet in terms of sales in the domestic market.
And the Skyliner certainly played a huge role in this important achievement, as its sales got close to 21,000 units at a time when the competition in this class was really fierce.
In case you’re wondering what made the Fairlane 500 Skyliner such an attractive model, the answer comes from the Retractable model. It was the first mass-produced car that was fitted with a hardtop convertible roof, an idea that the American company originally planned to introduce in 1956 on the Lincoln Continental.
Holding it back for two more years eventually paid off, as the Skyliner ended up becoming a magnet for new buyers, therefore helping boost the sales of the Fairlane lineup as a whole.
The Skyliner Retractable that we have here is a time capsule that lets anyone figure out precisely what the model year 1957 was all about.
The car was stored in a barn for decades, and it has now come out of hiding in a condition that you wouldn’t expect from a piece of metal moved to storage in the late ‘70s. The all-original Skyliner has never been restored, and with 40,000 miles (64,300 km) on the clock, it’s quite a time capsule that deserves to be part of someone’s collection.
There’s no rust, eBay seller yabesaygreg guarantees, and it’s all because the car has been stored in a dry environment. Nothing is missing, and the Skyliner sells with most of the original documentation but also with the first registration.
The auction starts at $1,000, and it’ll definitely be interesting to see how high the price ends up going in the next 7 days. The bidding happens without a reserve, so whoever sends the top offer can then take the Skyliner to their garage, hopefully for the thorough restoration such a time capsule totally deserves
