Ford Fairlane Skyliner… The Retractable Hardtop

The first time I remember seeing a Ford Skyliner in person I was about 14 years old, and it was sitting in my buddy’s family barn in the country. His father was storing the dilapidated ’58 for a friend who was getting ready to restore it. Someone had shot the windshield up with BB holes, and the top had been left retracted sitting under a nasty pine tree. Still, I remember every panel on the car was straight and every piece of brightwork was there. I always preferred the ’57 models with the cleaner, single headlight front end, but to see a Skyliner up close was beyond cool to me at the time.

Ford only made the Skyliner retractables for three years (1957, 1958, and 1959), but the square top roof styling found its way onto most Ford hardtops through the mid sixties, including the Thunderbird and the Galaxie. I think the death of the ‘Liner was how complicated it was at the time, as the roof mechanism was prone to failure and the trunk had limited room for luggage. It had three motors for the roof, driving four lift jacks, four door lock motors, ten solenoids, four locking mechanisms for the roof, and over 6oo feet of wiring! Its easy to get over your head financially trying to restore one of these babies, and it requires love and attention to keep them working properly. That’s probably why it eventually fell off my “dream car” custom list as I got older. Still… To see one down on the ground, shaved, metal flaked and sporting chrome reverse wheels with spiders might just put it back on my list real quick.

Interestingly enough, like most good car ideas, the retractable hardtop has come back again.

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