Hot Rods 58 fords extinct ?

To each his own, Jim. I happen to like the looks of the '58. Especially the Tudor post model. I think they are much better looking than what the competition came up with the following year. But then that's the subject of another discussion, isn't it?

 

Not really, I think it's pretty relevant. If everyone loved the looks of the 58 Ford, then they would probably be a lot more popular, and there would be a lot of them around still. Not everyone has the same taste, which is fine. But if you happen to like a car that not many others like, you'll have a tough time finding nice examples after 60 years.

 

My Dad bought a new 58 wagon, traded a 55 Merc in on it. By 60 it had three motors, the last being a 59 and two trannies. He traded it in on a new 61 Plymouth wagon. I remember my Dad and I going into the Ford garage , I was 7 or 8 years old, there were 12 or so 58 Fords all in a row side by each on jacks stands with all their cantilever hoods open. Something I have never forgot. In spite of all of that , I have a big soft spot for 58 Fords. A 58 Ranchero is on my bucket list. Bill

 

I don't get the 'rustbucket' theory. The 'fugly' comments are mostly the opinions of folks who don't own one. My theory, FWIW, is the 58's were victims of an obsolete engine design. Cheap, reliable SBC engines allowed the Chevys to survive.

 

I'll forgive an ugly snout for 300 factory horsepower and hardtop that folds into the trunk.

 

1958 was a recession year and car sales were way down. The Fords did not sell well against the sensational new 58 Chev and the tail finned Plymouth and Dodge. Or even the Rambler, which was the only car to increase sales for 58 over 57. Except for the new 4 place Tbird which had its own thing going.

So they didn't make very many compared to 57 and they were terrible rust buckets like most cars of the time. They didn't have the cachet of the 57 Chev and nobody bothered to save them or fix them up. By the time they were 10 years old they were gone, at least in the northeast. One sticks in my mind from when I worked in a gas station in 1968 or 69. It was a deluxe Fairlane 4 door hardtop, the rusted out body was a mass of crude patches and bondo and it looked like hell, but for some reason the owner kept patching it up. It caught my attention because even then it was a rarity, the only 58 Ford in town. All the rest had gone for scrap years before.

 

This reminds me of Gracie Allen defending her husband's singing.

Gracie, George's singing is old fashioned, out of date

Gracie: No it isn't

Extinct

Gracie: It does not.

 

Never took a real look at one. Only my opinion of course, but that's not a bad looker. I'd go for that Fairlane!

 

Small pic, but the Dodge was a bit much... It's like the big 3 went into full excess mode that year. Dig the chromed to the hilt Olds.

 

Diehard Chevy guy but I did own a '58 Ranchero and I thought the front end was way better looking than the '57 and of course it had the rear end of a '57 so you had the best of both worlds.

 

A 'don't f*ck with me' bumper if there ever was one

 

IMO, the '58 Fords did have a clumsy look to them. The saving grace was the hood though. I've seen that feature grafted onto other Fords with great success.

 

Best hood to put on a 57 Ford if you want something a little different...

 

Funny thing, every Ford from 1952 to 57 had round tail lights and sold well. The 58 didn't and didn't sell. In 59 they went back to round tail lights and they sold. In 60 they didn't and they didn't sell. So after that they went back to round tail lights until 1966. Wonder if somebody at Ford got superstitious.

 

I like 'em. I rescued this wagon a while back. Last licensed in '69. Also got a 4 door parts car for all the missing bits. Yeah, it has some rust.....what doesn't?

 

IMHO, what killed the look of the 1958's were the quad headlights. They were the new thing, and got stuck on the older bodies without much thought to the styling. The 58 Chevy at least was designed with them, the Ford looked like they were added on. Other than the Chevy, I don't care too much for the quad lights until you get to about 61-62, then the designs just seemed to flow better. My favorites are the mid 60's Fords and Pontiacs with the stacked lights. My old man had a 67 Ford with the stacked lights, best lights on any car I have ever driven with regular sealed beams.

 

I have hunted backyards, farmers fields, and barns pretty much everyday for 20 years. I don't think I have ever ran into an original 58'. Then again fords in general are hard to find around my area.

 

A couple points of clarification.............

The '58 Chevy was intended to be the '57 model and to be carried over into '58. The whole GM line up was supposed to get new, similar body shapes. Several development problems causing some production delays resulting in Chevy and Pontiac getting face lifts for '57 while the Olds, Buick and Cadillac got the new body and chassis. Look at those '57 models and their more rounded, bulbous body shapes and see the common shapes shared with '58 Chevys.

This is NOT some theory I dreamed up, it was the subject of an extensive story written and published some years ago in a respected automotive journal that I read at the time. That's the reason '58 Chevys and Pontiacs were a one year only body design. As tarted up as the '58 Buicks and Olds were, they still utilized the basic body structure carried over from the '57s as did Cadillac, following the tradition of two year styling development. '59 saw all new chassis and body engineering shared across all GM brands and continued through 1960 models .

As for "thinner" body metal on '58 Fords, I firmly believe that is a false notion. American cars were stamped from 19 gauge sheetmetal for decades, up until the new 'high strength steel' was introduced in thinner gauge to reduce weight. That doesn't mean the metal could not have been of poorer quality that succumbed to rust more easily, but gauge did not change.

Ray

 

Yeah, right. Every time a 57 chevy sold, THREE 57 Fords were sold and thats a fact.

 

Back in 1968 I was looking for something to bolt my 427 FE into. I came across a clean 58 Ford 2-door post with a new set of chrome reversed wheels. The $200 price tag was very enticing. I bought the 58, pulled out the 292 with it's 3-on-the-tree and my 427 with a top loader bolted right into place. Never did I consider that the 58 was fugly or beautiful. My only concern was that the car was a presentable ride and would accept my 427 with minimal modification.

 

It's not a fact..it is a gross exaggeration. The final count for '57 Ford vs Chevy sales was a relatively small difference, but sufficient for Ford to take the number #1 spot. Look it up.

Ray

 

I'd have to disagree with you there. I thought I read that the '57 Ford was designed for four headlights, but they backed out of that change. And that's why the '57 Ford looks a little bug-eyed with only one headlight sticking out of a fender designed for two. I'd like to see a '57 with four headlights or a '58 with a '57 grill.



Mopar was first to use four headlights in '57. After that, Ford finally had the nerve to make the move, and of course Chevy came out with a whole new body. If you want to see some really desperate attempts to update a 2-headlight body, check out the '58 Studebaker.



And then there are the inexplicable Studebaker models that continued to use only two headlights in the new four-pod fender extensions.

 

It also depends on which method of figuring production numbers is used......Model year vs. Calendar year. In 1957 Chevrolet had the sales lead in one of these two methods, while Ford had the lead in the other.

The same thing happened again in 1959, Chevy led in one, while Ford led in the other. However, in 1959 they were reversed. That is, in 1959 Chevy led in the method that Ford had the 1957 production lead , and Ford led in the method that Chevy had top production in 1957.

 

Exactly. I can't think of any reason why any '58 Ford would be more of a "rust bucket" than one built the prior or following year since they're all basically the same car?

And as far as "ugly", I thought it's the '59s that even some Ford guys didn't care for.


IMO, the '58s weren't any "uglier" than most cars produced that year.



And "ugly" cars are one of the reasons why their were Customs..

 

I totally agree and I tell people the exact same thing. I would love to have a 58 Ranchero. My Dad had one in the early 70s, Silver and White, with chrome reverse rims. Man, that thing was nice. And Barry Weiss (Storage Wars) has a beautiful lookin' 58 Ranchero.

 

Ford 'backed out' because they found out that four headlights weren't legal in all states, so a lot of hasty restyling was done at the last minute and not just at Ford. Now, Mopar wasn't 'first'; both Ford and GM did build some four light cars in '57 also. The '57 Mercury was available with four lights in most states in certain models. The Lincoln (scheduled for 4 lights) was modified with two 'regular' headlights and two 'driving lights' which were technically legal everywhere, similar to the '57 Dodges and Plymouths. The '57 Chryslers, Imperials, and DeSotos required a bit more restyling, and could be found in both 4 light and 2 light versions, depending on where they were sold. A rare 2-light Imperial...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hugo90/2362560756/

GM sold only one four light car in '57, the Cadillac Eldorado Brougham. Congress quickly passed a law overruling the few states that didn't allow four light systems, and in '58 they were legal everywhere.

 

You are correct that sales (and production) can be compared in two ways.....calendar and model year. But, for 1957 Ford DID trump Chevrolet by both methods, the difference being only by what amount. It gets a little complicated in the telling and that is why I didn't explain more fully.

Chevy's 1957 calendar year sales included a substantial number of carry over 1956 models and Ford produced and sold more 1957 models than Chevy in that year. However, Ford then carried over a similar signicant number of 1957 models into calendar 1958. That, and the Recession, combined to cut 1958 Ford car production by nearly half....another reason '58s are scarcer now.

Ray

 

You are correct that the '57 Ford fender was designed to accommodate four headlights. Whether Ford intended to put four lamps on '57 models or was simply preparing for the '58 styling 'update' may never be known for certain. As Crazy Steve points out, it was the hodgepodge of State laws at the time that delayed quad headlights for some models until '58.

As for '57s, there was a popular headlight "frenching" kit that deleted the "bug eye"ring, recessed the light bucket into the fender and used '56 Ford pickup concave trim rings to finish the conversion. In my opinion, that setup looked really good and totally eliminated the bug eye look.

Also in that time period, there were conversions of '57s to '58 lamps, though not as common as the frenching kit mentioned above.

Ray

 

My old man bought a new "Mountain Haze" (dark purple) Oldsmobile Super 88 4 door in 1958. He was real proud of that car. My older brother and I weren't. At least we talked him into ordering the "J2" option; "Gee pop, it'll be good for gas mileage". I think the '58 Oldsmobiles and Buicks exemplify what went wrong with American styling in the late '50's. You guys with Fords and Chevys are lucky.

 

My wife and I went to the 49th annual "Mountain Moonshine Festival" in Dawsonville Ga, a couple weeks ago and there were AT LEAST Ten 1957 Fords there. This show is in Bill Elliott`s home town and is always very FORD heavy. We are in the process of fixing up her 1958 Ford Country Sedan wagon which we bought out of Tenn. It has a 1999 4.6l V8 with overdrive transmission and Vintage Air A/C.
I can`t find new lower control arms for it anywhere on the internet.