What if all of existence is nothing but a twisted joke? After all, what other rational explanation could there be for my inability to remember someone’s name for more than 30 seconds, while simultaneously recalling exactly what I was reading and listening to on April 17, 1996? By the way, the ’53 Ford pictured above is the actual Indianapolis 500 Pace Car from that storied auto race.
April 17, 1996, was my 19th birthday. I was in the last throes of my life as a “Ford Man,” a tendency inherited from my dad, who still holds a mini-grudge against me for my non-denominational tendencies. Well, Dad, at least you raised me to be an independent thinker. Right around this time, I began my collection of road test compilations, published by Brooklands Books and edited by R.M. Clarke (I still have them – dozens of them).
One of these books was a collection of road tests pictured above, and I found myself mystically drawn to the squared-off Fords of 1952 through 1954. My parents bought me the book for my birthday, a girl I was dating at the time bought me the Beatles’ White Album on CD, and I spent at least a little time that day listening to “Martha, My Dear” while reading an article on the 1954 Ford Six. Funny how something so insignificant sticks around.
Even today, when the mood strikes, I’ll contemplate my life if Dad’s influence were to have won the day, and I owned eight classic Fords rather than the Big Three hodgepodge that is the current joy and bane of my existence. Rather than a ’53 Buick, might I own a ’53 Ford? Yes, the answer is yes.
The ’53 Ford is my favorite of that particular three-year styling cycle. It was the last year of the venerable flathead, it had the best grille (in my opinion), and it was a representative from Ford Motor Company’s 50th Anniversary.
This noteworthy ’53 is owned by the Henry Ford Museum (of American Innovation – a vestigial addendum that I cannot get behind), and has been since 1953. Typically, the pace car is awarded to the winner of the race; in 1953, that was Bill Vukovich, a man who won the event two years in a row before tragically dying in the 1955 Memorial Day classic. In this case, Vukovich was awarded a pace car replica instead, and the actual car went to the museum. The real pace car had a special gold interior and apparently a 255-cubic-inch version of the flathead instead of the usual 239. Back then, pace cars often had to be “souped up” to do the job; today, a modern Corvette could probably finish in the top 20 given the attrition of other entries.
According to the curator of transportation at the Henry Ford Museum (of American Innovation), the 1953 Ford was the first Indianapolis 500 Pace Car to earn a run of replicas; he explains more in this video. Unfortunately, the ’53 Sunliner is not currently on display at the museum, but they pulled it out of storage for a special display of Flathead-era Fords at this year’s Motor Muster auto show.
Also at Motor Muster was this unbelievable 1952 Crestline. If for some reason I couldn’t have a ’53, a ’52 would be my next choice. Why? Its grille is almost as good as that on the ’53 and it still has the old Flathead. Nothing wrong with the Y-Block replacement for ’54, but the updated styling fails to register the same admiration.
The 1952 model also ushered in a long-running Ford styling cue: round taillights. Although they took a couple years off in 1958 and 1960, they would be a staple of big Ford design until the new 1965 models were introduced.
This ’52 has the desirable V8 with overdrive combination, which means that this lucky owner could maintain a reasonable freeway speed even today, although by the looks of things, it doesn’t get driven too often. The paint is flawless, way too nice for me.
The Crestline was the top-of-the-line Ford in these years, although the “Fairlane” moniker was waiting in the wings a couple years down the road. Crestline has a nice ring to it; it’s certainly ritzier than “Mainline,” which is the unfortunate-by-today’s-standards name of the lowest-priced 1952 Ford.
These Fords are underappreciated today, as even the most special of them seem to get little attention. I’d gladly cruise around in this Official Pace Car, but the realities of my fictional world would financially preclude me from any such uncommon cornerstones.
I don’t think, however, that a Crestline Victoria would be out of my reach. Just think, if not for a little bit of a mind of my own, I might be thinking back on April 17th, 1996, wondering about the vicissitudes of fate and how I just knew I’d own a ’53 Ford someday. That would be akin to my being a Sgt. Pepper’s guy back when I was 19; that famous album has a perfectly cohesive theme and it often considered the best rock record of all time. The White Album, on the other hand, while still highly regarded by almost everyone, is a somewhat more varied piece of work, a double album with a little something for everybody (including the infamous “Revolution 9”). I am what I am, but maybe being a Ford guy wouldn’t be so bad.
1954 Canadian Fords as well as Mercurys, Meteors stayed with the Flathead one more year.
https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/a1915911/bring-trailer-1954-meteor-rideau-skyliner-rare-flathead-equipped-canadian-market/
It would be interesting to see some reactions at a classic car show to show a 1954 Canadian Ford with a flathead.
However, to the nickname “Starto-star” used Down Under for the 1954 Aussie Ford Customline is applied to the Y-block?
http://oldcarbrochures.org/Australia/Ford/Ford/1954-Ford-V8-Customline-Brochure/slides/1954_Ford_V8_Customline_Aus-06.html
Super cool…I think any Canadian Ford would get a little extra attention in the US.
Yes, our Fords came via Canada (Empire preference, and all that), so we kept the flattie for ’54 as well.
“today, a modern Corvette could probably finish in the top 20 given the attrition of other entries.”
Corvettes (and Cadillac) did rather well this year at Le Mans. First time in years that I enjoyed watching the event on TV.
I watched way too much LeMans this year (I have the Motor Trend app). It was kind of disappointing that they almost completely ignored the GT classes on the broadcast; I’ve always rooted for the Corvette team (and the Ford GT teams when they participated). It was good to see them get a win. The Caddies lacked in pace a bit, but their reliability seemed to help them out.
Beautiful pics, and commentary, as always. Extra neat, the way you appear to have bumped the saturation in a number of pics. Reproducing the look of 1950s photography and printing.
Thanks, Daniel. I just use an old version of Photoscape to clean up my pictures, or to at least make them look how I want them to look.
I will also confess to a fondness for Fords of this three-year cycle. When I was VERY young (like 4) an aunt and uncle were at the tail end of owning the 1952 Ford hardtop that was their first brand new car. They inherited a 60 Pontiac Catalina sedan and did not keep the old Ford as a second car. I still remember it just a little, an ivory Victoria hardtop with a navy blue roof. I have no idea if it was a Crestline or a Customline, but maybe the hardtop was only offered as a Customline.
From then until now I would take a 52-53 Ford over the same year Chevrolet. I love the old flathead, and like the more squared up styling on these. If the right 54 appeared in my driveway I would probably take it, but that would be settling for the same reasons you mention.
I am not sure if the 53 was the first to generate any Indy pace car replicas, but it was certainly the first to do it in an organized and big way.
The hardtop was only offered as a Crestline in ’52, so that sounds like a sharp car that your aunt and uncle owned.
“Nothing wrong with the Y-Block replacement for ’54,”
Not how I remembered it?
“Nothing wrong with the Y-Block replacement for ’54,”
Not how I remembered it!
“correction”
I’ve never owned a Y-Block car, but I believe that their bad reputations come from too-small oil passages to the rocker shafts. Over time, they’d plug up and you’d get a noisy valvetrain; I believe that they even sold “top end oilers” for them. Today, oils don’t sludge like they used to, so a fresh Y-Block should last forever.
Dude – these are some sweet rides. Affordable too. After reading through this, I took a gander at the market and these are often under $15 grand.
I know, right? I think a lot of ’50s cars are “bargain” collectible these days if you get a little outside of the main drag. There’s a lot of cool stuff out there that’s affordable.
I have the same collection of Ford road tests. They make it sound like the introduction of the ball-joint suspension on the ‘54s was revolutionary: lighter steering, better handling, reduced vibration and “road shock.” I wonder how much of that was real and how much was wishful thinking influenced by Ford advertising?
It would be interesting to do a side-by-side comparison, but I’d bet that the biggest difference is that the ball-joint configuration is cheaper and easier to manufacture. It’s possible that a wider range of alignment adjustment is possible, at least in terms of caster, but I’m sure there would be an engineering workaround regarding that.
The ’54 ball joint suspension was a totally new design, to replace the old version which dated to 1949. Suspension state of the art was changing fairly quickly at the time. The new one had improved geometry for better handling and lighter and more accurate steering. It was then used through 1956, and possibly through 1964 with minor changes. It was a more modern design all-round.
The ’54 was essentially a 1955-1956 with the older body and the ’52-’53 was essentially a ’49 with the newer body.
Looking further, Consumers Reports for April 1954 praises the low friction and steering accuracy of the new Ford front end design, saying it was”a far cry from its 1952-53 forebears…an outstandingly easy car to guide down the road.”
They still thought it inferior to Plymouth, however, which I believe didn’t get ball joints until 1957.
My first car was a used 1952 Ford Customline 4 door sedan, which I drove my final three years of college. Even cooler, at the same time my dad had a matching set of 1953 Victorias, in ivory over coral. When my sedan was in the shop, I got to drive one of the 53s.
Your dad must have gotten a bulk discount! 🙂 Still, if you’re going to have two of the same car, a ’53 Victoria’s a good choice.
There were heaps of these Fords around when I was a kid. In Australia the Holden-assembled Chevy stuck with the six (simpler? more economical? established parts availability – who knows?), so Fords seemed much commoner. After all, if you could afford an American car in 1950s Australia, why would you not get a V8? 🙂 And that classic sound…..!
Seeing these photos you’ve made me want to go and build another one!
Looks great, Peter! You should build one up like the pace car. 🙂
There’s kit of the pace car, but I prefer hardtops.
I think it would be interesting if you wrote up a how-to during one of your model builds, Peter. Your detailed trim looks flawless, and I can’t imagine that’s easy. I could never do it as a kid, and even today, that small detail stuff is difficult.
Peter,
nice job on the Lindberg kit. I enjoyed mine as well.
Cool ’56 there too!
Our first car in the US was a ’54 V8 sedan, so I’ve always had a soft spot for them.
Although the flathead V8 gets a lot of love, the all-new ohv six that came in 1952 was objectively the better choice: better torque at lower speed, more economical, smoother, and essentially as fast. In fact, Ford planned to ditch the old V8 for ’52, since Chevy was doing so well with their ohv six, but a last minute internal lobbying campaign kept the flathead available. Good call, as Ford loyalists tended to buy V8s.
I read Chase Morsey’s book about saving the V8 (I believe it was at your recommendation). Good call, as you say.
correct, but cannot replace the flathead V8 sound with dual exhausts and glasspack mufflers. Music
A nice pretty Ford .
-Nate