Time to pay attention once again to the products of the Blue Oval. And I know it’s something I mentioned last time, but there’s a certain aura of pride that seems more prevalent among Ford people than with other brands. But as some have mentioned in the comments section, Ford people did tend to be truly Ford people. The concept may be odd to younger folks, as brand loyalty ain’t what it used to be, but not to those of us who lived those days. After all, who didn’t know a few Ford families?
Nice red 57!
I agree. Good color for that model.
Grandpa had the same car in gray, minus whitewalls and wheelcovers, screamed cheap. Never found out why he bought it, as he was not a cheapskate kind of guy.
My first car was 1957 ford four door basic sedan with a six cylinder motor. It was an exit county surveyors car.
4th Photo: Blue & white two door
Reminds me when I helped set up an extra tall antenna. Since my Dad was a big LSU football fan, my responsible was to twist the pole with a wrenchto pick up the signal from the neighboring town. Once over, twist it back so my sisters could watch the local channels.
Was so happen when cable hit town.
Back in the sixties (pre-cable) practically everyone who lived outside a city had an outside antenna. Very popular among the suburban set were electric rotors, that would rotate your antenna electrically from a control box on top of your television. Alliance was a popular brand, and we had one. Every television station had its unique setting for optimum reception, and after some fiddling with the controls we could pull in five stations, although one or two might be a bit “snowy”. Today I think my cable package gives me 150 plus channels in perfect high definition color. Perhaps one of the most significant technological advancements of my lifetime.
I love that last one. First, as the dad of a family of five, I understand all of the stuff that had to go along on a trip – having a big Ford van allowed us to avoid having to use a roof rack on a wagon.
Second, I love the smiling faces that are oblivious to the fact that in another five hours, all that will be heard in that Country Squire will be “Are we there yet?” and “Billy keeps touching meeeeee!” 🙂
What I want to know is, what’s hanging down from the gas filler door? Looks a might bald to be an Esso tiger tail! 😉
Country Squires were always handsome cars, but my dad definitely preferred 2-doors. I doubt he ever gave a wagon a second look. One of my favorite movie cars is the red Country Squire in Goldfinger. (Felix Leitner’s Thunderbird was pretty cool, too! And let’s not forget that hard working Falcon Ranchero.)
Let’s see now. That Country Squire is carrying 4 kids, two adults, one dog and about 800 pounds of luggage in the back and on top. And it’s squatting down at least a foot in the back. I sure hope dad never did more than 50 miles an hour on the highways.
I lived in a small town in Illinois where you had to ‘pick a team’ Ford, Chevy, MOPAR. Since we had a factory that made glass for GM and employed many in our town, we were decidedly Chevy.
So very nice .
That red base model ’57 in the first picture looks nice to me .
I have always loved the ’57 full size Fords, especially the white over green ones .
The “shoe box” design left me cold then and now, I do see why they’re nice for making “Lead Sleds” but don’t want one .
-Nate
People always comment on how the 57 Chevy is the most popular classic ever. But what I understand is that the 57 Fords outsold the Chevrolet.
FWIW.
Ford people are innate, and anti-Ford people are also. My mother’s father was a Ford man. He was the black sheep of the family for reasons I’ve never known. We were firmly anti-Ford people, never owned or considered a Ford, and when I later bought a Maverick my mother was disgusted.
I’m not anti-Ford, but a Maverick? I will have to side with your mother on that one!
Everyone I know, including us, had a lot a luck with the “Maverick’s”. They were just “70’s” era “Falcon’s.
They should a had a wagon, version though.
There was a Maverick wagon offered in Brazil done by some aftermarket specialists. http://www.staceman.net/mav/brazil/index.htm
And those were done toward the end of the run which is why Dearborn never considered running with the idea – the Fox Fairmont program with a wagon in the line would’ve been well underway already.
I’m just appreciative of all classics. My family had GM vehicles growing up, so I taught myself how to work on those and stuck with them. I wanted an old car, so for $1200 it was between a 1976 dart or a 1964 comet. The comet had the V8, so I got it. Rusted out, only was able to drive it once, and sold it for parts.
Years later got a boat with a 351W, and later another comet, but a restored caliente convertible.
Yeah, Ford owners do look proud. Always has been my favorite US manufacturer; I love the history of the Ford family and company and the great cars they’ve produced.
They sure change wheel covers a lot in these photos. ’59 Ford covers on the red ’57; ’56 Olds ones on the blue ’50 and what I think are ’60 Pontiac covers on the two tone ’56 Victoria.
The glass pane greenhouse behind the 56 is something not seen anymore. They were expensive and very high maintainence. I haven’t seen one in decades. I like the 62 Falcon. The guy in the picture kind of looks like me too.
The second to last pic made me smile. The woman in the white dress can’t put down her heater long enough to have her picture taken while her husband appears to be holding an unlit cigar in his left hand. It reminds me so much of some of my relatives.
Dad was a Ford owner almost until the end, ’47, ’51 sedans, then ’57, ’59, ’63 and ’68 wagons, ’69 and ’72 Galaxie hardtops, but finally ’77 and ’85 Buicks. Ford did make great wagons, here’s our ’57 (pic of an identical one from the ‘net, all mine are B&W). Many many family memories of trips in those wagons.
Would have loved to take a ride with the girl in pic #5 🤪
I like the pic at the greenhouses.. Don’t see those much anymore.
We were on Team Chevy growing up. My mom’s last bowtie model was a 1981 Citation; then on my advice, she switched to a Ford product, a 1993 Mercury Sable. Again on my recommendation, her last 2 cars were Toyota Camrys.
Bravo! Absolutely love this! That Country Squire wood panel station wagon really brings back wonderful childhood memories. Thanks for this awesome collection!
It is sometimes interesting what makes a family a “Ford Family ” or “Chevy people”. In my mother’s family, grandma ordered a new Ford right after WW11. Local friends of the dealer or those who paid him off, got their cars. Grandma’s car never came. She waited until 49 and bought a Chevy and seven of her eight children did the same. It took a whole generation to change back.
My uncle Buddy was a Ford man all his life. He bought a brand new 56 Crown Victoria with 292 4 barrel, 3 on the tree and overdrive. He kept this car in impeccable condition till he died in 2009. He would let my brother and me use it to date in. It was black and he put spot lights on either side and added Turnpike cruiser skirts on the rear. Later he removed them and added Goodyear white letters and Keystone Classic wheels. Great car, great memories.
Thanks for a great tribute. I was born in Detroit in March of 1955. My mom’s side of the family all worked at the Chrysler Corporation, my dad’s side at Ford. So our family only drove Fords and Chryslers. But it was only the Fords that wouldn’t become members of the family. We had several 1957 Ford Country Sedans. My uncle Bob always had a 59 Country Sedan, they were usually the blue and white or lighter blue two-tones. My dad had a black 57 Fairlane with black and white interior, and a Continental Kit in back. In 1958, we moved to Southern California, and the Ford ownership got even stronger. In 1964, my uncle Bud traded his 56 blue and white Ford Country Sedan that had hundreds of thousands of miles on it for a beautiful and elegant 64 Mercury Colony Park 9 passenger wagon. It was beautiful with it’s cream colored exterior with dark red luxurious vinyl interior. Of course being a Colony Park, it had the woodgrain paneled sides and tailgate. Under hood was a 390 cubic inch V8 that moved that Colony Park around with ease, and sounded fantastic doing. It. He keeper that Colony Park well into the late 90s. He added other cars but he always kept that 64 Colony Park. He would say “it runs as good today as it did when I brought it home in 64”, and it did. When I last saw it in the early 2,000s, it still held it spot in his driveway. The woodgrain was pretty badly faded, but it was still running strong and it was definitely part of the family. In 1966, my oldest brother bought a new black on black Mustang, with a 289,duel exhaust and a 4 barrel carburetor. Behind that was a 4 speed manual transmission. My first car was a 69 Mustang Mach I. I loved that Mustang right from the start. It had a 351 cubic inch Windsor engine with a Ford FMX automatic transmission. It had front power disc brakes, powere steering, air conditioning and the most beautiful interior of any car I had ever seen. As I got older, in 1975, I bought a white with Light tan interior Mercury Marquis Colony Park 9 passenger station wagon. It was completely loaded with every possible option. Under hood was the mighty Ford 460 cubic inch engine. I loved that wagon and it soon became a pivotal member of our family. It was the back drop of all our family events. Since my first 69 Mach I until today, I have only driven vehicles made by the Ford Motor Company and can’t think of it any other way. We’ve had several Town Cars, and several Explorers. Today I only have a 2008 Explorer XLT and I love it my motorhome was a 33 foot Southwind, built on a F450 Super Duty chassis with an injectioned 460 V8. Your article said it best. We are proud of our Fords and we make them members of the family. Sure we buy new Fords, but we always keep the ones we have, because it wouldn’t be right to get rid of a beloved family member. I really enjoyed this artìcal. There could be no other car that could be written about with the same level of passion as our Fords. The history of the Ford family and their fine cars, is America.
My first new car was a Prairie Bronze Metallic version of the 1964 Galaxie 500 in the next -to-last picture. Probably the most valuable today would be the two-door Park Lane wagon in the third picture, a fairly rare one-year-only model brought out to compete with the Chevy Nomad.
My first car a 69 428cj 4 speed mach 1, red white interior. Only 33k miles for last 54 years. Will never sell it
That hot chick leaning on the hood of that “57 Fairlane looks like she could give Robert Mitchum a run for his money out on Thunder Road…..I bet she was a moonshine runner.
My Dad was a Ford guy. He drove a tan ‘36 five window coupe in high school and dated who would become my Mom after he returned from WW 2. I’m the youngest son and my folks brought me home from the hospital in a ‘49 custom business coupe (business coupes had no back seat, just a thick rubber mat). They traded that in for a ‘56 Fairlane two door hardtop, 312, automatic, green and white. One of his brothers bought a new ‘56 Thunderbird in raven black with Kelsey Hayes wheels. Another had a blue and white’56 Parklane wagon just like the one pictured here. In later years one of my brothers had a (used) ‘60 Mercury Monterey. Another one drove a ‘61 Thunderbird.
I’m in my ‘70’s now, the only one left alive. The people and cars are all long gone….but I have some great memories.
The last pic with the wagon family reminds me of road trips through the US and Canada.
I absolutely loved summer vacation meeting American kids my age, staying at sometimes sketchy motels. My father enjoyed chatting it up with other travelers at service stations where he’d try and score free glasses with his fill-up. Travel by automobile remains my favorite form of travel. A shame it costs so much to do so now.
My father was a true Ford man, but it was a ’41 Chevrolet that got us through WW2. By 1942 or so our ’38 Deluxe had no tread at all on the tires and he was able to trade for the Chevvie and its pretty good tires. We had the Chevvie at least until 1950. Good uncomplaining car as I recall.
My Dad was always Ford leaning. And by Ford, I mean BIG Ford cars. He still has his 64 Galaxie 500XL he bought in 1970. Next up was an 82 Crown Victoria followed by two Mercury Grand Marquis boats!!!!
I know of one