Text by Patrick Bell.
The weather is warming in the Northern Hemisphere so today we are going to check out some fun in the sun with convertibles from yesteryear. There is a good selection of cars to view and their people are along as well.
1958 was the first year for the Chevrolet Bel Air Impala, and this V8 powered convertible from California was their most expensive non-Corvette of the year with a base list of $2841. It was offered in a coupe as well and both of them sold approximately 60,000 units, which was less than 6% of total Chevrolet full size sales. The gentleman at the wheel appears to be enjoying the ride.
Here we have a pair of ladies enjoying their time at a New York beach in a ’46-’48 Dodge Custom Convertible Coupe. One of Dodge’s advertising slogans for the period was “The Smoothest Car Afloat”. That seems like an invitation to take it out in the water. The base price went from $1649 for ’46 to $2189 for the ’48 model, a $540 increase in two years for the same car. Most of that was the supply and demand after WWII. I don’t recognize either of the cars in the background.
A sharply dressed lady is posing with a clean ’51 Ford Custom from California equipped with a Continental kit and back up lamps. Sales were down overall 16%+ from the previous year, and both overall and convertible sales were the worst of the “shoebox” generation years. The pent up demand for new cars after the war was beginning to wane by then.
This V8 powered ’53 Ford Crestline Sunliner from California was the middle year of this generation and the best seller. It has been slightly customized with a fake continental kit and a contrasting color on the quarter panel bulge. The gentleman appears to be ready for the beach and is looking through his keys.
They were dressed up and ready to go somewhere in a ’53 Pontiac Chieftain De Luxe with a curb feeler. The six cylinder version had a base list of $2444 and for $74 more, you could step up to the eight cylinder. Just a shade over 10% of all ’53 Pontiac’s were equipped with the six.
Two couples (with the photographer) out enjoying the sunny day in a ’55 Buick Special from Ontario. The Special was the least expensive of the four convertibles offered that year at $2590 and was the most popular. Everyone looks like they are having a good time. That may be a ’52-’54 Ford Customline Fordor reflected in the side of the Buick.
The gang is all here and checking out this ’56 Chevrolet Bel Air. The price went up $138 to $2344 over the ’55 model and the production was within 25 points of being equal. However, the ’57 was top of the tri-fives in convertible sales, besting the other two by a hair over 15%. This one is a little unusual since it is a single color. In the left background a ’50 Buick Special Deluxe Tourback Sedan.
There is some good fifties color in this image with a white ’57 Ford Thunderbird in the foreground. The lady looks like she is ready to get on the road. The ’57 was the most popular of the two seater generation and the most expensive as well, with a base list of $3408. Also a white over coral ’56 Buick Century, Super, or Roadmaster 4 door Riviera, a white over yellow ’55 Buick Super 2 door Riviera, white over black ’53 Ford Crestine Victoria, aqua ’58 Chevrolet Bel Air Impala with a continental kit, and the one in the distant background is too blurry to ID.
Possibly a mother and son waiting in a ’58 Plymouth Belvedere in a parking lot. This is a good view of the “Directional Stabilizers” (tail fins) in this second year of the “Forward Look”. Although overall Plymouth sales dropped over 40% in this recession year, the convertible sales actually increased by a small amount. At $2762, it was the second most expensive model after the top of the line nine passenger wagon. Parked on the other side is a ’54 Oldsmobile 88 4 door sedan.
A small group of friends were enjoying a warm summer day in a ’57 Ford Fairlane 500 Sunliner with aftermarket wheel covers and an Ohio license plate. 1957 was a banner year for the Ford drop top, with the most sales of any other year after WWII. But it still represented less than 5% of total sales. A ’59 Buick is in the garage.
This looks like a surprise photo shot as the lady was arriving in a ’57 Dodge Coronet Lancer with one of the optional motors with a four barrel carburetor and dual exhausts. It was one of 3,363 built that year, along with another approximately 2,500 offered in two different trim levels, and the least expensive of the three with a base list of $2872. Parked in front of it was a first year ’57 Ford Ranchero.
Here was a ’58 Ford Fairlane 500 Sunliner at the photographer’s for a photo. Perhaps it was the photographer and his car. The recession year hit Ford hard as well with over a 42% drop, while the Sunliner suffered a nearly 55% fall. This one looked nice and clean, but may have had some rust starting in the rocker panel.
My guess is that the car actually belonged to the photographer, and the ladies came out to look it over, and the one in maroon also took a photo. It was a ’60 Buick Invicta, the mid range of three trim levels, and the least popular with the Electra 225 second and the LeSabre top in sales. It was a looker in red with a red and white interior.
In keeping with the red theme, we now have a happy couple that posed with a ’62 Ford Galaxie 500 Sunliner. This was the last year for the “Sunliner” label for the convertible. The Galaxie 500/XL coupe and convertible were introduced midway through the ’62 model year to compete with the Chevrolet Impala Super Sport. That meant Ford now had two full size convertibles to choose from. This one was the most popular and had a base list of $2924. The XL and its extra goodies (292 V8, Cruise-O-Matic transmission, and bucket seat interior) had a shade over a 20% increase that brought it to $3518. Since nearly every buyer went for at least the 292 V8 and Cruise-O-Matic, it came down to whether you wanted bucket seats or not.
Our final image today is a ’65 Plymouth Valiant Signet customized with a Barracuda grille, park lamps, and wheel covers. No Barracuda convertibles were built in the ’64-’66 generation so someone evidently built their own. The Signet was the top of the line, one of two offered, the most expensive at $2561, and the least popular convertible and individual model in the entire Valiant line with 2,578 out the door. The Valiant 200 was $214 cheaper at $2437 with less than 200 more made at 2,769. The featured one was from New Jersey and has no “V8” emblem, which indicates it is a six cylinder, and that may be the class clown posing with it.
Thanks for viewing and have a great day!
Those Dodges were smooooth and calm. Fluid Drive eliminated engine vibration.
On the left is ’41-42 Nash, on the right might be ’38 Hudson.
Most of these people are just right for their brands, but the girls in the Dodge are definitely not Dodge people!
I purchased my first convertible, a ’59 Ford Sunliner, when I graduated from college in 1967. I have always owned at least one convertible (at one time, 3 at once) continually since ’67 to the present day. My current convertible is a 2012 Mustang Shelby GT500 which I purchased new.
I love convertibles! They add a dimension to a drive that cannot be captured by any other vehicle except a motorcycle — and they are much safer than a motorcycle! Long live driving with the top down!
Got a Crossfire Roadster, an 06 XLV-V, an 05 T-Bird Roadster, and a 24 Mustang GT convertible and we are forecast for SNOW this Wednesday….when o when will top down weather arrive in Ohio grins
Yesterday, at 4;45 PM I saw a 1958 Corvette, white with pale blue sides, and top off drive past me while at a red light. Gorgeous car. I really have to get some sort of car camera. Anyway this one brought back memories of me selling lemonade in 1960 at the age of six. The only car, of the few, that I can vividly recall was the white over red 58 or 59 Corvette driven by two in their late teens or early 20s. I’m only 6 so what do I know of ages.
Nice catch! A few weeks ago on the one nice day we have had this year in the Boston area, I saw a saddle tan c2 cruise by with the top down. I just never see those, ever, unless it’s at a car show in July and even then not often. Crazy to see that out before the roads have even been swept.
My Mother next to her Ford Convertible in El Portal aka Miami Springs around 1954
The pink (? “Coral” ?) paint on the ’58 Chevy reduces it’s fat looks quite a bit .
Those Dodges were indeed smooth but the MoPar styling of the time wasn’t to everyone’s tastes . Personally I think they’re beautiful in Coupe form .
? Is the door card on that gray ’51 Ford Custom Convertible stock ? it looks very sharp .
I love the grille on the ’65 Signet, much prettier than the stock one .
-Nate
I didn’t realize fake continental kits were a thing. When did they (and their real counterparts) stop being popular? I don’t remember seeing them very often the earliest I can remember in the early ’70s. The JC Whitney catalog sold them into the ’90s but I never saw them in real life except for a few old cars.
For the 1953 & 54 model years, Ford Motor Co. offered a “fake” continental tire cover that bolted onto the trunk lid, and it could be retrofitted to the 1952 cars as well. Very few actually came from Detroit with the covers, most were added at the dealership when new, or sold to the public thru the parts department of the local Ford dealer.
Continental tires faded fairly quickly from the “big 3” American new car factory offerings, 1956 was the last year GM offered a factory mounted rear tire, 1957 for Ford Thunderbird, and as far as I can remember, the last “US automobile” to have one was the 1962 Rambler Metropolitan.
In the late 1970s I had a 1956 Cadillac Fleetwood 60s that was equipped with almost every possible option at the factory, and it had a continental tire in the back. Because the 60s sedan had the extended trunk lid and rear fenders, in my opinion it already looked too big behind the rear axle. With the tire back there it looked even worse, not to mention making it hard to load stuff into the trunk. I took it off and sold it to another Cadillac owner who put it on his 1956 Coupe de Ville hardtop.
A quick glance thru some of my early J C Whitney catalogs showed aftermarket continental kits available for many US cars thru the mid 1960s.
Here’s a promotion for Ford’s “fake” continental kit. Like Jay wrote below, it appears to have been called the Coronado Deck.
I like this bit of convoluted logic in singing the continental kit’s praises:
“…combines the smart appearance of a rear wheel mount with the convenience of having the spare wheel in its regular, easily accessible location.”
Oh.
The 1958 Ford is a “20-footer” – it looks good from a distance, but a close inspection not only reveals the start of rocker panel rust, but also the discoloration of the side trim.
The gentleman posing with the Valiant convertible may be wearing a fraternity pledge hat. I remember fraternity pledges wearing those beanies in the early 1980s, when fraternities rebounded in popularity due to Animal House.
I love the pictures of all American cars in the forefront and, back drop. The 56 Buick that’s coral and white is a Super. The all white 57 Ford has Moon wheel covers. They where popular back then.
I think the fake spare tire cover is called a Corrondo Kit. I found something online that confirmed my memory.
Even with all those beauties that preceded it, I like the custom ’65 Valiant Signet. Quite the underdog. The Class Clown is probably saying “thank you sir, may I have another.”
What discoloration of the side trim? ’58 Fairlanes had gold-toned trim in that “triangle” near the middle of the side trim.
Now that the weather is moderating here in the Twin Cities I’ve started to miss “Sylvia”, who’s been living in Henderson, N.C. for six years. Summer without an open car is depressing.
Ahh, the blonde in the t bird!
Reminds me of American Graffiti
The owner of the Nissan dealership i worked at in the 90s had a black 56 bird.
Very uncomfortable to enter, drive and exit, even for a bean pole like me!