The 1954 Ford Crestline Sunliner Convertible was a pin point for its manufacturer . On one paw , it carried over the styling ( albeit facelifted ) , the body styles , and the serial publication names in position since 1952 . On the other hand , the new card , admit the 1954 Ford Crestline Sunlinerconvertible , ushered in sure applied science and detail changes that would exist on in its successor .
Foremost among the change was the switch from Ford ’s long - serving " flathead " V-8 to a completely modernistic brusque - stroke overhead - valve grind . dub the " atomic number 39 - mental block " because of its inscrutable crankcase , it displaced the same 239.4 three-dimensional inches as theengineit supersede , but get 130 HP , 20 more than its forebear . It would grow larger and more muscular over the next few age .
This was also the year that ball - joint front suspension , already proven in Lincolns , was adopted to improve ride and treatment . It was company by a half - inch wheelbase extension . The resulting 115.5 - inch wheelbase would process Fords through 1956 .
Then , too , 1954 was the twelvemonth of the " Astra - Dial"speedometer , which admitted natural Inner Light through the can of the speedometer housing to illuminate the dial . The feature would continue into 1955 .
Another of the year ’s highlighting was the first Skyliner , a Victoria two - door hardtop with a Plexiglass ceiling insert . This feature would be usable for two more days . Other young models for 1954 include a two - door Ranch Wagon post waggon in the Customline series and a four - door sedan chair in the top - conclusion Crestline series .
The hand - down glamour queen regnant of the ' 54 Ford line was the Crestline Sunliner convertible , or so cerebrate the customers who placed an telling 36,685 orders for it . Prices started at $ 2,164 for six - piston chamber exemplar , or $ 2,241 when equipped with the V-8 . However , Allan and Elaine Franklin ’s restored Sunliner featured on this Sir Frederick Handley Page would have forcefully run up the check back in its day .
The ragtop ’s V-8 drives through a Ford - oxygen - Matic automatictransmission($184 ) . It ’s also festooned with the index aid then beginning to show up even on low - priced makes : windowpane raise ( $ 102 ) , brakes ( $ 41 ) , steering ( $ 134 ) , and front - seat claim agent ( $ 64 ) . tally in its deluxe radio , hummer / deicer , tinted looking glass , back - up lamps , an supplement Coronado continental outfit , and more , and you ’d have made some Ford dealer a very happy man .
Jokes Allan , of Burbank , California , " In 1992 , with boost from my married woman , Elaine , and the help of many , many admirer , I took a trunk , fenders , and a rolled frame , along with a ton of parts , and grow it into this ruined car in an astonishingly short 12 age . " Now , how can you put a price on that ?
