Today’s car is a 1953 Ford Crestline Sunliner Convertible. It is finished in Coral Flame Red with a Red and Black interior with a Black powered convertible top & boot, The happy owner of this car is Gary Boyd. I saw the car at the Marina del Rey, CA Cars and Coffee. It is powered by a 239 cu in, 3.9 liter Flathead V8, with a Holley 2-bbl carburetor, producing 110 hp. Power is sent to the rear wheels through a Borg Warner three on the tree manual transmission with overdrive. It delivers that power to the rear wheels through 3.31 to 1 gear ratio. Helping slow this baby down are four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes all around. The front suspension has coil-spring and the introduction of ball-joints a departure from kingpins. The rear suspension has a live axle with semi-elliptic leaf-springs. This car also has the first year Ford introduced “Master Guide” power steering along with those striking “Jet-Ray” taillights. Top speed was estimated at 86 mph and the 0 to 60 time was 17.5 seconds.
The original MSRP was $2,232.00. The total number of 1953 Fords produced was 1,247,542 of which 180,164 were Crestline’s and of those 40,861 were Sunliner Convertible’s. The 1953 Ford also marked Ford Motor Company’s 50th anniversary. FoMoCo commemorated this milestone event by producing 2000 limited edition Crestline Sunline convertibles that were finished in White with White and Gold interiors. It was chosen to pace the 36th annual Indianapolis 500,
This is a striking example of an early Ford convertibles. What a great car to cruise into Cars and Coffee weekend gatherings . This is a very clean older restoration. Thanks for riding along. Frank
Photo from Ford Authority.