This unassuming 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 may look mundane, but its story begins with the cross-breeding that occurred between NASCAR and the illicit liquor trade – bootlegging, that is; moonshine.
The horsepower races of the mid-'50s saw NASCAR homologate multiple carburetion, fuel injection and supercharging, all of which moonshiners immediately adopted in the quest to stay out of revenuers’ clutches. One such character, who shall remain anonymous, bought and paid cash for this 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 but was hauled off to jail before he could take delivery. It languished on the dealer’s lot for a year before it found another buyer who, shocked by the car’s terrible gas mileage, had the dealer remove the supercharger.
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That '57 Ford doesn't look mundane at all to me. The '57 Ford was a work of art, with a 312 c.i. Police Interceptor V8 and a 4BBL carburetor and a Ford-O-Matic OD transmission right off the assembly line. In 1957 gasoline was 22-cents a gallon and no one cared about gas mileage. Yes, both the racers and the cops jumped on them and did deck them out. '57 Fords were to beautiful to behold and feared by those who would challenge them. Cars had style and character then; now I can't tell one year from the next.
ReplyDeleteCars had style and character then
Delete& different every year. One of the Army SGT's in MS&T at my military school had a '57/'58? Golden Commando which are rare today.
In '57, '58 & '59 Ford also had the Skyliner, the only true hardtop convertible in the world. Well-restored Skyliners draw upwards of $75k at auction. Contrary to popular belief they worked very well.
DeleteA great idea, but for some reason they must not have been all that popular at the time, since they were discontinued.
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