54 Aussie Cusso

[Graeme / New Zealand]

The US folks might be interested in this 54 Customline out of Aussie with factory flatty. The Ockers and us Kiwis were lucky enough to source our USA based Fords from the Canucks, so the flathead had its "last hurrah"in the year the you folk got the Y block. Note the earlier dash in our 54s as well.

Another thing. Those add on orange turn signals were put on in the factory in Australia because of the requirement to have orange flashers there. Here in NZ we were allowed to maintain the turn signals within the red tail lights.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/54-FORD-...AAAOSwpzJaPuqO

GB

[Graeme / New Zealand]

the link doesn't appeared to have worked so here are pics I copied. It came from an Australian E-Pay add car is 29K.

GB

[swoopNZ]

I had one of those from 1969 to 1970.
Ran so smooth you'd hardly guess it was a flathead V8 engine.
The bodies used to attract rust however.
Sold it for $110 NZD.

[Graeme / New Zealand]

Originally Posted by swoopNZ

I had one of those from 1969 to 1970.
Ran so smooth you'd hardly guess it was a flathead V8 engine.
The bodies used to attract rust however.
Sold it for $110 NZD.

Probably why not a lot have survived here Chris.

GB

[mercman from oz]

Yes, our Australian 1954 Ford retained the Flathead V8, a carry over from the 1953 models. They also retained the old Chassis on a 115" wheelbase. The USA built 1954 Fords received a totally new Chassis that had an extra half inch added to the wheelbase. Regarding turn signals, they were not offered on the 54 Fords in Australia, as you can see from the above picture from a page from the Sales brochure. These would have been a recent addition by a previous owner.

[mercman from oz]

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Here are pictures of a nicely restored local Australian 1954 Ford Customline. Notice that there are no separate Turn signals added to the rear. This is how all 1954 Fords looked, as Turn Signals were not available on local Fords back then. The previous owner of this car has added turn signals to the centre of the Tail Light, and changed the colour to Amber. This car has the Australian Accessory Reverse Light on the drivers side.

[mercman from oz]

If you look closely at this picture, you will see that the wheel is not central in the wheel cut-out? That is because Ford Australia used the carry over 115" wheelbase chassis, not the new one introduced on 1954 Fords in USA that was a half inch longer. Our local cars did receive the new restyled front Fenders. The other difference on Australian 1954 Fords is that Ford Australia painted the centres of the Hubcaps Black, not Red like in the USA.

[Graeme / New Zealand]

Well Mercman there's some trivia about the chassis I didn't know, the turn signals thing is also interesting....thanks for correcting me. Both cars are quite well done...better than screwing on a couple of "ugly" English Lucas amber jobs which we often see, that quite frankly have the aesthetic appeal of a "pimple" on ones arse (ass).

GB