1955 Ford Fairlane

[1942deluxe]

fairlane 1.jpg
This is a picture of my wife's 1955 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan we recently bought. Fairly well optioned car with 80,000 miles on it.

[1942deluxe]

fairlane 2.jpg
Front view. Appears to have a Ford sunvisor along with tissue dispenser, rear antenna, shirts and aftermarket continental kit.

[1942deluxe]

fairlane 3.jpg
Rear view. Norfolk built car with Fordomatic transmission. Made the trip from Buffalo New York to Albion (120 miles) at 65-70 MPH with no complaint. Previous owner gave me a complete power steering set up and a power brake booster. Not unhappy with how it steers. Brakes could use the assist of Cathy drives it frequently.

[1942deluxe]

fairlane 4.jpg
Interior needs some cleaning but looks fairly original.

[Dobie Gillis]

She's a beaut. Great score!

[1942deluxe]

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55 fordor.jpg
Dobie, thanks. On the trip up I told Cathy I was taking the continental kit off if we bought it. As we pulled up the car was sitting in the driveway. my first and correct thought was, well I think we are going to be buying a 55 Ford. Pretty quickly I was instructed by Cathy I would not be removing the continental kit. The photo above was the 55 Ford Town Sedan that I bought in high school, sold and bought back. I'm standing next to it right before I went to Shemya, AFB in 1979. Sold that one the week I got married in 1981 and had given up hope of having another one. I have a soft spot for the Mercs too. I came home from the hospital in a 1956 Medalist that my Grandma kept until 1969.

[Gene F]

I have a 57 Skyliner with skirts and a continental kit. They make the car special. 42 years, you should listen to your wife. I bet she is your best friend ever.

[1942deluxe]

Gene, that she is!

[mercman from oz]

1955 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan - 1942deluxe

[mercman from oz]

1955 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan as illustrated in the original sales brochure

[mercman from oz]

Autorrized Ford Accessories for 1955 Fords

[RKS.PA]

Originally Posted by 1942deluxe

Attachment 523890
Rear view. Norfolk built car with Fordomatic transmission. Made the trip from Buffalo New York to Albion (120 miles) at 65-70 MPH with no complaint. Previous owner gave me a complete power steering set up and a power brake booster. Not unhappy with how it steers. Brakes could use the assist of Cathy drives it frequently.

John, looks like a great find!! And, this will give you a nice diversion from your coupe project!! Has buddy Chris opined on this one??

[5851a]

Nice find, nice car.

[russonator]

Beautiful '55! For what it's worth, I'm with you on the connie kit.

[1942deluxe]

RKS.PA, Chris likes it. He had a red and white 55 Crown Vic when I met him in 1979. We looked at a 56 Customline wagon over the winter and I think this is a better car overall. What it did do was warm Cathy up to the idea of a mid 50's Ford. She initially wanted another 68 Mustang like we had when we were first married. Finding one of those that's stock and not huge bucks isn't easy anymore. I told her that I thought the 55 was so much more unique than a Mustang would be.

[Anteek29]

Lots of love for the '55 Fairlanes and Vics!

[Ole Don]

Use your first winter to put on the power steering. Each piece can be rebuilt for a fair cost at Lares Steering in Cambridge Minnesota. They can be thrusted. The car takes on a whole new enjoyment with P/S and the auto trans. Your bride will drive the wheels off it.

[RKS.PA]

Originally Posted by 1942deluxe

RKS.PA, Chris likes it. He had a red and white 55 Crown Vic when I met him in 1979. We looked at a 56 Customline wagon over the winter and I think this is a better car overall. What it did do was warm Cathy up to the idea of a mid 50's Ford. She initially wanted another 68 Mustang like we had when we were first married. Finding one of those that's stock and not huge bucks isn't easy anymore. I told her that I thought the 55 was so much more unique than a Mustang would be.

John, my wife, Nancy,...also my best friend and a great help with the old cars...had a '67 blue Mustang convertible. Like you, I tried to find a decent one but they were/are beyond our budget. So, we found a '56 T bird to go with the '47 in my avatar that was much more affordable. Since the '47 is finished, we're rebuilding the engine on the '56! BTW, took my driving drivers license test in my folks '55 Fairlane in 1960!

Love your new addition!!

Regards....Dick.

[Daves55Sedan]

When I first got my '55 (in the avatar) it still had those dealer floor mats with the white Ford emblems on them. That was in 1972.
They were in real bad shape as well as the original rubber full-coverage floor mats.
Hang on to those floor mats if you can.
I'd leave the Continental kit on also. My Fairlane has dual exhausts, so I extended the tailpipes out past the bumper and put chrome plated tips on the back of the tailpipes just sticking out past the bumper. Makes it easier to hear the sound of the Y-block barking when you step on the gas, hehe.

[Daves55Sedan]

In 1974 (when I was 18), there were three old Fords in our high school parking lot (out of over a thousand kids). One was a 1956 Mainline 2-dr sedan, there was a 1956 Fairlane Town Sedan and my old blue 1955 (in the avatar).
There was not even one other '50's car of any make and very few early '60's cars. The vast majority of the cars in the school parking lot were less than 5 yrs old.
The guy who had the '56 Town Sedan became a friend of mine till he moved out of town after high school. I was told that the guy who had the '56 mainline was a jock, and we didn't run in the same circles.
But my friend and I were working stiff's (after school) who had to buy our own car and pay for our own insurance and car repairs and maintenance. Didn't know many of the silver spoon kids.
The great thing about owning an old car back then was how much you learned about the technology and repair techniques, which unbeknownst to you would be helpful in all types of mechanical repairs later on in life.
Still driving my '55 to this day.

[1942deluxe]

Dave, by 1969 there were only two 1950's cars in the "burg" where we grew up. My Grandmother's 1956 Mercury and a local banker's 56 Buick. Howard kept driving the Buick so if someone came in the bank for a car loan he could tell them they didn't need a car loan. "Why do you need a new car? I'm still driving a 56 Buick". One day when I was out scrounging parts for my 54 Mercury I met a cowboy looking guy from out west with a very stock looking nice 56 Customline 2dr sedan. I asked him what engine, 292 or 312? He opens the hood and there was a 427 Ford! What a sleeper! Most of the 50's cars were off the road by the mid 60's due to rust in this area.

[1942deluxe]

55 toy.jpg
I decided I needed a 1955 Fairlane bank to save money after buying the real 55 Ford. Two things that seem to interest people when the car is out are it has a Fulton traffic light finder and curb feelers on the passenger side. Kind of a generational thing if they know what they are.

[Gene F]

Will that bank hold enough coin to pay for parts these days? LOL

[Daves55Sedan]

Originally Posted by Gene F

Will that bank hold enough coin to pay for parts these days? LOL

When I was a kid, I loved 1/24th scale plastic model cars. I built an AMT '55 Ford Crown Victoria, a Revell 1940 Ford pickup truck, an AMT '49 Merc 2-dr sedan and a Revell '48 Ford convertible.
I sat them all on top of my bedroom dresser and used them as piggy banks. When they overflowed, I started using shoeboxes and stored them on the bedroom closet floor. By the time I turned 16, I emptied all the piggy banks and shoeboxes and counted the money.
I had nearly $500.00. I had to save one more month to earn another $50 to buy my first car, a 1955 Ford sedan (my avatar).
But no, I don't think you could save enough money in piggy banks through childhood nowadays to pay cash for a 17 year old used car.

[c.murray]

I remember riding in the back seat of a 55 Ford on 400 Highway when it was gravel.

[Y-Blockhead]

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Originally Posted by Ole Don

Use your first winter to put on the power steering. Each piece can be rebuilt for a fair cost at Lares Steering in Cambridge Minnesota. They can be thrusted. The car takes on a whole new enjoyment with P/S and the auto trans. Your bride will drive the wheels off it.

Ford Granada power steering along with Granada power disc brakes are a relatively easy swap into a 55-56 Ford.

Years ago, I got a 1978 Granada and swapped out brakes, steering, rear end and adapted the C-4 transmission to a '57 312" into my '55 Ranchwagon.

[Daves55Sedan]

Originally Posted by 1942deluxe

I asked him what engine, 292 or 312? He opens the hood and there was a 427 Ford!

They can also be fairly easily outfitted with a 332, 352 or 390 with no major modifications and using original motor mounts. And, you don't have to break your back to get to the distributor on those. Do know what modifications if any were required for transmissions though.

[Gene F]

C-4 transmission. Interesting.

My 57 has a tri-power, and I sure enjoy it.

[1942deluxe]

56 mercury.jpg
If you look carefully you can see my Grandparents 56 Mercury Medalist in the background. This is the car that brought me home from the hospital when I was born. They bought it as a carryover after the 57's came out. No radio or clock.

[1942deluxe]

seat buttons.jpg
On Cathy's 55 Fairlane 3 of the front seat buttons were missing. I found some on Ebay but boy they weren't cheap. The tan ones are available if someone needs them. The packages had dates on them from 1955.

[mercman from oz]

NOS Upholstery Seat Buttons purchase by 1942deluxe for their 1955 Ford Fairlane

[sugarmaker]

Folks,
I got over to John's place to help him just a little with a stuck screw. While there I took some pictures of his very nice 55!










Regards,
Chris and Cheryl