Used 1956 Ford Fairlane

1956 Ford Fairlane Crown Victoria 2 Door Hardtop Named for Henry Ford's Dearborn estate, Ford's premium Fairlane line debuted alongside the original Thunderbird for 1955. These new top of the line cars helped Ford record its best sales year since 1923. The big Ford was available in three levels of trim, the base Mainline models, the intermediate level Customline, and the top of the line Fairlane. All models came with the standard six cylinder and optional V8 power. Motor Trend named the entire Ford line its Car of the Year for 1956. Ford manufactured in excess of 1.4 million units for the model year. Thx to Hagerty and RM Sotheby's For consignment, a 1956 Ford Fairlane Crown Victoria 2 door hardtop showing 1,275 miles, but the true miles are unknown due to a title exemption and faulty odometer. This example was restored in the late 80's and is now packing the heart of a Mustang, fuel injection and all! Exterior The Peacock Blue paint neatly covers the roof, unique hood scoop, and vertical surfaces where sweeping side trim sends an ever widening band from the front fenders, down to the door where it then bounces to trail straight back to the tail. Splitting the blue roof is the epic picnic basket band of chrome supported visually by the broad trim around the cabin. Subtle fins top a Thunderbird like rear fascia with a bold, chrome bumper with exhaust ports and continental kit while Colonial White covers the hood and points north of the side spear. 15-inch wheels share the blue and white motif with painted steel, white wall tires, and red crested Ford hubcaps. Imperfections include paint chips throughout including touched up chips, cracking paint, various in shades of white, areas of bubbling throughout, various inclusions, some slightly rusty window trim, rust staining under several trim pieces, evidence of filler, light pitting in the bumper, and dull plating on the other. Interior The color palette continues on the inside where the blue alternates with bright white on the door panels in a pattern that exemplifies the 50's, and both present nicely. What comes unexpectedly are the bucket seats up front, here in white leather and flanking a center console and there's a rear bench in all white as well and all seats are in nice shape and really pop against the black carpeted floor. Up front, the two tone steering wheel mixes aqua with white and fronts a custom dash with Classic Instruments gauges in a bright, white faceplate. The glossy blue dash hovers over vent levers and an AM/FM/CD radio while the center console exhibits deco style adornment in blue and white and houses Ford branded shifter in a rubber boot. The white perforated headliner above is in great shape and of course, hosts the bottom side of the picnic basket trim. Other than a single spot of surface rust, the trunk is clean and rust free. Drivetrain The Mustang 5.0 liter V8 looks right at home in the engine bay and has fuel injection with a Holley Systemax intake. It's mated to a Ford AOD 4-speed automatic transmission sending power to the Ford 9 in back with 3.22 gears. Power steering and power brakes are on board and the engine bay presents cleanly. Undercarriage Things look good underneath although we find some flaking rust on the lower pans and on the inner rocker panels. There's also a bit of grunge build up on the differential. Dual exhaust runs through FlowMaster mufflers before making that epic exit out the bumper ports. Power disc brakes are found up front and power drums in back and suspension consists of coil springs in front and leaf springs in back. Drive-Ability Our test drive starts out well and the car delivers good power, but we notice the engine loading up on several occasions. We also note a clunk in the front when going through a tight turn at low speed. Finally, the speedometer and odometer work sporadically and the brake lights are not illuminating. Beyond these things, the interior is a bright, pleasant place to