My conclusion is that the Customline design was better than the Fairlane's. The case is presented in the Gallery below. Images are of cars listed for sale or are of unknown source, unless noted.
Ford did not offer a hardtop coupe on its 1955 Customline series, so this two-door sedan will have to represent one. Side chrome trim is simply a horizontal strip.
This is Ford's '55 hardtop coupe. The chrome side trim was used as a color separator for two-tone schemes. Its J-shape has always struck me as being both awkward and arbitrary -- not relating to the basic body design. Due to Ford's large production volume (it was number two in sales that year), that trim motif told Americans what Fords were expected to look like: to this day, that J-trim screams 1955-56 Ford.
Crown Victorias were not hardtop coupes thanks to the large B-pillar. Yet the term "Victoria" was used by Ford marketers. I include this photo because the roofline and upper window profiles were used in 1956 for all Ford Victorias.
1956 Fairlanes retained the J-strip, but in modified form. The downward curve is less extreme, placing the inflection point farther aft. The horizontal section is wider and ribbed. Note the new roofline from the '55 Crown Victoria.
Customline now has a hardtop coupe with the same passenger compartment greenhouse as the Fairlane's. Lacking is the broad chrome strip over the windows, resulting in this cleaner design. The most important improvement is the side trim: no J-shape. I think '56 Customlines were more attractive than Fairlanes. That said, the design of the side trim would have been better were the after extension of the front segment eliminated. But that was in the mid-1950s when American car styling was getting too elaborate.
Now for a few non- side view comparisons.
The side trim of the Customline is better related to body details such as the headlight assembly "frenching." This car would look even better without the side two-toning.
The wide, ribbed horizontal chrome strip almost aligns with trail lights, but not quite.
Here the after side strip aligns with the body sculpting, a better solution than the Fairlane's.
3 comments:
The green and white 1956 Ford Customline Victoria in the 3/4 shot is wrong in several ways. The green color is not original. The chrome over the headlight bezel is from 1955 - all 1956s were plain. And those Kelsey-Hayes style wire wheels are what every gussied up fifties car for sale seems to have but were dealer installed if not aftermarket except for a few models like on some Thunderbirds or Chrysler 300s (there's a factory photo of a '55 with them).
The whole chromey side trim on 50's cars is an interesting issue. There was usually little or no body sculpture to motivate any of it (more for Fords from 1957 on), but it's often right anyway. Those "stylists" were artists.
The original Thunderbirds were going to have the Fairlane swoop but it got changed to fake louvers with a bit of sculpting at the last minute. For that model it was a good call.
The '55-56 Crown Victorias obviously had a B column, but the front door windows were hardtop/convertible style.
My uncle had a '52 and then a '55 Customline. It was in between the obviously poverty spec Mainline and the obviously I-bought-the-expensive-one Fairlane. The Goldilocks just right bowl of porridge. Similar model levels exist in many cars today with even exterior trim or grille differences but it's way more subtle and takes an expert observer to know one from another or even what the SE or whatever badge on the back means, if there is one.
emjayjay - Sorry that I missed the chromed bezel detail. Getting images from the Internet can be problematical -- I'm torn between finding a particular car model and viewpoint on the one hand and authenticity on the other. Sometimes compromise must be tolerated. I do have more authentic images of Customline hardtops, but the one I posted had a better mix of front and side than the others, even though I suspected the color scheme was off. Where possible, I avoid showing cars with factory (or post-market) accessories such as metal sunshades, Continental kits, and even spats over rear wheel openings. Quite often, photos of classic cars from auction houses show vehicles with fairly recent paint-jobs that might not be authentic, but the views are necessary for the points I want to make. Again, compromise.
All that said, I still make mistakes due to ignorance or sloth. However, I'm annoyed that I got a 1956 detail wrong, 'cause that's the era I know best from personal experience. Sigh.
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