1958 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner Convertible

The Ford retractable roof was originally developed for the limited-production Continental Mark II. With the price of the Mark II already so high, Ford decided against adding the retractable roof feature, as it would further inflate the price of a car that was already outlandishly expensive for its time. With an estimated $2 million already invested towards its development, Ford decided to apply the expensive new technology to their more affordable Fairlane model, giving birth to the 'Skyliner.' The promise of higher-volume production did a better job of amortizing the costs and improving feasibility.

During the three-year production run of the retractable hardtop, sales fell from 20,766 to 12,915, prompting Ford's decision to drop the Skyliner after the 1959 production run.

The Skyliner used a complex mechanism that folded the front edge of the roof and then retracted the entire roof under the rear deck-lid. Unlike conventional convertibles which used hydraulics, the Skyliners used a combination of seven reversible electric motors (only six for 1959 models), four lift jacks, multiple relays, ten limit switches, ten solenoids, four locking mechanisms for the roof, two more for the trunk lid, and a total of over 600 feet of wiring! When retracted, the large top consumed nearly all the cargo space. A special tub was provided to keep luggage from interfering with the operation of the top.

The 1958 version featured quad headlamps for the first time and its styling was closely related to the all-new 1958 Thunderbird. Although the power retractable top was complicated and expensive to manufacture, sales were initially strong. 14,713 Skyliners were produced in 1958.

This Skyliner has been in the same family/friends since the mid-1960s, traded between brothers, and a 20-year stint of ownership by a close family in Canada. In 2006 the car, which had been totally disassembled since the early 1980s, was re-purchased by the current family and carried to Hill's Automotive for a concours restoration, completed late in 2007. It is powered by its original first-year FE-series big-block 332 cubic-inch V8 engine and 3-speed manual transmission.