Ford Customline

The Ford Customline is an automobile that was produced by Ford in the United States for model years 1952 to 1956.[1]

First generation: 1952 to 1954

First generation: 1952 to 1954

1954 Ford Customline Fordor Sedan
Overview
Manufacturer Ford
Production 1952-1954
Assembly Chester, Pennsylvania
Long Beach, California
Saint Paul, Minnesota
United States
Australia [2]
Body and chassis
Class Full-size
Body style 2-door sedan [1]
4-door sedan [1]
2-door coupé [1]
2-door station wagon [1]
4-door station wagon [1]
Layout FR layout

1952

The Ford Customline was introduced in 1952 as the mid-range model in that year’s US Ford range, positioned below the Ford Crestline and above the Ford Mainline.[1] It was offered in 2-door sedan, 4-door sedan, 2-door coupé & 4-door station wagon body styles.[1] The coupe was marketed as the Club Coupe [1] and the station wagon as the Customline Country Sedan.[3] 1952 Customlines were available with 215 cid inline six-cylinder or 239 cid V8 engines.[1] Production totaled 402,542 units.[1]

1953

The 1953 Customlines utilized the 1952 bodies with only minor changes.[1] Production totaled 761,662 units.[1]

1954

The 1954 Customlines utilized the 1952-53 bodies with only minor changes.[1] The Customline range now included a new 2-door Ranch Wagon.[4] Engines were now 223 cid inline six-cylinder or 239 cid overhead valve V8.[1] 1954 Customline production totaled 674,295 units.[1] Some historians suppose that at 1956 the Soviet car designer Lev Eremeyev studied the design Ford Customline for ideas to create the new Soviet automobile GAZ-21 "Volga".

Second generation: 1955 to 1956

Second generation: 1955 to 1956

1956 Ford Customline Victoria
Overview
Production 1955-1956
Assembly Chester, Pennsylvania
Long Beach, California
Saint Paul, Minnesota
United States
Australia [2]
Body and chassis
Class Full-size
Body style 2-door sedan [1]
4-door sedan [1]
2-door hardtop coupe [1]
Layout FR layout

1955

The 1955 Customline was redesigned with new longer, lower and wider bodies.[1] It continued as the mid range trim level, now positioned below the new Ford Fairlane and above the Ford Mainline.[1] It was offered in 2-door sedan and 4-door sedan body styles only,[1] with the wagons now included in their own series which comprised the Ford Ranch Wagon, Ford Country Sedan and Ford Country Squire.[1] Customlines were available with 223 cid inline six-cylinder or 272 cid V8 engines.[1] 1955 Customline production totaled 471,992 units.[1]

1956

The 1956 Customlines utilized the 1955 bodies with only minor changes.[1] A Customline Victoria 2-door hardtop was added to the range.[1] 1956 Customline production totaled 368,653 units.[1]

The Customline was not carried over to the 1957 model year.[5]

Australian production

The Customline was also produced by Ford Australia from 1952 to 1959.[2] Cars were assembled using Australian built bodies and imported chassis kits which included all front sheet metal.[6] In addition to the Customline sedan, a limited number of station wagons [7] and the Australian developed Mainline Coupe Utility were produced.[6]

The 1952 model was updated in 1953 and 1954 along the lines of the US Fords.[8] All were powered by the Flathead V8 which went into Australian production in 1952.[8] This included the 1954 model which was fitted with the older engine rather than the new overhead valve Y-block V8 which had been introduced in the US for 1954.[9]

The 1955 body was used for four model series in Australia.[10] The 1955 model was powered by the overhead valve Y-block V8 which had entered partial Australian production with locally sourced components.[9] The 1956 model featured the 1956 US Customline grille, 12 volt electrics and a new Fordomatic automatic transmission option.[9] The 1957 model retained the 1956 body but featured a large V8 badge positioned in the grille and utilized 1956 Ford Fairlane trim.[8] The 1958 model used the 1955 Canadian Meteor grille with a four-pointed star and 1956 Meteor side trim.[8] The 1958 ‘star model’ was badged as either a Customline or as a Fordomatic [9][11] Production ended in September 1959 with the introduction of Australian assembled 1959 Fairlane 500, Custom 300 and Ranch Wagon models.[10] An estimated 18,000 examples of the 1955-1959 sedan were produced.[12]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 John Gunnell, Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946–1975, Revised 4th Edition, pages 389-397
  2. 1 2 3 1952-59 Ford Customline: Blue-Collar American becomes an Upper-Crust Aussie, www.shannons.com.au Retrieved on 8 November 2013
  3. ↑ Ford 6 page sales brochure for 1952 Customline Country Sedan and Crestline Country Squire
  4. ↑ 1954 Ford brochure, www.oldcarbrochures.com Retrieved on 9 November 2013
  5. ↑ John Gunnell, Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946–1975, Revised 4th Edition, pages 397-399
  6. 1 2 Eddie Ford, The Australian OHV Ford Mainline Coupe Utility, Restored Cars #198, Jan-Feb 2010, pages 51-53
  7. ↑ Norm Darwin, The History of Ford in Australia, 1986, pages 137
  8. 1 2 3 4 Norm Darwin, The History of Ford in Australia, 1986, pages 126-131
  9. 1 2 3 4 Aussie originals: Ford Customline, www.uniquecarsmag.com.au Retrieved on 11 November 2013
  10. 1 2 The Australian 1959-60 Ford Fairlane, Restored Cars No. 84, pages 4-6
  11. ↑ Ford Motor Company of Australia advertisement for the 1958 Ford V8 Customline and Ford V8 Fordomatic, www.flickr.com Retrieved on 11 November 2013
  12. ↑ Ford Customline, www.motoring.com.au Retrieved on 11 November 2013
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