Whereas Lincolns started getting trendy overhead-valve V8 engines for the 1952 mannequin yr, their Ford-badged brethren needed to make do with the antiquated flathead V8 by way of 1953. Lastly, the Ford Y-Block V8 appeared within the 1954 Fords, and at the moment’s Junkyard Gem is among the first vehicles to obtain that engine. This automobile at present resides in a self-service yard in Denver, Colorado.
Fords went to one-piece curved windshields and this physique model for the 1952 mannequin yr, and these vehicles had been accessible as two- and four-door sedans, wagons, coupes, convertibles, sedan deliveries and utes (that final kind solely in Australia, sadly).
The U.S.-market trim ranges included (from least to most prestigious) the Mainline, Customline and Crestline.
The one approach to get a 1954 Ford as a hardtop coupe was to purchase a Crestline, both a glass-roof Skyliner or a steel-roof Victoria. Ford had been utilizing the Victoria identify since approach again in 1932, however did not get round to promoting Crown Victorias till 1956.
The 1954 Crestline Victoria with V8 engine had an MSRP of $2,131, or about $24,889 in 2024 {dollars}.
Oldsmobile and Cadillac had been bolting OHV V8 engines into their vehicles for the reason that 1949 mannequin yr, however Ford beat the low-priced competitors by a yr with the Y-Block. Chevrolet launched its soon-to-be-legendary small-block V8 for 1955, with Plymouth getting the “semi-Hemi” pushrod V8 the identical yr.
If that is the unique engine, it is a 239-cubic-inch (3.9-liter) model rated at 130 horsepower, beating its 239-cube flathead predecessor by 20 horses. It is a bit jarring to see a Ford pushrod V8 engine with the distributor within the rear.
The Y-Block proved to be one thing of an evolutionary useless finish, however it was dependable on the road and stayed in manufacturing in the USA by way of 1965 (although just for vans after 1960).
This automobile has the bottom three-speed column-shift handbook transmission. A 3-speed Ford-O-Matic automated transmission was accessible for an additional $184 ($2,149 after inflation).
Probably the most attention-grabbing options of the 1954 Ford was the “Astra-Dial” speedometer face. This put the speedometer above the extent of the dashboard and allowed daylight to light up the dial throughout the day.
This automobile could be very tough, however there are nonetheless loads of good elements to be pulled from it.
The ’54 Ford on this industrial was loaded with nearly each costly choice.
Ford racked up higher than 1,000,000 gross sales for 1954.
