Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Castro Valley Street Sighting - 1956 Ford Customline Tudor Sedan


One of my favorite cars of the 1950s is the '56 Ford lineup. A long time ago I featured a stock '56 Fairlane Victoria hardtop with the Thunderbird V8. Now we look at a modified Customline two-door sedan.

The Customline was the mid-range model in the Ford lineup and could be had in a range of body styles including a two- or four-door pillared sedan, Victoria hardtop coupe or two-door Custom Ranch Wagon. The Customline features fewer options and less chrome trim than the Fairlane but more than the base Mainline. They could be ordered with a Mileage Maker 223 six-cylinder, or a 272 or new 292 cubic inch Y-block V8, but not the 312 Thunderbird Special V8 reserved for the Fairlanes. This would be the final year for the Customline model in the United States.

This one is a V8 car with a three-speed. It's been customized, lowered on stock steel wheels with whitewall tires. The door handles and rear end emblems are shaved, the headlight bezels are chromed and custom taillight bezels with a slightly curved shape (identified as 1960 Dodge units by an anonymous commenter, thanks!) replace the standard flat round units. The stock grille is painted and dual rectangular exhaust outlets protrude from the rear. Interior looks pretty much stock and intact, and the chrome is good all the way around. The body, on the other hand, has had some rust repair and is looking for a repaint. At the time I saw it (July 2013) the owner was asking $8500 for it including all the original parts. Not too bad for a budget mild custom in running condition.

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