The automobile featured in this article is a great looking 1957 Ford Fairlane Convertible.
The Ford Fairlane was produced between 1955 and 1970. The automobile was named after Henry Ford’s 56 room, 31,000 square foot Fair Lane estate in Dearborn, Michigan, a Detroit suburb.
According to HenryFordEstate.org….. The estate along the Rouge River included a hydro-electric powerhouse and dam, a greenhouse, a working farm built to scale for their grandchildren, an indoor pool, skating house, staff cottages, bowling alley, and a pony barn, as well as a private garage and laboratory for Henry. The vast gardens and landscape were designed by famed architect Jens Jensen”.
The 1957 Ford Fairlane / New Style and Improved Power
The 1957 model year was a good one. All of the major automakers were adding new designs and the era of car fins was in full stride. Just prior to 1957 Chevrolet was known as the car with styling and performance. The 1957 model year upset this to a degree. Ford introduced what some might say was the most beautiful automobile of the decade. The Ford Fairlane was completely restyled for 1957. The Fairlane had a bigger, weightier and sportier new body, with a lower-profile “cowbelly” frame. The Ford Fairlane didn’t have as much chrome as the Pontiac or Chevrolet but the car looked futuristic in many ways.
The combination of the new body style, smaller wheels, and newly designed chassis lowered the total height of the car by four inches and lowered the center of gravity.
Along with great styling, the Ford Fairlane received increased power with it’s Y-block engine. The successor to the Flathead engine, the Ford Y-block V-8 engine delivered far better performance. The 57 Y-block engine was found under Ford’s first hood that opened from the back end of it.
Trim lines for 1957 included the base “Custom”, “Custom 300”, “Fairlane”, and the top of the line “Fairlane 500”. The two “Custom” trims offered were built on a 116.0 inch wheelbase.