Ford built 1,250,000 vehicles in 1953, of which 40,000 were Crestline convertibles. They were worth $2,200 brand new. Of the range available in 1953, Ford imported the Mainline Ute and the Customline sedan into Australia, but not the Crestline which was the top of the Ford range and wasn’t built in right-hand drive. 

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This particular car was part of the Jeffery Day collection in Texas, a huge private collection of ‘best of category’ Ford cars and was sold at auction in 2014 to a collector in Brisbane. The Brisbane owner enjoyed the breezy lifestyle that comes with a car like this and managed to put a few more miles on the clock in the last number of years. 

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After owning a 1931 Model A Ford for 20 years, I decided it was time for something a little easier to drive. I sold the Model A and went looking for a replacement on Carsales.com. I set my search terms for “classic” and my date range between 1950 to 1970, and up popped an interesting range of cars, including this one. I had never heard of a Crestline, and it caught my eye. After a bit of back and forth with the seller and an independent inspection it was on a truck bound for WA. 

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I picked it up from the depot with a couple of friends so we could enjoy the drive home with the top down. The driver’s door flew open at the first corner, and none of us remembered to bring a hat, so we arrived at my garage after a white-knuckle drive with three serious cases of sunburn. 

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It’s a smooth, easy drive, with a slow revving side valve V8 engine with lots of torque and a ‘three on the tree’ transmission. Interestingly, the engine has two water pumps and two temperature gauge sender units as the flathead V8 has separate water jackets, one for each bank, not interconnected. It currently has an embarrassingly noisy powered convertible roof which I plan to change to a hydraulic one with a kit readily available in the US, for hardly anything.

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Since purchasing the car, I’ve dealt with a plethora of small problems including a complete wiring harness replacement, which means I no longer have to disconnect the battery at the end of each outing, or drive with one hand on the fire extinguisher! But the car is finally coming together as a reliable cruiser that will accommodate my whole family.