Show Flyers and Info

1950 FORD CRESTLINER

In 1972 my wife (Nancy) and I were at a car show with our 1947 Chevrolet and got parked beside a Coronation Red and Black 1950 Crestliner. It had been all restored and Nancy fell in love with it but the owner said he would not sell it. On the way home I told her that I thought there was one parked beside an outbuilding that I pass commuting to and from work not more than 5 miles from where we live. I promised her I would stop and look at it the next day.

Going by the location I was shocked to see the car was gone. When I got home I had to tell her it was gone. Needless to say she was quite disappointed. The next day when I drove by I thought I saw the front of it hiding behind the outbuilding. He had moved it! I stopped to get a better look. It was pretty sad looking.

There was no grill, it had 49 front fenders, the bottom of the doors had rust holes, the rocker panels were pretty much gone, the rear quarters were badly rusted, it had some floor rot, both bumpers were rusty, the interior was shot, the vinyl top material was badly cracked, and the flathead V8 engine was from a different year. In addition the Sportsman’s Green was so faded and bleached out that the car didn’t come anywhere close to the one we had just seen, but this one was for sale. The owner said he had bought NOS (New Old Stock) rear quarters to install and later found out they were for a convertible so he would sell the car.

Knowing that you don’t find a lot of Crestliners around, figured the quarters could be made to work and his price wasn’t too bad with the new quarters so I decided to take a chance on it. I Went back the next day and after getting the engine to run I drove it home. Nancy followed and said we must have killed every mosquito in the area with all the smoke spewing out the tailpipe.

I parked it behind our house and covered it with a tarp. Then over the next few years I would buy anything I thought was needed including a correct engine. In 1979 I started to work on car by welding new metal patches in the floor. At that time one could not buy ready-made replacement floor pieces. When the welding fumes got too bad I would step out to get some fresh air. Getting back in I would say to myself “I don’t remember seeing those holes before”. It turned out I was literally breaking up more floor when welding the patches. The sound deadening material sprayed on the floor by the factory was about the only thing holding the floor together.

We were pretty discouraged and about ready to give up on the project until another car enthusiast told me about a junkyard in Colorado that most likely would have a rust-free floor for the car. He comes to Hershey every year with rust -free parts. Since we live within fifteen miles of his traveling route I decided to call him. Yes he had a car with front end damage and no drive train. He would cut the floor starting halfway up the firewall keeping the rockers and wheel wells ending at the back of the trunk lip. He would put that floor pan on the bottom of his trailer and pile other stuff on top for selling at Hershey. If I would help him unload all the stuff to get at the pan he would deliver to my house for $300.00. Of course I readily agreed and sent him a check. It turned out that he showed up without calling me to be sure I would be there to help. I came home from work and found the pan sitting beside my garage. After turning it over and hosing some dried mud off, the red factory primer was still very visible. I did not expect something this nice.

I installed the rust-free pan, NOS front fenders, NOS doors, the NOS rear quarters, NOS trunk lid, NOS chrome items, the correct interior materials, rebuilt the correct motor, rebuilt the front and rear suspension and painted the car the factory colors of Sportman Green and Black. It was finished in 1985

Some of the Crestliner’s standard features were:

100 HP V-8 engine, Special two –tone dash, special four spoke steering wheel with full chrome horn ring, fender skirts, special full-wheel covers, plus numerous other small Crestliner only items. Crestliners also came with a padded vinyl material over an all steel top. Ford was the first manufacturer to do so.

Our car has the following “extra cost” items:

White sidewall tires, oil bath air cleaner, oil filter, overdrive, radio, magic air heater.

Our car was first shown in competition at the Hershey AACA meet in 1985 and was awarded a First Junior. It received the Senior Award in 1986, Grand National winner in 1988, Senior Grand National winner in 2000 and a repeat Grand National winner this past spring.

The car was trailered only once and that was to its’ first show at Hershey in 1985. Since then it has been driven as far north to Maine, west to Michigan, and south to N. Carolina.

Although it was a long and difficult restoration we certainly have enjoyed the car.

Dick Black