Three '51 Ford Crestliners for Sale in IA

[Hudsy Wudsy]

I'm a little surprised that I'm posting ads for post-war Ford products today, because they aren't my favorite cars, but you don't see that many Crestliners, and I thought that maybe a few of you might not be familiar with them. Crestliners were fairly highly stylized '50 and '51 two-doors. I'll post a link to the ad offering the three cars for sale in eastern Iowa and also a link to an additional article about Crestliners in general:

https://desmoines.craigslist.org/cto/d/mount-union-ford-crestliner-shoebox-v8/7135709042.html

 

 

Autoweek article about them:

 

https://www.autoweek.com/a2010296/1950-ford-crestliner-design-lesson/

Edited June 24, 2020 by Hudsy Wudsy (see edit history)

[1912Staver]

Sounds somewhat optimistic on the pricing. All 3 are quite rough . An unusual model but for that sort of money I would be looking for one at least running convertible rather than 3 rough closed cars.

I always had a soft spot for this era of Ford, my Father had a standard model, 1949 ,4 door sedan when I was a young boy.The first car I have any memories of. Later replaced by a 54  sedan and eventually a early Falcon 2 door wagon.

Nothing fancy, just cheap used car transportation for the family.

 

Greg in Canada

Edited June 24, 2020 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[Hudsy Wudsy]

12 minutes ago, 1912Staver said:

Sounds somewhat optimistic on the pricing. All 3 are quite rough . An unusual model but for that sort of money I would be looking for one at least running convertible rather than 3 rough closed cars.

I always had a soft spot for this era of Ford, my Father had a standard 4 door sedan when I was a young boy.The first car I have any memories of. Later replaced by a 54  sedan and eventually a early Falcon 2 door wagon.

Nothing fancy, just cheap used car transportation for the family.

 

Greg in Canada

Greg, I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I hardly paid any attention to the prices. I guess that I just thought that maybe some guys would find them unique if they hadn't seen them before. I can't recall if they offered a convertible in this package. If you look closely at the odd colored one, you'll see that it has a vinyl roof. Do any of you find the "shoebox" label as pointless as I do?

Edited June 24, 2020 by Hudsy Wudsy (see edit history)

[JamesR]

17 minutes ago, 1912Staver said:

Sounds somewhat optimistic on the pricing. All 3 are quite rough . An unusual model but for that sort of money I would be looking for one at least running convertible rather than 3 rough closed cars.

I always had a soft spot for this era of Ford, my Father had a standard model, 1949 ,4 door sedan when I was a young boy.The first car I have any memories of. Later replaced by a 54  sedan and eventually a early Falcon 2 door wagon.

Nothing fancy, just cheap used car transportation for the family.

 

Greg in Canada

 

 

He should sell them separately. $3600 a piece is going to be a lot more appealing than 11 grand for all three. And who has space for three more projects?

Edited June 24, 2020 by JamesR (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

That's the problem people don't understand with collecting.  Your pile of stuff is worth alot more piece by piece at lower prices than as one huge pile for a large number , which many buyers do not have.   Most collectors don't need or want everything you have,  so they are reducing the value of what you have by what they don't want or need.  

[TerryB]

I’m pretty sure the vinyl top was a standard feature on this unusual trim package.  The shoebox description seems to fit the rectangular shape of these cars.

[Hudsy Wudsy]

1 hour ago, TerryB said:

I’m pretty sure the vinyl top was a standard feature on this unusual trim package.  The shoebox description seems to fit the rectangular shape of these cars.

I was pretty sure about the vinyl roof until I saw the blue one in this group. I guess that maybe someone removed it at some point. Yeah, I know about the shoe box meaning, I just get tired of seeing it.

[TerryB]

I’ve seen the term used to describe 1953-54 Chevrolets too but not as often as the Fords.  I wonder when and who started that name?  

[m-mman]

3 hours ago, auburnseeker said:

Your pile of stuff is worth alot more piece by piece at lower prices than as one huge pile for a large number ,

 

I think the rule of thumb for quantity discounts is that the more you buy, the less you pay. 

And when you bring together multiple copies of rare items, then suddenly they are no longer rare. . . . 

[Hudsy Wudsy]

2 hours ago, TerryB said:

I’ve seen the term used to describe 1953-54 Chevrolets too but not as often as the Fords.  I wonder when and who started that name?  

"Crestliner" was the name used in '50 and '51, but "Crestline" was used by Ford from '52 to '54. More than you'd ever want to know on Wiki:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Crestline

[58L-Y8]

The 1950-'51 Ford Crestliners were a paint and trim doll-up of the standard two door sedan in an effort to compete with the new-for-1950 Chevrolet Bel Air hardtop.  In addition to the sweep-panel trim and contrasting paint, the vinyl-padded top, the interiors were done in the convertible style.  They proved fairly popular, so held over even when the '51 Victoria hardtop arrived.  FoMoCo outfitted Mercury with the Monterey, Lincoln with the Lido and Lincoln Cosmopolitan with the Capri done the same way to compete with GM and Mopar hardtops. 

[m-mman]

14 hours ago, 58L-Y8 said:

FoMoCo outfitted Mercury with the Monterey, Lincoln with the Lido and Lincoln Cosmopolitan with the Capri done the same way to compete with GM and Mopar hardtops. 

 

It is difficult to imagine a buyer who is shopping for the latest style in a luxury automobile, thinking that a 1950-1 Lincoln 2 door sedan with a vinyl top was more attractive than a Cadillac Coupe DeVille or a Chrysler-Imperial Newport. And a medium price buyer comparing the Monterey to a Pontiac Catalina. . . . . ?

Tough times for style at L-M dealers. 

[58L-Y8]

2 hours ago, m-mman said:

 

It is difficult to imagine a buyer who is shopping for the latest style in a luxury automobile, thinking that a 1950-1 Lincoln 2 door sedan with a vinyl top was more attractive than a Cadillac Coupe DeVille or a Chrysler-Imperial Newport. And a medium price buyer comparing the Monterey to a Pontiac Catalina. . . . . ?

Tough times for style at L-M dealers. 

Indeed!  L-M dealers were fortune to have a Mercury which was finally more than a dolled-up Ford, though the lack of a real 1950-'51 Monterey hardtop built off the convertible body was inexcusable.   As for Lincoln, it was up against it with the hot OHV Cadillac and Hemi Imperial; an F-8 truck-sourced flathead wasn't going to cut it anymore.  In the Cosmopolitan's defense, it had one of the most elegant sedan or coupe greenhouse treatments of any at the time short of the hardtops.