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Topic starter
08/03/2022 10:01 am
FORD'S DREAMSICLE
While waiting for my coffee to brew this morning, I was folding some shirts from the dryer. One of them was orange that I wear often, as orange is one of my favorite colors. When seeing it, a childhood memory came to me. I was 5 years old watching an ice-cream truck drive slowly down the street, ringing it's bell on a summer night. My Dad gave me a dime to buy a "Dreamsicle". It was orange sherbet and vanilla ice-cream frozen on a stick and it was soooo good! While enjoying that Dreamsicle, a convertible that was orange and white came up behind the truck. I pointed to it and said, "there's a Dreamsicle car"! That color combination has forever been a favorite since.
At the time of course I wasn't aware of Ford's popular Sunliner Convertible's, but later learned that they were a mainstay in the Ford line-up for a decade. Debuting in 1952 as part of the Crestline series it sold for a hefty $2,215 with a production run of 22,534. Their popularity was immediate and in '53 the production increased to 40,861 of them with a price tag of $2,230. Quite a price hike those days. Production for model year '54 was a little less with 36,685 coming off the assembly line and again the price jumped about $15.
In 1955, the Crestline series was phased out and replaced by the Fairlane, which offered 8 models including the popular Sunliner Convertible with a whopping production run of 49,966 and surprisingly a slightly lower price of $2,224. Seems America couldn't get enough of their convertibles, and especially those Sunliners, because in 1956 Ford cranked up the production, putting out 58,147 of them, even though the cost was now up to $2,460.
When 1957 dawned, a little bit of the convertible rage shifted to the all-new and very different "Retractable" Hardtop which was a mid-season offering. It had an extended trunk making room for the metal top of the car to fold into the trunk. It was Ford's most expensive car of the year selling for $2,942 with over 20,700 of them produced. But even the excitement over the Retractable wasn't overshadowed by the Sunliner which remained the preferred convertible from Ford. There were 77,728 of them for the production year at a cost of $2,505 each.
For 1958, a recession year, the Sunliner took a hit with the cost up to $2,660 and production down by over half from the previous year, with only 35,000 produced. The Sunliner series would continue for another four years, with those 50's versions being the most remembered by me because of their spectacular two-tone color schemes that reflected a "foot loose and fancy free" environment that in hindsight I now look fondly on.
A warm summer night, a nice cold Dreamsicle, and a "Dreamsicle Car" making me smile as I sip my coffee. The day is off to a great start!
George Schire
Oakdale, Minnesota
08/03/2022 10:28 am
Is it Dreamsicle or Creamsicle?
Regardless of semantics, creamsicle, dreamsicle, or otherwise, it’s delicious
https://thedairyalliance.com/blog/is-it-dreamsicle-or-creamsicle/
Frank Reed
Chesapeake, VA
Jack Dodds and Jack Dodds reacted
08/03/2022 11:19 am
I love the vibrant colors of the fifties. I'm glad that DM did the Victoria in this color combination...a real prize in my collection.
Jack Dodds and Jack Dodds reacted
Topic starter
08/03/2022 12:38 pm
Is it Dreamsicle or Creamsicle?
Regardless of semantics, creamsicle, dreamsicle, or otherwise, it’s delicious
https://thedairyalliance.com/blog/is-it-dreamsicle-or-creamsicle/
Actually both! But the Dreamsicle is the one I remember.
George Schire
Oakdale, Minnesota
Topic starter
08/03/2022 12:40 pm
I love the vibrant colors of the fifties. I'm glad that DM did the Victoria in this color combination...a real prize in my collection.
Absolutely agree! It is one of DM's best and glad I have it.
George Schire
Oakdale, Minnesota
Jack Dodds and Jack Dodds reacted
Topic starter
08/03/2022 5:04 pm
Thanks for this George! The Sunliners were just beautiful cars; especially in the 2-tone heyday of 55-59. My fave year is 1956.
It's those outstanding two-tone color combos that were so eye-catching. The '55's and '56's are especially beautiful, as in my orange/white example in my post above.
George Schire
Oakdale, Minnesota