worth

[57AGIN]

Well guess I'll put my 2 cents in on the show judging thing.  Out here in So Cal most of the shows we attend with our driver type of cars are not judged from a Concours standpoint, meaning not using professional or even knowledgable judges.  Most of our shows are judged by the participants and some even by spectators.  So when I'm at a show and responsible for judging the cars, if the hood of a car is closed it won't get my vote.  Also, if someone trys to open my doors, etc., he might be picking himself off the ground (as I generally keep my camera out of sight behind the front seat).  We generally keep to the policy that unless you are NAKED, don't touch our cars unless invited to do so.  I hope I'm not off base here and sounding like a grouch, as I really do enjoy taking my 57 to shows and talking to the people with questions or to help them get a closer look.

Bob
57 AGIN

[JimNolan]

Bob,
  You're right. Most of the judging that goes on at the car shows in Northern Indiana are the same as your shows. The bigger shows 200+ cars will have about 5 or 6 judges and each will take one area to judge, paint, engine, interior etc. That makes it a little more professional and they try to use knowledgable judges. I wouldn't go to an open show participant judging event unless you drive a GM product and you're a member of the car club putting on the show.
  The car show event that I liked most was the participant judging at the Ford Nationals in Carlise,Pa. When you registered your Ford for the show you got a sheet of paper that listed every class at the show and where that class was located on the grounds. There's so many classes that you'd be hard pressed to vote for every class. You then mark which car you liked the best, be it 64-66 Mustangs or 55-57 T-Birds. The participants at that show had a Ford product on display there. Weren't no chevys or chryslers. I'm going back again this year as well as going down to see James this year at the gulf coast cruise. That's not a car show unless you want to spend your day at one place shining on it for an award. There's so much to do and places to go there that I don't think many people are interested enough in a trophy to sacrifice cruising to the different towns along the shore.
  As far as the retracts go, I too am not impressed seeing them. But you know, I haven't been to a car show yet that I haven't heard some kid say " hey Mom, look at that car". If I had one I'd probably be doing the same thing. Jim

[Bubba]

Bros:
Just my $.02 worth, but I agree with everyone whose posted on this thread.
Tri 5 Chevy Cars are a drug on the market, overpublicised and overexposed.
Granted their owners, who've done their own work, have much to be proud of but they've become almost kit cars, you can buy anything aftermarket for a Tri 5 Chevy.  When was the last time you saw a new aftermarket 57 Ford grill for sale?
Now Tri 5 Fords are fewer, more difficult to obtain parts for and rarely seen on the auction shows on TV.
My personal preference for flip tops is the rag top any day, but that's just my preference.
Also for 50's cars, love 55-56 Mercs, 53-58 Studes and Shoebox Fords.  Have always loved the Ford Engine in a Ford car, way too many folks out there dropping SBC's in anything with wheels 
BTW anyone seen any of the articles in the Hot rod publications where they've started calling Tri 5 Chevies Shoeboxes?  It may just be a regional thing but when I was a youngn in the North East, Shoeboxes were 49-51 Fords, All Chevies were Stovebolts....
I don't work on my 57 to make money on it, I work on my 57 for the same reason we all do its a labor of love.
BuBBa

[Zapato]

Bubba, this is how it went in my neighborhood.

First time I heard anyone refer to a 55-7 chev as a shoebox was on the cover of Rod & Custom, believe the article was by Pat Ganahl and the car was a bright yellow 55. Where I grew up a Merc was only a 49-51 Merc, a 56 Mercury was a 56 Mercury, A woodie was a 49-51 Ford station wagon, anything else followed the Mercury rule so it would be for example a 40 Ford woodie, and a shoebox was nothing else but a 49-51 ford passenger car in all its variants except the previously mentioned woodies. And Chevies well we had so little need for them so we did lump them all in the stovebolt class, but it seems that truly only applied to the 6 cylinder motors, so 55s with the 265 wouldn't have qualified. Not however to be confused with their much more desired cousins the Jimmies. And only fools ran around with necker knobs on their steering wheels.

Zap-

[geraldchainsaw]

ok,   i guess i opened a can of worms,  but since someone has brought up shoebox fords,   i've told people on this forum that i own a 51 ford, 69 mach 1 mustang & the 57 conv,    heres a picture of my 51,   and this weill be the only time i post it,  i have had this car for 22 years,  when i bought it, it was a bondo special,   and true the 49-50-51 were the only shoebox cars

[RICH MUISE]

Awesome car Gerald...I absolutly love it....right down to the blue oval plate on the front ( I'll be using the blue oval theme on my '57). I'd also love to see a pic of your mach 1 since the '69 is my favorite year  vintage mustang. I must admit though the new Mustangs would make it hard to decide between, let's say, a vintage Shelby and a new one given the choice.
I love the tangents we get off on to on this website. (that sentence was a lot of adverbs prepositions)   Rich

[Ford Blue blood]

Having owned a 70 Boss 302 (New in 69 sold to my brother in 81) and now owning an 08 Shelby GT500 I can make a few comments about the choice situation.  Get them both!  Putting all seriousness aside, the 08 is by far a superior automobile in every respect.  It out handles the Boss (mine was highly modified for B sedan), is faster in a straight line by a bunch, ride quality is better (even with FRPP springs), has air, a good sound system (if you choose to turn it on) and is a great rode car.  The only area the 08 falls short in is the "KOOL" factor.  The 08 is still a head turner and an attention getter with numerous thumbs up while on the road and did capture much of the "muscle car" aura.

Having said all that, if you want toys the classic is the way to go, drivable koolness and performance the new Shelby is the way to go.  Can't afford toys so the search for my Boss was ended (still under current registration in WI) and the 08 search began.

[geraldchainsaw]

OK,  HERES A PICTURE OF THE 69,    THEN LETS GET BACK TO THE 57'S

[Zapato]

OK,  LETS GET BACK TO THE 57'S

I would guess that if we did a survey of the membership, we'd find that most of us are o'all Ford guys and many will have more than a 57 in their stable. Personally I have a 41 Ford Panel, a 51 Ford Custom coupe, a 56 Continental Mark 2, and my 57 Business Coupe. And if we were to really dig there are probably a few Camaro owners among us. And to me that's just fine however its my 57 that brings me to this site and I understand that some guys aren't 100% Blue Oval guys but if I can learn more about 57s or even just learn many of the things that cross lines from them its fine with me. So if someone shows me how to restore a steering wheel and uses a Chrysler Imperial wheel to do it I'd be a fool to reject the lesson.

And while not trying to be an echo,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"OK,LETS GET BACK TO THE 57'S"

Zap-

[wildhog]

I love parking my ragtop next to a retrak. IT makes the sunliner look low and long,when you see how fat a skyliner had to get,to be able to swallow it's own top.

[JimNolan]

Wildhog,
    What's the difference in diminsions. I thought they had the same frame, were the same length and height. You don't have to be exact, just ball park. Jim

[Lou]

A  Retrack is 10 inches longer than any other Fairlane or Fairlane 500.

[geraldchainsaw]

ok,  now i have to carry a yo yo with me at the next swap meet

[Ford Blue blood]

Lou I have to respectfully disagree, the 500s and the Retract are the same length.  My Retractable is exactly the same length as a good friends 500 2drht.  The rear floor pans are the same for both the retract and the sunliner (they are deeper because of the up-right rear seat back), the frames are the same.  The doors are the same as my retract has a 500 door on it due to previous injury.  The vent window frames are different, they don't have the little notch at the top for the "flipper".  The trunk floor, top of the quarters, rear panel and trunk lid are completely different as are the gas tanks.  I think it is a visual trick as the roof on the retract is shorter than the 2drht and the sunliner.  Measure the distance from the rear of the door to the end of the tail light housing I believe they are the same.

[RICH MUISE]

Interesting...I always assumed the retractible was longer from the door back and could have sworn I read somewhere that it was. Bill, just for s**** and grins, when you have a chance why don't you measure your back fender and post what you find, then maybe Jim or someone else with a h.t. could do the same, and gerald could post his convert. If everybody measured at the height of the door handle for constistency it would be great. I suspect what we are looking at is the deck area is actually 10" longer as Lou stated but it is because the roof is shorter as Bill stated, not because the fenders are longer. we'll all know for sure if we compare measurements.I have a pic of the back end of a retract posted in the boneyard section of the gallery right at the top. That sure is a l-o-n-g looking fender, but I never paid much attention to how short the roof was. l.o.l....maybe because when you see them most the time, the roof is half way up and it's hard to tell.