Ford Crown Victoria Skyliner

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Ford Crown Victoria Skyliner
1955 Ford Crown Victoria Skyliner
Manufacturer Ford Motor Company
Also called Mercury Montclair Sun Valley
Production 1955–1956
Predecessor Ford Victoria Skyliner
Mercury Monterey Sun Valley
Successor Ford Skyliner
See also 1955 Ford, Ford Crown Victoria
detail of the Skyliner roof panel
detail of the Skyliner roof panel

Ford's 1954 Victoria Skyliner was replaced in 1955 by the Crown Victoria Skyliner, based on the new 1955 Ford design. It shared the flashy chrome "basket handle" which stretched the B-pillar across the roof of the 1955 Crown Victoria model but added a smoked acrylic glass window over the front seat area. The model, commonly referred to as the "Glasstop Vicky" lasted just two years, with sales slipping sharply as customers realized the trouble of keeping the car cool. An optional snap-in sunshade or air conditioning system were desirable. The Skyliner name was later applied to the hardtop convertible based on the 1957 Fords.

Similar roof panels were used on General Motors products of the time, and the concept reappeared in the 1990s on the Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser wagon. Today, the Opel Astra offers a "panoramic windshield" which is similar in concept.

Mercury's similar Montclair Sun Valley was produced in 1954 and 1955.

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