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Carl says that he bought this beautiful '56 Customline in September of 2006.
It is one of 164,328 of this body style built that year. Most of them did
come equipped with the 272 V-8 engine, and many of them had "Conventional
Drive", a.k.a. 3-speed manual transmission "on the tree". But how many do
you think also came equipped with factory-installed SelectAire Conditioning?
This one has it! Take a look at the four conditioned-air vents on the dash
- that is an unusual thing to see on any 1956 Ford. And, a good eye on the
the control panel will reveal the SelectAire signature. Ford cars boasted of
this cowl-mounted air conditioning system being a major step forward in
convenience and efficiency. And in fact even higher priced cars like Lincoln
and Cadillac still had a refrigerator-sized cooling unit in the trunk with
tell-tale clear plastic air tubes running up the rear package shelf and into
the roof. Another example of why the 1956 Ford is truly the fine car at half
the fine car price!
Even without the uncommon quality of the factory air, Carl's Tudor Sedan
is breath taking to behold in its StyleTone finish of Springmist Green and
Colonial White. This is the kind of car that America drove in 1956.
Incidentally, this Ford's fiftieth "birthday" was April 25, 2006. It was
built at the Dallas assembly plant.
Carl is a member of the AACA Rio Grande Valley chapter, and
they get together nearly every weekend for some kind of old car gathering.
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In 1956, when a Ford was ordered with SelectAire, it did come from the
factory with the components, however the dealer did the actual
installation, including the dash-mounted vents. SelectAire was also
available to cars that were not ordered that way, too - also as a dealer
installation. SelectAire was available on V-8 powered 1956 Ford
Mainlines, Customlines, Fairlanes, and Station Wagons (but not
Thunderbirds). |
