The Ford Fairlane was an automobile model sold between 1955 and 1970 by the Ford Motor Company in North America. The name was taken from Henry Ford's estate, Fair Lane, near Dearborn, Michigan.
Over time, the name referred to a number of different cars in different classes; the Fairlane was initially a full-size car, but became a mid-size car from the 1962 model year.
For 1957, a new style gave a longer, wider, lower and sleeker look with low tailfins. A new top trim level was reversed, the Fairlane 500. For the first time, the lower-level Custom line had a shorter wheelbase than the Fairlane. Engines were largely the same as the year before. The big news for 1957 was the introduction of the Fairlane 500 Skyliner power retractable hardtop, whose solid top hinged and folded down into the trunk space at the touch of a button. Unfortunately, it attracted more attention than sales; the option was expensive, somewhat unreliable, and took up almost all the trunk space when retracted. Even so, it required the roof to be made shorter than the other Fairlanes, and the trunk to be larger. The reason for this was simply that this car was designed, from the ground up, as a Lincoln Continental. Projected losses resulted in a last minute marketing decision to restyle the vehicle, from the bottom of the windows down, as a member of the Fairlane family.
Another facelift for 1958 saw fashionable quad headlights, a grille that matched the 1958 Thunderbird, and other styling changes. New big-block FE V8s of 332 and 352 CID (5.4 L and5.8 L) replaced the previous largest V8s, and a better three-speed automatic transmission was also available.
