Flippin' Your Lid over a '57 Ford

How did we end up in the car book business? The answer, ultimately, comes down to a fascination with the 1957 Ford Skyliner. If you like cars, then the 1950s was a great time to be a teenager. And if you like gadgets, one of the biggest gadgets you could get your hands on was a car with a retractable hardtop. In a time of over-the-top accessories, it was the ultimate accessory.

As a teen, Ed Faxon worked for a man named Bob who owned a Flame Red and Colonial White two-tone retractable. In an amazing bit of good luck, Bob would let Ed borrow his shiny new car. There’s a photo of Ed driving the car in his high school yearbook with the homecoming queen perched up on the trunk.

Just like it had a special roof, this car had a secret under the hood that made it special too: a Paxton supercharger. Your Ford friends might not have told you this, but your run-of-the-mill ’57 Chevy would beat your run-of-the-mill ’57 Ford in an impromptu drag race on the street. So, when Ed pulled up to a stop sign next to a Chevy, the other driver would think he was ready for an easy win. But that supercharged car would “blow the doors off a ’57 Chevy,” as Ed says. He was hooked.

In the early 1970’s, Ed finally got to buy a red and white retractable of his own (unfortunately without the supercharger – the option was so rare on retractables that some people debated whether it really existed). His car collector friends thought he was silly for buying it – one of them told him that no car built after World War II would ever be collectible. After he bought the car, he sought out the books and literature to go with it.

That search is still going on. Ed still collects 1957 Ford literature. He has well over 700 pieces for all kinds of 1957 Fords, including cars, trucks, and tractors from around the world. There’s a pile of boxes reaching to the ceiling in his office right now filled with 1957 Ford toy cars.