Henry Ford was famous for saying, “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.” Mr. Ford was a practical man who valued simplicity, efficiency, and economy above all else. His Model T and Model A reflect that. And I believe those values were evident in Ford cars years after Henry’s death in 1947. So what would Henry have thought of this basic 1954 Mainline four-door sedan in all-black, with V-8 engine and manual transmission? Is this the way he would have ordered his own personal car bearing his illustrious name?
I found this base model ’54 Ford on Craigslist. It’s located in West New York NJ, just across the Hudson River from midtown Manhattan. Price is $8,500 which I believe makes it potentially a good value, if you like cars like this.
The car is plain, even a little austere, but it has its share of ’50s styling “gorp”. No matter what, you have to make your car look appealing to most people and you have to keep up with industry styling trends. So we have a rather subdued “bullet nose” flanked by what we might call “jet wings”. Then we have conical parking lights which continue the bullet theme. Henry didn’t care much about styling; that was of more interest to his son Edsel who created the first Lincoln Continental.
The back too is quite minimalist, but still clearly a product of its time. Round tail lights became an on-again, off-again Ford styling hallmark into the 1960s.
If you like fancy interiors, this is not the car for you. I myself like its honesty and simplicity. It sort of reminds me of an expanded Volkswagen Beetle. There’s a plain metal dash, a big black steering wheel, and a good view over the hood. The unique see-through Astra-Dial speedometer adds a little bit of fanciful ’50s modernity.
Yes, I think Henry would have wanted the V-8 engine. Not only because it has more power, but because Henry Ford had a kind of love affair with V-8 engines. He, for some reason, disliked six cylinder engines–which is rather ironic because the Ford Six offered at this time was an excellent engine, being quite smooth, powerful, durable, and easy to service. The six delivered only 15 less horsepower than the V-8 (115 HP vs. 130), and Consumer Reports preferred the six, naming it Best Buy in the low-priced field.
Here’s another thing I love about this Ford–we still have the original invoice. One of my favorite things when buying an old car is having the original documentation. As I stated in my last post about a ’57 Dodge, the question of why someone would preserve what many would call a “throw-away” car like this Mainline defies normal expectations. But no matter what the circumstances were, I’m glad the car is here now. When purchased new, the buyer traded in a 1951 Ford 2-door sedan. I wonder where that car is today!
Door tag. Paint color = “A”. Of course black would be assigned the first letter of the alphabet!
It’s interesting to compare the ’54 Mainline with my ’58 Custom 300. The ’58 model is longer, lower, wider, and sleeker. It’s a lot fancier too–with fins, a wrap-around windshield, “Style-Tone” two-toned paint, anodized gold trim on the sides, quad headlights and taillights, and little gold-ball gunsight ornaments on each front fender. The six (which my car has) now makes 145 HP (15 more horsepower than the 1954 V-8). The two cars weigh about the same, so the power-to-weight ratio is still favorable.
This Custom 300 also has power steering and automatic transmission, and so it drives easily and pleasantly at low- to moderate speeds. One thing I like most about Fords of this era is the fact that you feel “right at home”–there are no irritating features about the design. All the controls are well-made and work well, and they work the way you expect them to. I like to say, “The Ford is your friend.”
You may be wondering, “What’s the modern Ford equivalent?” I found it–the lowest-priced Ford you can buy today: a Ford Maverick XL compact pickup. (Ford no longer makes sedans.) I picked an example in black, the way Henry would prefer it. (Is black still paint code “A”?) It costs about $27,000. The invoice price of the black Mainline sedan was $2,189.25 with options, which is about $27,176 adjusted–just about the same. Of course, you could have a 1954 Mainline 8 Fordor sedan for as little as $1,777 (about $22,058 adjusted) if you sacrificed extras like a heater, radio, and turn signals.
What would Henry Ford think of this 2026 Maverick XL? I think he would probably like it–it’s squarish, plain, and the pickup bed gives it a lot of versatility. Good for farm use–and Henry was very into agriculture and wholesome farm life. The engine is a 2.5 liter 4 cylinder (smaller than Model T 4 cylinder, LOL!) but it delivers 191 modern horsepower and gets 30-40 miles per gallon. I think Henry would be impressed.
Before he got into the car business, Henry Ford built this house with his own two hands. Called, appropriately enough, “The Square House”, its design says a lot about the man himself. Erected in 1889 at the height of Victorian architectural exuberance, it is rather plain and understated, although there are some decorative elements added which give it a measure of charm. What strikes me about it is its practicality: the porch roof wraps around and gives you easy access to the roof shingles and second story windows, so you can wash the windows from the outside. You don’t need a tall ladder to paint this house or do roof repair. If there is inside roof access to the flat roof above, it can serve as a deck or extra outdoor living space. It all makes sense.
Henry operated a sawmill at the time, and he and a friend turned out all those identical spindles; each one exactly alike. Just like the millions of identical interchangeable parts that would go into millions of identical Ford cars that came off his assembly lines decades later. A true prophecy of things to come!
Further CC reading:
Curbside Classic: 1954 Ford Mainline–An Alternate Take On Life by J P Cavanaugh
Auto-Biography: 1954 Ford Customline V8–Our First Car; It Wasn’t Exactly What I Was Hoping For by Paul Niedermeyer
“Whether you think CAN or think you CAN’T, you are RIGHT”….Henry Ford.
Ford’s problem, unlike Alfred P. Sloan, was he never quite grasped that as the lot of the American people improved, they would want nicer, more stylish cars as their financial situation got better. His son, Edsel, understood it, but Henry always derided him (which would eventually kill him) and kept insisting that cars like the Model T were good enough, and that mentality very nearly ran his company into the ground.
With that said, Ford’s heirs always seemed to come up with a solid contender in the practical transporation category, with cars like the 1960 Falcon, 1970 Maverick, and, yes, most recently the Maverick trucklet. Even now, a similar, affordable (under $30k) EV trucklet named ‘Fathom’ is supposedly on the horizon within the next year or two.
I like it!!
I do too. One of the cars I was raised on was a ’53 with a flathead V8 that my middle brother could get a lot of speed out of. He would chirp the tires on the shift to 2nd going up or down. On my first ride in the car mother laid a patch taking off from a stop. Interesting, Stephen, that my memory of our next car, a ’58 Fairlane 500 with the 300 hp Intercepter motor is about how fast it was. My ears seemed to flatten against my head when my brother gave it the whip.
A nice honest car .
I’d like to see undercarriage images before commenting on the price / value but yes, these were in fact decent driver’s and good cars by any metric .
Overall a good design, I never liked the left hand ignition switch in spite of being left handed .
Add a factory over drive and this car makes sense even today .
? Ford no longer makes a two door pickup truck ? .
That’s amazing but I guess they only make what they think will sell at a profit .
A base model two door Maverick with good paint might well interest me when / if I ever need one last vehicle .
-Nate
Ford still has regular cab trucks with 6.5 and 8 foot beds in the XL series work trucks. Probably need to be special ordered.
Lovely car but I feel like a 50s car deserves a bit more of a cheerful colour and perhaps even a two tone.
Since Henry despised modern jazz and probably anything modern, preferring old rural folk music, I don’t think he would have ordered a radio in 1954. Just a thought.
Should note I saw an original 1953 Mercury Monterey last Friday in original dark blue paint. The original dealer sticker was in the window and it was $3400. Did this car ever attract a crowd of old-timers, older than my 72 years, pouring all over this car. What a time capsule it was.
It is interesting to see how the price of the 1954 car and the new Maverick are practically the same. The same could be said of other consumer goods. My dad bought our first colour TV in 1973, for $600. That translates to almost exactly $3000. Go to any Best Buy and you’ll see their newest model televisions for $3000.
$3,000 for a TV??
And that $3k television will be hella big, likely taking up nearly all of an entire wall.
If there’s one thing Americans love, it’s a huge television.
Well I have a 60″ screen as per my wife’s desire. However, it is a Panasonic plasma, bought used for $200, in 2010. Still going strong.
This model has been one of my favorites for years. I would love to have a car like this. I considered one, but I decided that I really wanted a car from the 1940’s instead. This would be the perfect Fifties car for me.
It seems Henry quickly found himself out of touch with the car buyer.
Sure, the T was great value. But the competition offered buyers much nicer trim, options and extras.
Buyers quickly moved on from the skeletal model T to more comfortable machines and the Model A was Ford’s belated response.
If there’s one thing Henry was, it’s stubborn. And as the years went by, he definitely earned the nickname ‘Crazy Henry’. His best years had long since passed and, aside from maybe the flathead V8, the company wasn’t known for much of anything special during those tumultuous years. It wasn’t until his grandson, Henry Ford II, took over at the end of WW2 that the company began to claw its way back.
Old Henry’s would have been black, but I can’t see him paying extra to get those headlight rims chrome plated.
It does make the car look better, true, but on a stock 1954 Ford (even a Crestline) they’d have been painted, with just the inner rim chromed.