![1952 Ford Mainline 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/1952_Ford_Mainline_3.9.jpg)
The Ford Mainline is an
automobile
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...
which was produced by
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in the models years 1952 to 1956. It was introduced as the base trim level of the
1952 Ford
The Ford line of cars was again refreshed for 1952, although remaining similar to the all-new 1949 Fords. This time, curved one-piece windshield glass joined a new "Mileage Maker" straight-6 engine with 101 hp. The 226 CID (3.7 L) ' ...
range below the
Customline and
Crestline models.
[John Gunnell, Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946–1975, Revised 4th Edition, page 390] The Mainline retained its position in the redesigned
1955 Ford
The 1955 Ford is an automobile which was produced by Ford in the United States for the 1955 model year and, in revised form, for the 1956 model year. A new design would be offered in 1957.
1955
The American Ford line of cars gained a new body f ...
range but was dropped for the
1957 model year when the
Ford Custom
The Ford Custom is an automobile which was produced by Ford in the United States, Canada and Australia in certain years from 1949 to 1981.
Custom and Custom Deluxe (1949-1951)
For the 1949 model year, the Custom nameplate was used for the top tri ...
became the new base model.
The Mainline was offered in 2-door
sedan, 4-door sedan, 2-door
coupe
A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors.
The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...
and 2-door
station wagon
A station wagon ( US, also wagon) or estate car ( UK, also estate), is an automotive body-style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door ( ...
body styles. The station wagon was marketed as the Mainline Ranch Wagon
until it lost its Mainline tag for the 1955 model year when all Ford wagons were moved to their own series. Mainlines were available with both
inline six-cylinder and
V8 engines.
Australian Ford Mainline Utility
In
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
the Mainline name was applied to a locally developed 2-door
coupé utility
A coupé utility is a vehicle with a passenger compartment at the front and an integrated cargo tray at the rear, with the front of the cargo bed doubling as the rear of the passenger compartment.
The term originated in the 1930s, where it wa ...
version of the Ford Customline sedan from 1952. The Mainline utilized an imported station wagon chassis with a large X-member from the
Ford Sunliner convertible added for additional load carrying strength. It sold alongside the Australian built Customline sedan, with both given yearly updates until production ceased in 1959. The coupe utility slot in Ford Australia's lineup was filled by
the first Ford Falcon utility the following year. Comment: Ford also sold a utility version of the English Zephyr 6 in the fifties and it was this ute which was closer in size and price to the first Falcon ute. The Mainline like the Customline was a more expensive premium product in the Australian market. The Mainline Utility was powered by an Australian produced version of the
Ford side-valve V8 engine until the introduction of the
OHV V8 in the redesigned 1955 series.
[Norm Darwin, The History of Ford in Australia, 1986, page131]
Gallery
File:1952 Ford Ranch Wagon.jpg, 1952 Ford Mainline Ranch Wagon
File:1952 Ford Mainline Coupe Utility.jpg, 1952 Ford V8 Mainline Coupe Utility
File:1954 Ford V8 Mainline Coupe Utility.JPG, 1954 Ford V8 Mainline Coupe Utility
File:Ford Mainline Utility.jpg, 1958 Ford V8 Mainline Coupe Utility
See also
*
GAZ-21
The GAZ M21 Volga is an automobile produced in the Soviet Union by GAZ (Gorkovsky Avtomobilniy Zavod, in English "Gorky automobile factory") from 1956 to 1970. The first car to carry the Volga name, it was developed in the early 1950s. Volgas w ...
References
External links
Chino Hills Ford Website
{{Ford
Mainline
Motor vehicles manufactured in the United States
Cars of Australia