[Dealer Film] 1957 Ford vs Buick? Why pay more?

[@KDoyle4]

The 1957 Ford actually outsold the 1957 Chevy by a small margin. The fact that the Ford Fairlane 500 was going after the junior Buick certainly didn't do Ford's lagging Mercury division any good.

[@autochronicles8667]

The Forward look allowed that to happen :) They went after GM market share..

[@tompastian3447]

The price difference in 57' of 400 dollars..... According to inflation calculator (google) Value of $400 from 1957 to 2024 ... $400 in 1957 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $4,470.73 today, an increase of $4,070.73 over 67 years.

[@wendellellison3482]

I love old auto films like this. This one strikes me as being quite interesting - if for the wrong reasons. The piece was void of any actual "numbers" and had vague indicators like: "sizzling performance" and interior luxury level. Also, they did not state the Ford was faster than the Buick, but the still shot (with motion lines added to it) certainly implied it.

[@autochronicles8667]

Only Chrysler did some drag racing in 57-58-59.. And the magazines of time confirmed that Chrysler had the performance edge in those years. Although a stripped down 57 Chevy was fast and a Ford Fairline 500 nascar setup was fast also...

[@davidpowell3347]

Also there was the Rambler Rebel I think the supercharged hi po Ford was not reliable or practical enough for the average family car @@autochronicles8667

[@jamesbosworth4191]

With the base V8, the Buick was faster with stick shift, but with DynaFlow, the Ford was faster, as it's 3 speed Ford-O-Matic would handily out-perform DynaFlow, (DynaSlow?). With the optional dual-quad engine, and even more so with the optional supercharged engine, the Ford would run and hide from even the Century model.

[@jimmangum7566]

It seems like I read that the 57 Ford was designed to have four headlights but as it got closer to final approval not all states had legalized them. Thats why it has the bug eyed single headlights, the only styling flaw in the 57 to me!

[@charlesb7019]

Same with the Chrysler products.

[@williamg2552]

It doesn’t matter. As soon as Ford added them for ‘58, EVERY SINGLE ONE RUSTED around the HEADLIGHTS!! Very FEW if ANY SURVIVE !!

[@erin19030]

The 1958 Ford Fairlane had 4 headlights. I had one used with a 358 cu in 4 barrel carb, called the police intercepter model.

[@jamesbosworth4191]

The 57 Buick looks beautiful, but it fell well short of the hype. It was hyped as the most changed Buick since 1949, but it looked like a warmed-over 55 with a 54 grille. It wasn't, but it did look that way.

[@williamg2552]

Ford is in an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT CLASS of Car than BUICK. Ford Motor Company is CRAZY for thinking that it could even COMPETE against the upper-medium-class BUICK automobile!! BUICK’S main big 3 market competitors are CHRYSLER and MERCURY. Ford Motor Company would’ve done BETTER to compare it’s MERCURY against BUICK.

[@jamesbosworth4191]

What they were trying to do is imply that the Ford was an extraordinary value, so good that, with the right options, it could satisfy Buick owners. Class-wise, the Merc is a much better match, just like you say.

[@sterlinsilver]

Gotta say the fairlaine based on styling. Such a good looking car. The buick didnt really change for 3 years or so...

[@autochronicles8667]

The magazine didnt like the front headlights, the general public agreed. Many called it a "frog kicked in the a$$".... I like the side trim... They actually made headlight "fix" kits for the 57 Fords. They would recess the headlights to more of a chevy look. I would think they guy who approved those headlights got sent to work cleaning the bathrooms.

[@jamesbosworth4191]

@@autochronicles8667 The 57 Ford outsold the 57 Chevy, so enough people liked it. It was the 58 Ford that many didn't like.

[@domenickverderber4852]

I like the skyline, hardtop convertible that stores into the trunk. I watch Perry Mason reruns on tv and he drives a black one. Real beauty.

[@sterlinsilver]

@@domenickverderber4852 I agree, it was definitely the best looking version. Those extra 3 inches they had to add to the back in order to store the roof really make it look so much better

[@jamesbosworth4191]

@@domenickverderber4852 Wasn't that a kool car?

[@T-41]

The Low Price Three offered upscale models, Ford/Fairlane, Chevy/ BelAir, Plymouth / Belvedere , that did take business away in this era from the traditional medium priced brands. Nash, Hudson, Packard Clipper, Edsel ( all discontinued) , DeSoto (gone by 1961), Olds, Buick, Mercury sales down . Only the Wide Track Pontiac increased sales.

[@jamesbosworth4191]

Very true. Not until 62 did the medium-priced makes start rebounding.

[@erin19030]

I loved that 57 Ford Fairlane as a teenager. Both were used cars and I souped them up. The first car was a Fairlane Custom 300, with the small 272 cu in engine. My second 57 was a crossover model of 57 / 58 Fairlane 500 with a 390 cu. In. T bird engine

[@thomasbrower305]

You'll notice they compare the highest trim level ford against the lowest of all the rest.

[@domenickverderber4852]

It was great to learn that an air cleaner, a oil filter, and a windshield washer were extra cost items

[@autochronicles8667]

Now you know :) I mean cmon extra for an oil filter?

[@RADIUMGLASS]

My grandfather's last car he bought new in 1979 and it was the only car he bought with a radio.

[@jamesbosworth4191]

Air cleaner was not optional, HEAVY DUTY air cleaner was, on the Ford, as were an oil filter and a windshield washer, but I think they were all standard on all Buicks, and had been since the 30s. The Buick was a medium to medium-high priced car, the Ford was a CHEAP car for the masses.

[@jamesbosworth4191]

@@autochronicles8667 Yup, it was. An oil filter wasn't standard on Chevys, for example, until 1967. Nearly all had it, but a fleet operator who replaced their fleet every year or two could get one without an oil filter. Ditto radio, heater, windshield washer, and on the base models, even a clock and a cigarette lighter were optional.

[@domenickverderber4852]

The dealer film said air cleaner was optional. I can only go by that since it was made in 1957.

[@michaelramsey3986]

Make mine the Buick, they didn't talk about the way Ford treats you after you buy theirs.

[@matrox]

I like the 57 Ford over the Buick, but I like the 57 Chevy over the Ford.😁

[@THROTTLEPOWER]

Great vid!!

[@gcfifthgear]

Volume? Didn't the Custom and Custom 300 outsell the Fairlane and Fairlane 500?

[@jamesbosworth4191]

People LOVED the 57 Ford's looks. It was the 58 that many people disliked.

[@AnthonyEvelyn]

Wasn't there a mini recession back in 1957? Consumers withhold from spending too much during a downturn.

[@DavidBugea]

Officially the “Eisenhower Recession” didn’t occur until 1958, although some economists felt that the seeds were being sown in mid-1957. It wasn’t a “mini” recession, but more of a moderate one, and the worst to that point since WWII.

[@autochronicles8667]

It was a short though in 1958... Fed raised interest a full point, everyone bought new cars in 57 didnt buy anything in 58.... lots auto workers got fired...

[@jamesbosworth4191]

It had it's roots in 57, but it wasn't truly felt until 58, and it was a bad one. Mercifully short though.

[@davidpowell3347]

Should have compared the Ford against the '57 Oldsmobile (although that might have cost more than the cheapest Buick) the Dynaflo in the Buick was rather hideous,surprised that the promo film didn't mention Buick's poorer gas mileage 57 Pontiac kind of a sleeper but its engine was starting to build a reputation by 1957? Was up to about 370 cubic inches by then?

[@jamesbosworth4191]

Comparing it with the 57 Olds wouldn't have been as dramatic, as in people's minds, Buick is better than Oldsmobile. The 57 Pontiac was a 347, but it would go! The 57 Pontiac was not as heavy as either the Olds or the Buick. the 58 Pontiac was a bigger heavier car though, and it had the 370.

[@autochronicles8667]

I'll put that out this week, they compared to Olds and Dodge also

[@jamesbosworth4191]

@@autochronicles8667 I know in 55 they sure did.

[@tomservo56954]

As I have mentioned, Ford was outselling Chevy at the high end of the low-priced market, and no doubt was not happy with prospects opting for the entry level of the medium market--especially for the status of the name plate.

[@raylocke282]

Ford for me !

[@nlpnt]

Ford Division had free rein from Corporate to venture upmarket, as they would again with the 1965 LTD. The founder wasn't Henry Mercury after all! Chevrolet was limited in innovation but had a free hand to match Ford model-for-model to keep "USA-1" bragging rights which is why they matched it with the just-as-successful Caprice (6 month lead time, not a lot of development work in making a car plusher). Plymouth had few advocates with corporate or even front-line salespeople which is why the Fury VIP was the only flop - prospective buyers were to be upsold to a Chrysler Newport.

[@autochronicles8667]

yeah Chevy was like UPSELL against PONTIAC :)

[@blacksitearea]

If to give that Ford the front from those GM models, then it would have been a great deal for almost anyone to buy that car.

[@carlmontney7916]

I think this particular video would be perfect for a drinking game. Every time you hear them say Fairlane 500 you have to do a shot. If you're still standing at the end of the video you win! I've always thought that they 57 Ford was a far nicer looking car than the 57 Chevy. IIRC Ford actually out sold Chevrolet in 1957.

[@autochronicles8667]

yeah they repeated a lot... this film is weird though, its separated into 4 videos.

[@Nunofurdambiznez]

For '57, I much prefer the Buick and the Plymouth over that ugly Ford !

[@jamesbosworth4191]

Most of us felt and still feel that the 57 Ford was a great-looking car. The Buick looks too much like a 55 with a 54 grille.

[@Nunofurdambiznez]

@@jamesbosworth4191 The Buick is a much better car overall - looks, etc.

[@jamesbosworth4191]

@@Nunofurdambiznez We all know that it is a far superior car. Ford was playing on "value" - how you can get a DeLuxe car for a lot less money.

[@Nunofurdambiznez]

@@jamesbosworth4191 That's fine.. but MY point is, Buick is a much finer car in every respect. I don't give a D*MN what the video's point is or was.

[@leroywillis8153]

1:45

[@bruceh92]

Right off the top they attack the Buick's styling in favor of the Ford. Nice try, not even close.

[@jamesbosworth4191]

The 57 Ford was brand new from road to roof, and looked it. The 57 Buick was too, but it looked like a warmed-over 55 Buick with a 54 grille.

[@christolbert4628]

Ford doesn't compare to Buick, period.

[@danr1920]

The Buick Special was Buicks cheap car, they really shouldn't have sold such a low end car.

[@jamesbosworth4191]

That was their bread and butter. It was still a nice car, until 1961, when it was called "LeSabre". That year, the interior was too plain for a Buick.

[@tede.kulhawik7614]

The Buicks of that time really suffered from the verticle(small) valve V8, of according to GM tests didn't hold up half as long as olds, pontiac or chevy V8s, and the awful dynaslow transmission, they also ate rear wheel bearings, but I guess all this was ok with grandpa.

[@jamesbosworth4191]

I had several 50s and 60s Buicks with that engine. The heads could crack fairly easily, but that was also true of the Chevy 6. Overall, it was a fine engine. Never had any wheel bearing problems, front or rear, but I agree, performance-wise, DynaFlop was grim. It was reliable though!

[@jimstewart2457]

The fairlane is a UGLY car like the rest of fords are. The Buick might cost more but it’s a classic now nowadays and the fairlane is NOT.

[@jeremiahboria4512]

I dunno buick kinda looks like the 56 model year

[@autochronicles8667]

yeah hard to tell the difference between 56-57 buick

[@travislostaglia8861]

I could say the same about the Buick. The 57 ford is a classic no matter what you think

[@jimstewart2457]

@@travislostaglia8861 your kidding right??? LOL!!!

[@travislostaglia8861]

@@jimstewart2457 are you kidding those fords outsold the “amazing “ 57 Chevy that year and were faster those are facts ,as for looks beauty is in the eye of the beholder just because you don’t like the look of something doesn’t mean everyone else does I would take the ford over any GM junk from that year

[@charleshunziker7416]

I heard 57 fords were lemons

[@jamesbosworth4191]

No they weren't. They were nice cars, but they weren't that rust resistant. Better than the 57 Plymouth though.

[@matrox]

In 57 Chevy outsold Ford.

[@autochronicles8667]

They had the 57 Forward look cars to thank for that :) Chrysler stole a lot of GM market share...

[@bobpierce115]

I've read quite a bit about this. Plymouth tried (and got away with) at least in their print ads of the '57 Plymouth declaring "Suddenly it's 1960!" which GM was very upset over, and Plymouth was forced to stop it per a threatened lawsuit from deep-pocketed GM, and they did. The '57 Chevy was caught between styling cycles. They had to get another year out of the '55-'56 body and did so by drastically changing it as we know. Also, the '57 Chevy was advertised as all-new too, even though it wasn't. In early '57 a crash drastic re-design began on all of GM's '59 designs in abnormally quick time, completed by mid-year, just in the nick of time. I've seen photos of the '59 Chevy and Buick from May '57 (the month I was born) and except for a few minor details were nearly production ready as we know them to this day. The goal was to out-sleek and out-fin Chrysler, and I think they succeeded! @@autochronicles8667

[@danielulz1640]

It most certainly did not! You are misinformed, check the actual sales figures. Ford out sold Chevrolet for the 1957 model year, that is an undeniable recorded fact.

[@matrox]

@@danielulz1640 Technically Chevy sold more cars in 57 than Ford because in early 57' Chevy was still selling 56' models along with 57 because demand was high for the 56' and orders were still coming in late 56'.

[@jamesbosworth4191]

You are talking about calendar year, but MODEL year wise, the 57 Ford was the sales winner. Remember, American cars are usually introduced in the fall of the outgoing year, not January 1st of the new year.