'61 Ford Starliner History

In the late 50's and early 60's, the space race was starting to really heat up and began showing in the automobile industry with their styling.  The '61 Ford Starliner more than the others really defines the setting with the fins, taillights and the big back window with the stars on the roof line.

I have known this ’61 Ford Starliner since 1962, it belonged to Bill Ammons in Columbia Tennessee, who was the boyfriend of a friend of my sister. The car was originally given to Bobby Gaskell (a friend of Bill’s) as a college graduation gift by the grandmother, Bobby was then drafted and Bill bought the car on July 6, 1961 with approximately 500 miles on the odometer.

​It was a Z code car, black with red interior, 390 with a 4 barrel (rated at 300 hp), 3 speed on the column with overdrive.  Bill was not happy with the performance and when a friend with a 401/390 wanted a more economical ride, Bill did the swap with the cam, lifters, intake, exhaust and carburetors which made this car the one to beat in Middle Tennessee.  Bill owned the car for 40 years when I bought it in 2001.

After sitting in my storage building for 15 years while work and life happened, time came to begin the restoration.  I knew what I wanted it to look like, very black, no emblems and lots of chrome. Hot Rods by Dennis Taylor in Booneville, AR was responsible for all metal work and paint and he did a fantastic job.  The car was totally disassembled, sandblasted, repaired, painted and reassembled by Dennis.

I had always really liked the ’63 XL interior, a friend told me about a ‘62 Mercury S55 in a salvage yard in Coffeyville, KS.  I found that the ’62 and ’63 Ford & Mercury used the same bucket seats and console so I made the purchase, Jerry Stewart of All American Upholstery in Wayne, MI recovered the seats and created the door panels.  A high school buddy (Lee Detrick) in Brooklyn, MI rebuilt the 390 with hydraulic lifters, the motor dyno-ed just over 400 horsepower, a 3:70 posi-traction was also built by Lee.   

The front and rear bumpers were sent to Born Again Classics in Harrison, AR to be re-chromed (beautiful job), the rear panel is original, it was buffed and a 208 piece decal kit found on Ebay was applied.  Dennis Taylor polished all stainless from the car, the carbs were sent to Holley to be rebuilt early in the project.  Intake, air cleaner and exhaust manifolds were sent to Jet Hot in Oklahoma City for coating, CNC machined pent roof valve covers were found on Ebay.

Modifications to the car include a Dakota Digital Analog Dash, 4 wheel Wilwood disc brakes and master cylinder, Flaming River SS tilt steering column, Grant steering wheel, Unisteer power steering, BW T-10 four speed transmission with Hurst shifter, smoke tinted glass from Bob's Classic Auto Glass, Eaton Springs front coil springs, Brice Thomas made to fit aluminum radiator and chrome reversed wheels from Wheel Smith.