Flip this roof

Moncks Corner car enthusiast wins prestigious honor for rare 1957 Ford with retractable metal top

Leroy Burnell
The Post and Courier

John Trout of Moncks Corner checks the operation on his 1957 Ford Fairlane Skyliner with retractable hardtop, which won an international prize in late July. The model was the first commercially built hardtop in which the roof could open and close.

He's restored three classic cars of varying brands and ages, is member of a half-dozen local and regional car clubs and co-piloted a cross-country vintage auto rally in a 1940 Ford Convertible four times, once finishing in second place in a trek from Canada to Mexico.

But John Trout of Moncks Corner had never entered a major show before.

Then earlier this year, he finished a 19-year project to rebuild and beautify a 1957 Ford Fairlane Skyliner he found in a warehouse in St. George. Trout decided it was time to put the car up to the challenge. He and wife DeAnna trailered to the International Ford Retractable Club convention in Clarksville, Ind., July 18-26.

Trout went up against 84 of the specialty Fords. They all were built with what could be considered space-age technology for the late 1950s: hardtop roofs that electronically folded into themselves and the trunk.

"I always thought they were one of the best-looking cars back then," said Trout, who discovered a weather-beaten model in 1989 and had been fixing it up ever since.

Just 46,000 were manufactured as Fairlane 500s in 1957-58 and Galaxie 500s in 1959. The cars had many attributes including air conditioning and automatic transmissions.

But there were problems. "They were more expensive to start with and they were very finicky," Trout said.

In fact, the retractable hardtop wouldn't make another appearance for 40 years. Shoppers didn't want to purchase a car where the roof got stuck in the rain. Instead, buyers chose soft-top convertibles where the roof could be removed or installed by hand or had retractable roofs that were operated by hydraulics or weren't so balky.

Retractable hardtops remain uncommon today, and getting the tops to open and close still can be a challenge.

At the convention in Indiana, there were four teams of specialists who scoured the vehicles. "They spent two days judging the cars," he said.

Wieck Media

In this 1957 photo, Fairlane 500 Skyliners with retractable hardtops come down the line at Ford's Dearborn, Mich., assembly plant.

Leroy Burnell
The Post and Courier

On his own and with an expert from Tennessee, John Trout painstakingly reconditioned a 1957 Ford with retractable hardtop as it was 51 years ago, down to the whitewall tires.

The retractable roof on Trout's red-and-white two-door opened and closed without a hitch. The vintage model, with whitewall tires and a shiny bumper, made the finals.

To say Trout was nervous is an understatement. "He couldn't eat or sleep," his wife said.

It's not like the couple wasn't used to big events or pressure situations. He learned to fly as a hobby and once took part in an aerial acrobatics display. He served on the board of Santee Cooper. She has been involved in local and national political races for Republican candidates.

The final day of the international car show, Trout heard names called for bronze and silver medalists. Not his.

Trout said he accepted that first-time participants don't win. "It's unheard of. You generally have to get them judged two to three times," he said. Still, "I'm a competitor," he said.

Then, Trout heard one final name called. It was his.

The Trouts say they can't explain how he won the International Gold Medal Award on his first go-around. But he is aware of the effort that went into fixing up the retractable. "I've probably got $75,000 in it, plus time," he said. Trout bought the car at a discount on the condition that the warehouse owner restored it. Fifteen years later, the work was not done. In fact, "It was still in pieces."

Trout eventually was able to transport the car to a classic Mustang and Thunderbird shop in Summerville, and he worked on the car himself along with his other models, a 1962 Thunderbird with a retractable softtop and an early 1980s GMC Caballero. Many parts were replaced on the 1957 Ford, always to the exacting specifications of the original. The final touches, including proper operation of the retractable, was handled by Wayne Rollins, a noted Knoxville, Tenn., mechanic.

After 19 years, the work was completed just in time. "He finished it three months ago," Trout said.