This is “The Spaceliner,” it’s one of the best-known custom cars from its era created by two of the leading custom car builders of the age – Gene Winfield and Darryl Starbird.
The car was rediscovered more recently, restored, and shown to the world at Art Basel Miami where it won the coveted Judges’ Favorite award thanks to none other than Paolo Pininfarina himself.
Fast Facts: 1960 Ford Fairlane Custom – The Spaceliner
- The Spaceliner began life as a standard 1960 Ford Fairlane sedan fitted with a 223 cubic inch inline-six and an automatic transmission. It was transformed in 1963 by famed customizers Gene Winfield and Darryl Starbird into a futuristic show car, embracing the Atomic Age aesthetic with aircraft-inspired styling.
- This one-off custom eliminated side doors in favor of a forward-hinged canopy system, incorporated extended tailfins, and had no less than ten 1959 Cadillac bullet-style taillights. The sealed cabin and dual Perspex bubbles gave it the appearance of a jet-age manufacturer’s concept car, although it wasn’t officially built or commissioned by Ford.
- Fully drivable and originally built as a showpiece for exhibitions, the Spaceliner was stored away for decades before being rediscovered and restored. It returned to public view in 2017 at Art Basel Miami, where it was awarded Judges’ Favorite by Paolo Pininfarina – a significant moment that helped further elevate its status.
- The Spaceliner has since gained new fame online, drawing millions of views and admiration across generations. It’s scheduled to be auctioned by Mecum on September the 20th from the Klairmont Kollections Museum in Chicago, offering collectors a rare opportunity to buy an iconic piece of custom car history.
History Speedrun: The Spaceliner
The 1960 Ford Fairlane Spaceliner is a one-off custom car that was developed to capture the design spirit of the Atomic Age – a period when American automotive and industrial design embraced the aesthetics of jet propulsion, space travel, and atomic energy.
The 1960 Ford Fairlane Spaceliner is a one-off custom car that was developed to capture the design spirit of the “Atomic Age” – a period when American automotive and industrial design embraced the aesthetics of jet propulsion, space travel, and atomic energy.
While most Fairlanes of the era were standard four-door family sedans, this 1960 example was transformed into a rolling concept by two legends of American custom car culture – Gene Winfield and Darryl Starbird.
The project began with a completely ordinary, run-of-the-mill 1960 Ford Fairlane sedan with the straight-six under the hood, a vehicle not typically known for pushing any stylistic or performance boundaries.
Underneath, it kept Ford’s basic 223 cubic inch six banger and the Ford-O-Matic automatic transmission – mechanically all bone stock. But above the frame, almost everything else changed.
In collaboration, Winfield and Starbird reshaped the body into a sealed, aircraft-inspired form with no side doors and dual clear Perspex canopies in place of a traditional roof. Access to the cabin was through a pair of forward-hinged bubbles that lifted up in true jet-age-concept-car-fashion – evoking the look and feel of an early jet fighter.
The entire passenger side was welded shut, the tailfins were extended, and the rear received a total of ten 1959 Cadillac bullet-style taillights – this taillight configuration, combined with its bubble canopies, and sweeping lines earned the car its nickname: the “Spaceliner.”
Though often mistaken for an official Ford concept car, the Spaceliner was never commissioned by Ford Motor Company. It was built as a custom car showpiece entirely by Winfield, Starbird, and their respective teams in around 1963 – several years after the donor car rolled off the assembly line.
Though often mistaken for an official Ford concept car, the Spaceliner was never commissioned by Ford Motor Company. It was built as a custom car showpiece entirely by Winfield, Starbird, and their respective teams in around 1963 – several years after the donor car rolled off the assembly line.
The early 1960s marked a peak in American show car culture, and Winfield and Starbird were regularly producing one-off customs meant to draw crowds at major auto exhibitions. These weren’t prototypes meant for eventual production, they were pure expressions of imagination – rolling works of art.
Despite its wild looks, the Spaceliner was fully drivable. It was shown throughout the 1960s and then eventually placed in long-term storage. After being rediscovered and restored, it made a reappearance in 2017 during Art Basel Miami, where it received a special recognition from Paolo Pininfarina – head of the iconic Italian design house – as “Judges’ Favorite.”
This award from a major figure in the automotive design world helped to elevate the Spaceliner from being a bit of a historic automotive novelty into a more respected work of automotive design – a piece of four-wheeled American history.
The car was soon featured in popular custom car circles online, quickly picking up millions of views on platforms like YouTube, where a new generation of enthusiasts discovered it for the first time.
The aesthetic cues – the long rear overhang, exaggerated tailfins, bubble canopies, and a sealed cockpit – perfectly encapsulate the era’s obsession with the Space Race and the imagined lifestyles of the then-distant 21st century.
The aesthetic cues – the long rear overhang, exaggerated tailfins, bubble canopies, and a sealed cockpit – perfectly encapsulate the era’s obsession with the Space Race and the imagined lifestyles of the then-distant 21st century.
It ended up on display and proved to be a popular drawcard, it’s one of those rare custom cars that seems to appeal to everyone – whether they’re 8 years old or 80. It now carries the signatures of Gene Winfield and Darryl Starbird on the dashboard, and the twin canopies are electrically actuated using actual aircraft parts for the mechanism.
The Spaceliner is now due to be offered for sale by Mecum on the 20th of September out of the Klairmont Kollections Museum in Chicago. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Mecum
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.