I’ve had my 1956 Ford Sunliner for more than 40 years. Growing up, my dad, my brother and I would go every year to see the new models. When I was dating my wife in 1963, I owned a ’63 and a half Ford Galaxy. At that time, I also had a 1955 Ford Sunliner convertible that I bought when I was 19 years old. One day a few years later, I stopped at a service station to get gas in my ’55 and a man there told me that he knew where there was another car similar to mine. Turns out, it was only about 10 miles from where I lived at that time. I went home and got my wife, Kay, our check book, and purchased this car that same day.

Kay and I have had a lot of fun over the years participating in car shows, high school and college homecoming parades, the annual Dollywood parade, and joy riding with the top down around our beautiful East Tennessee Great Smokey Mountain area. When I first purchased the car, it needed some work done to it. I had it repainted, put new seat covers on it, and put a new convertible top on it. The car looked great after that! Recently, my neighbor Randy, who used to work in Detroit at Ford Motor Co, has helped me maintain and fine tune the car. In addition to my ’56 Ford Convertible, I have a 1930 A-Model with 11,000 miles, a fully restored 1966 Ford pickup truck, and a 1977 Mercury Cougar XR7 that I bought new. My wife also has the Volkswagen Beetle that her father purchased new in 1974. All of my family and friends have always know me as a “Ford Man.” I even use a 1956 Ford tractor on my farm. I have always loved the Ford brand and, even now at 82 years young, I drive a 2017 Ford F-150.

Submitted by Bob Martin