Although Fords of the early 1950s enjoyed excellent build quality, they were relatively conservative. Facing off against the dreamboats from Harley Earl & Co. at General Motors, a dose of flamboyant style was in order, and the debut of Franklin Q. Hershey signaled its arrival.

Formerly of California coachbuilder Murphy, where he designed numerous bodies for Duesenberg, and later the man who put Silver Streaks on the Pontiac, Hershey, and Design Chief George Walker, was responsible for a complete redesign that gave Fords longer, lower, and wider bodies. With new factories opening that year, and thousands of cars hitting showroom floors in a time of great economic prosperity, the 1955 production run was the second best in Ford history. Its success was largely attributed to Walker and Hershey’s beautiful design.

The flashy new Fairlane Crown Victoria was top of the line in 1955, and as its name suggested, it took the pillarless hardtop victoria coupe and gave it a crown: the famous chrome “tiara” that wrapped over the roof. While the two-seat Thunderbird may have been the athlete of the Ford line, the Crown Victoria was the socialite, as it was reserved, elegant, and deeply stylish.

The example offered here, from the Estate of Jim Miller, was restored by Harris Thompson, of Ontario, from a solid California car to possibly the highest standards ever achieved on a crown victoria. Its condition can only be described as perfection, with an RM specialist, who has seen many “Crown Vics,” dubbing it as “the best I have ever seen.” The body is finished in glass-like Buckskin Brown (actually a salmon hue) and Snowshoe White, with a perfectly tailored, matching two-tone interior and exquisite chrome trim, inside and out. Panel gaps and fit are better than new, and under the hood is beautifully and correctly detailed, down to the appropriate stamps, clips, and wiring.

Naturally, the icing on the cake of this exceptional restoration is a nearly full complement of options, including the 245-horsepower V-8, factory Select Aire air conditioning, power steering and brakes, a power seat, power windows, a Ford-O-Matic transmission, an AM radio with a rear speaker, rear fender skirts, stainless wire hubcaps, correct bias-ply whitewall tires, and Westinghouse bumper-mounted driving lights.

This Crown Victoria has covered only 317 miles since the completion of its restoration, with the majority of them being accumulated from test miles and being driven across show fields at the Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance, where it was displayed in 2009, and at the Antique and Classic Car Club of Canada Concours in 2010, where it scored 99 points.

The opportunity for judging at the highest of levels at other national concours and, in particular, AACA competition remains available to a new owner. They can take confidence in knowing that they are buying the very, very best, which is true to the outstanding personal and professional standards that Jim Miller set for himself and the cars that he collected. This is an absolutely outstanding, beyond-reproach Crown Victoria.