Story
The 1957 Ford Custom 300 was the better-finished member of Ford's short-wheelbase Custom series. It shared the 116-inch chassis with the Custom but added a full side sweep with a gold-anodized insert, bright window moldings, a horn ring, two sun visors, and armrests at every door. Ford offered it only as the 70B two-door Tudor sedan and 73B four-door Fordor sedan. Those body styles, engines, transmissions, colors, and cabin combinations belong on one model-year page rather than on separate near-duplicate pages.
The standard 223-cubic-inch Mileage Maker Six was joined by Ford's 272, 292, and 312 Y-block V8 choices. Factory and period references describe naturally aspirated four-barrel and dual-four-barrel 312 paths, while the F-code paired a 312 with a McCulloch/Paxton VR57 centrifugal supercharger and a four-barrel carburetor for a stated 300 gross horsepower. The F-code is a rare factory powertrain option within the Custom 300 record, not a separate trim established by badges or an open hood.
A conventional three-speed manual, overdrive, and Fordomatic automatic formed the transmission range. The new low-offset hypoid rear axle that became known as the Ford 9-inch used powertrain-dependent ratios, and the chassis combined ball-joint independent front suspension, coil springs, a front stabilizer bar, semi-elliptic rear leaves, and hydraulic drum brakes. Power assists and heavy-duty suspension equipment were options. Exact combinations should be checked against dated factory records rather than inferred from restored hardware.
Ford reported 160,360 Custom 300 Tudors and 194,877 Fordors in secondary model tables, for an arithmetic 355,237-car series total. No audited source reviewed here isolates how many F-code cars used either Custom 300 body. A patent plate, serial and engine code, body code, paint and trim codes, production date, drivetrain identifiers, protected finishes, and ownership records must agree before an individual car can be represented as a factory supercharged example.