Ford had surprised their competitors in 1957 Chevrolet and Ford had been on a 114"/115" wheelbase since 1946, Ford not only went up to 116" for their Custom in 1957, they also put the Fairlane/Fairlane 500 on an extended 118" chassis. They had created a prestige line that was more than just a few extra pieces of chrome.
The extra inches made the cars look better and allowed more room. The Fords were all-new and the Chevys were on their 3rd year. Ford became America's best selling car for the first time since 1935. Chevrolet extended their cars for 1958 but still kept all of them on the same chassis. They won the sales title back for 1958, the Golden Anniversary of General Motors.
Robert McNamara (architect of the Vietnam War) was running the show by then, and he was a no-nonsense kind of guy. He had ordered the developers of the 1959 Fords to stop this expensive dual chassis game and moved the Custom 300 up to the big 118" chassis. They snatched back the sales title, but it wasn't McNamara's doing. The public wasn't sure what to make of those wild fins on the 1959 Chevy. There were rumors they caused the cars to lift off the ground in high winds. There was also a steel strike. GM closed down, but Ford kept building because it produced much of its own steel.
Ford wouldn't win the sales race again until 1970, when a UAW strike shut down General Motors for two months. The tide turned completely after the introduction of the Taurus. Ford surged to the forefront in 1987 and stayed there for 18 years, through 2004.
