Photo: Classic Auto Mall
The 1960s must have been great years to live through. The threat of complete nuclear annihilation aside, the decade will forever live in human memory as the time of revolution, excess, and the race for the stars. As far as what concerns us the most, the auto industry was completely reshaped that decade, with the post-war design going out to leave room to the lines and bodies we love to this day.
Revolution and excess may not have inspired how cars were drawn, but the space race did; as humanity’s first venture beyond the confines of its own planet, the space race was sung in movies, books, painting, but also in the way the cars were shaped or named.
Ford started to pay tribute to America’s space efforts in 1958, with the introduction of the Galaxie nameplate for its top models and continued to make them well into the 1970s.
Perhaps not as appealing today as the Blue Oval muscle cars of the era, ‘60s Galaxies still are in high demand in the collectors’ world, and there are plenty of them out there worth a closer look, especially since we’re running the Ford Month coverage in January here at autoevolution.
Today’s Galaxie, a 500 by birth, comes from 1963 and packs the signature look of its time. That makes it cool enough (still) so we can turn a blind eye to the occasional crazing and larger cracks on the burgundy-wrapped lower part.
What you’re looking at is not exactly a stock Galaxie, although the overall appearance might get you thinking this is not far from a factory-issued machine. Visually, we do get the original grille setup or the futuristic-looking taillights out back, but, for instance, chrome has been largely shaved from the car.
It’s the interior where most of the changes can be seen, as the car was brought up to date with the fitting of a large Pyramid video player in the center console, a Panasonic CD player, and a sound system that extends well into the trunk, where amplifiers, boosters, and dual subwoofers are located. For effect, the shifter knob is a scary-looking skeleton.
Under the hood, the car packs a 460ci (7.5-liter), the kind the Galaxie line received as factory-equipped hardware from 1968. It works with a 3-speed automatic transmission.
This particular Ford Galaxie 500 shows almost 126,000 miles (202,800 km) on the odometer, and it is selling for $19,500.
Ford started to pay tribute to America’s space efforts in 1958, with the introduction of the Galaxie nameplate for its top models and continued to make them well into the 1970s.
Perhaps not as appealing today as the Blue Oval muscle cars of the era, ‘60s Galaxies still are in high demand in the collectors’ world, and there are plenty of them out there worth a closer look, especially since we’re running the Ford Month coverage in January here at autoevolution.
Today’s Galaxie, a 500 by birth, comes from 1963 and packs the signature look of its time. That makes it cool enough (still) so we can turn a blind eye to the occasional crazing and larger cracks on the burgundy-wrapped lower part.
What you’re looking at is not exactly a stock Galaxie, although the overall appearance might get you thinking this is not far from a factory-issued machine. Visually, we do get the original grille setup or the futuristic-looking taillights out back, but, for instance, chrome has been largely shaved from the car.
It’s the interior where most of the changes can be seen, as the car was brought up to date with the fitting of a large Pyramid video player in the center console, a Panasonic CD player, and a sound system that extends well into the trunk, where amplifiers, boosters, and dual subwoofers are located. For effect, the shifter knob is a scary-looking skeleton.
Under the hood, the car packs a 460ci (7.5-liter), the kind the Galaxie line received as factory-equipped hardware from 1968. It works with a 3-speed automatic transmission.
This particular Ford Galaxie 500 shows almost 126,000 miles (202,800 km) on the odometer, and it is selling for $19,500.
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