I’m generally not a big fan of chopped and shortened wagons, which has been a thing going way back. But I thought this ’64 Ford, caught by Mike Hayes, was worth sharing, as it’s a bit out of the ordinary and makes a nice contrast with those two CUVs in the other lane.
The main problem is that the proportions become seriously out of whack, most of all the huge rear overhang. I’m being picky, as usual, but have to admit that my visual cortex is getting some genuine stimulation from this wagon. I could also do without the obligatory Thunderbolt hood bulge, but I can mostly screen that out in my mind.
What’s it doing for you?
It looks like a pillar is missing from the rear greenhouse. A nice rolling piece of history nonetheless. Period correct wheels or wheel covers would be much nicer.
Those wheels look almost like Cragar S/S mags
They’re the kind where the spokes have a banana curve from the rim to the hub.
They are Appliance mags
I am with you on the overhang out back – it is out of scale with the rest of the car.
What mystifies me is that big rear quarter window. The normal Country Sedan window is much shorter, with its lower edge ending near the forward part of the rear wheel opening. This one appears much longer. And with the glass being curved back at the D pillar, it is clearly not just a piece of flat glass cut to size. Could that black tint be hiding a seam? I don’t see any other way they could have done that absent a custom-fabricated pair of quarter windows.
I always wonder what created the idea behind something like this? Was it a “crime of opportunity” made out of part of a wrecked wagon? Or did someone say “I have always wanted a 2 door Nomad-style Country Sedan?”
Is that actually a blacked out window, or a black-painted panel where we expect to see glass? Sheetmetal would be much easier to form than glass.
That would be quite a piece of talent to shorten that roof too. It’s not flat but convex.
Like Paul, it is stimulating despite being out of proportion. It reminds me of some of the altered wheelbase funny cars used in drag racing back in the 1960s. This Galaxie almost looks ready to pop a wheelie.
It does look like an AFX altered wheelbase car. It would look better to me if they had moved the rear wheel well back 6-9″. There was a lot of work put into those modifications, though and it has a lot of good ideas, like the longer 2-door front doors used instead of the shorter 4 door/wagon front doors. Angling the b-pillar and chopping it did help retain pretty good lines and proportions.
Yes, centering the rear wheel in the quarter panel would improve the look.
I like it!
I like it too, but wonder if he would’ve been better served by using a Galaxie or XL, and just putting another roof on it to extend the roof to the back of the car, like a buddy of mine did back in the late seventies with one of his ‘66 Mustangs (well, two, if you count the donor roof). Of course this method left him without a tailgate, so there’s that. But the proportions looked better for that “Nomad” Effect.
That sort of thing happens to Mustangs routinely
Generally only first-gens get coachbuilt. I’ve seen a number of Fox Mustang wagons made by putting a Mustang front clip on a Fairmont or LTD wagon, and one Mustang II wagon using a Pinto body.
I have seen this ride and talked to the owner builder. Done by owner, he’s not a body man nor mechanic, just a gear head. He choped the rear door section out then put the back half back on. Refashioned the rear side window chrome and made the whole thing look it was originally planned. Up close, this is really well done and a testament to his backyard skills.👍
I would have guessed it was done by a professional. It looks that good! I wish I could have gotten a good shot of the front. Two of the headlights were missing, probably to make room for air intakes, like the “Thunderbolt” Fairlanes from the same era. Really an impressive car, and built for speed.
Any idea what engine/transmission he is running?
Obviously some good work here, to get the roof spliced back without all kinds of low crown waviness, and simply getting it done. Most projects like this you see for sale CL, hacked together in bare metal “with all the hard work done”. Sure, the hard work is finishing is and making it look good. Well done there.
That being said I would rather have the maroon specimen that JPC posted a photo of.
90% done… yes, but 90% of the work to go?
This is an interesting idea, and well executed. Thanks for sharing the photo Mike!
This is intended to be a phantom lightweight Galaxie sport wagon, or FoMad if you will. And since Ford never made a two door full size wagon, it just had to be done.
And yes this sat in my brain for 30 years.
The complexity of this build is enormous. The compound curves of the body lines made this a huge challenge. Shortened 18.5 inches, chopped 3.5 inches. The doors are 2 door Galaxie. The rear end was moved back 5 inches to center in the long quarter window, to reduce the rear overhang.
It’s powered by a 351 Windsor with 5.0 L mustang fuel injection and a vortex super charger.
More pics
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More of the wagon
I am proud to say I’ve known Will Tilse for well over 20 years, a true gearhead and a amature mechanic like me who develops strange plans and ideas and impliments into running, safe vehicles. We both geo the road less traveled. To hear some derogatory comments on how the owner should have done this or that is a shame, I sense a little bit of jealousy from general know-it-alls who can barely replace a tail light bulb. I remember when Will told me of his plans to shorten/chop his wagon…..crazy man, but of the two people Ive known in my life that could sucessfully accomplish this herculean task…a..that would be Ed Roth and Will Tilse !! If you guys only knew how much
careful planning it took to do this project…its both wild & crazy !! Im proud of you Will..a job very well done !!
Where there’s a Will there’s a Ray? 😬