When I saw this ’66 Galaxie 500 at the Cohort (shot by William Garrett) I figured it would make a nice complement to Jim’s ’66 Plymouth Fury COAL today. FWIW, I think it’s safe to assume that this might well have been Jim’s, if he had stumbled into it instead of that Fury. Jim vacillated between Fords and Mopars, and his deep childhood associations with a ’66 Country squire might have tugged hard at him. As would the fact that this has his preferred 390 V8.
Yes, a 390 under the hood makes for a nice stream of torque. The badge doesn’t tell us if it’s the 275 hp 2V or the 315 hp 4V version.
I can only see one exhaust outlet, which strongly suggests the two-barrel version, the same engine Jim had and liked so much in his ’67 Galaxie 500 convertible.
Having seen Jim behind the wheel of Jason’s ’63 Galaxie, it’s easy to imagine him behind this one, but I know he’d have preferred a somewhat nicer interior. A nice panty-cloth upholstered LTD?
The front end of the ’66 wasn’t changed that much from ’65; mainly the middle section was pushed out and forward. A very modest preview of what AMC would do with their Ambassador and Matador in the early 70s.
This closeup shows that the hood has developed quite the California sunburn. Look at all them moles and sunspots. Hopefully it’s not melanoma!
The squared-off taillights were one of the more prominent changes, along with the GM-inspired bulging hips.
Jim wouldn’t have let his car roll without nice shiny full wheel covers.
All we need now is a ’66 Impala to show up at the Cohort.
People who think all new cars look alike should compare this Ford with the same-year Plymouth; there’s a strong resemblance in their shapes. Both cars seem modeled on GM’s 1963-64 Chevys and Pontiacs, not expecting them to move to a more rounded and organic look for the 1965 models.
Haha, there is even a little dent in the middle of the decklid!
I would have loved to have seen this car in 1987 – I’ll bet it was really sharp then. Had this come across my path and in a similar condition to the Plymouth, it certainly would have been a contender. I always liked that color (Emberglow – a 1966-only color) and the powertrain. Had it come down to this and the Fury III, I would probably have chosen the Plymouth because I had already experienced this generation of big Ford and would have been drawn to the new experience. But I certainly would have thought hard about it.
One other thing – after owning the 66 Plymouth it hit me how dowdy the interiors were in the Fords of this generation. They were businesslike and modern, but nowhere near as rich looking. Chevy and Plymouth were pretty comparable inside, but this Ford would have been a poor third on this score.
Ford no doubt wanted buyers to have even more incentive to move up to the LTD or XL.
“For just a few dollars a month more…”
(Knowing that the big change was with the 1965 model) I think of these appearing in fall 1965, with WWII barely 20 years over, and a whole lot of veterans still in their early 40s. One could choose from LTD luxury, the convertibles and performance variants, the mid-range family 500, and then this Custom on Hemmings that’s calling me: with the Big Six and the three-speed, you could keep it running forever, I figure: https://www.hemmings.com/listing/1966-ford-custom-671440#&gid=1&pid=1
I love it! I owned a 1966 Galaxie 500 2 door fastback with a 352 4bbl. It was a sweet car. It had almost 200,000 miles when I sold it and it ran like a champ.
I also owned a few 1967 Galaxies and Country Sedans, great cars.
Wow George ! .
I love that blue Custom stripper .
The red car is pretty nice to IMO .
Ford guys are a breed apart, I used to work with several and when this was a new cars I knew some who bought full size Ford station wagons, good cars .
-Nate
I’ve been driving this 65 for 3 years I have 390 and c6 transmission runs great