I’d like to offer a brief update for my COAL #6 post describing the ’64 Ford Galaxie 500 two-door hardtop that was my mother’s last car. In that post, I estimated the as-delivered price of the Galaxie at $4,244.
It turns out that after some additional digging in the family automotive archives, I happened upon the original Retail Buyer’s Order for our ’64 – from our hometown dealer Laurie Ford. The Laurie family offered Dad the princely sum of $378.85 for Dad’s ’58 Plymouth wagon, meaning that it had lost over 85% of its original base sticker price of $2,626 during our six years of ownership.
The Galaxie was an early Christmas 1963 present for my mother.
But my COAL #6 estimate of $4,244 really missed the boat on the price of our new Galaxie. It was decently optioned, but not excessively equipped. In terms of late-1963 prices (in descending order), our Galaxie 500 two-door hardtop ($2,674.00) included Cruise-O-Matic transmission ($189.60), Ford’s small-block 289 V8 ($109 over the standard 6-cylinder), power steering ($86.30), AM radio ($58.50), full wheel covers ($45.10), power brakes ($43.20), whitewall tires ($33.95), vinyl interior trim ($25.00), padded dash and sun visors ($24.30), two-speed windshield wipers and washer ($20.10), and the courtesy light group ($14.80), adding up to just $3,323.85 (about $32,675 today).
Dad signed on the bottom line for monthly payments of $86.69.
Ford’s Buyer’s Digest of New Car Facts for 1964 promoted that year’s Galaxie 500 series as having “high priced allure without high price tags…the kind of total performance that’s been refined and perfected on the race tracks and rally roads of Europe and America…pays off in dependability and economy in everyday family-style driving.”
The Galaxie remains one of my most fondly-remembered family cars to date. More than our ’62 Falcon, it was the car that first kindled my Blue Oval passion, reflected in my first car, the ’66 Comet, as well as a number of Mustangs and other Ford-powered vehicles, including the LBC sitting in my garage today. But those are subjects for future COALs…
Great story! The handwritten Retail Buyers Order didn’t list power brakes. Were they added later?
A friends parents had a similarly equipped ‘64 Galaxie 500 4 door h.t. I was very impressed with its interior, much nicer than all the Impalas around at the time. I liked the ‘63’s taillights better, but this was a fine looking and well appointed car.
Nice to see the original sales order .
That was a _LOT_ of money for the average American in 1963 .
-Nate
I bought my 2nd car–a 1972 Mercedes 250–from a Mr. Perez who lived at 48 Glenbrook Road. This was in 1989. He also had two 1st. gen. Chevy II’s for sale: a 2-door HT and a 4-door. All of Perez’s cars were in immaculate condition.
Have you seen 88 Glenbrook Road lately? It doesn’t look much like it did in your pictures.
One thing leaves me curious. In my day (1970s) a vinyl interior was the cheapest and nastiest choice. But apparently in 1964 that was an option. What interior did a buyer get if they didn’t pay $25 for a vinyl interior??
Cloth and vinyl.
There were many grades of both cloth and vinyl. In the case of the Galaxie 500, both the cloth and vinyl were higher grade. And yes, at the time, a nice grade of vinyl stitched in patterns (rows, etc) was considered a better grade of upholstery.
Cheap cars back then had a flat grade of “cloth”.
The image below is from the ’64 Ford brochure and shows the standard Galaxie cloth upholstery.
Ford didn’t show its low end upholstery, but this is the’64 Biscayne’s. Thinner and flatter, but servicable.
Cloth or a cloth and vinyl combination. Back in the sixties all vinyl was considered an upgrade and extra cost option. As you said, that situation turned itself around with the brougham era.
RE : Vinyl upholstery ~
Long ago taxis and police cars had leather seats, then as they were developed they got various vinyl typ coverings that lasted long and more importantly didn’t get all dirty/greasy/filthy as cloth seems to do .
In the late 1950’s I still wore short and got painful burns on my legs from vinyl seats, once I began to drive I realized a well made vinyl/naugahyde/MB-TEX/whatever was the choice for me always .
Cloth is probably comfier but always seems to stain .
Most of the time I use dead seats to drive down the initial purchase co$t then I have the seats recovered and built to my specifications, and they’re comfier for my broken spine and easier to clean, I usually add map pockets to the back rest too .
NO FOAM ! that tends to bunch up or wrinkle on longer drives and becomes *very* uncomfortable .
-Nate
Dig deep and there’s a 1957 Ford in there – the last year of it. The 1965 model was a huge step forward.
Very much true, including the “cow-belly” frame from the ’57 model. 1965 would see it replaced by a perimeter frame.