(originally posted 7/25/2012) I know some of you are getting a bit tired of hearing about Eugene’s eccentricities. But where else can you order up a genuine Curbside Classic to deliver your pizza? That is, as an alternative to bicycle delivery, which is also on tap. Well, Domino’s does claim to be the Pizza Delivery Experts, and if you call the River Road store and ask for Josh to deliver your Cheesybread and Cinnastix, you’ll have a chance to check out his haulin’ 1971 Galaxie 500. Who knows, for the right price, he might even deliver long distance. Just be generous with your tip, because his beast is lucky to break single digits in the mileage department, especially the way he drives. Which is a slightly milder version of the way I drove 1971 Fords when I was his age.
What is it about these cars that inspire abuse at the hands of teenage boys?
Oh boy, does this car ever wash the memories over me; kinda like having a bucket of cold water tossed in my face. Uh oh; am I revealing my delicate feelings about this lovely Ford too soon? We’ve barely started, and I’m trying so hard to be ‘fair and balanced’ these days. But I speak from a deep-vinyl-immersion experience of these ’71 Fords: I was a car jockey in 1970-1971, and I spent my afternoons after high school driving/abusing them, and loving/hating every minute of it. In fact, when I think about these loathsome cars, what always appears in my mind’s tortured eye is a vile bile-green-on-green one, exactly like this one.
It was the color combination of choice that year, and Towson Ford sold scads of them. Seems like they always went into the hands of a milquetoast older couple, and I’d see them in it heading up to Immaculate Conception every Sunday, their heads barely visible above the headrests. The parking lot there was where these all congregated and commiserated their current dull existence and shared stories of those wild days at the hands of the car jockey before being delivered. It screams everything that seventeen year-old rebellious me hated about Towson in 1970, so it does my heart good to see one living out its last days like this. It’s a fitting punishment for it to be pounded into the ground by a kid hauling a load of hot buffalo wings.
It’s not like the ones I drove got any better treatment: my spite for them and what they stood for induced perpetual full throttle, full brake pedal, and full steering wheel inputs whenever possible; even simultaneously. How else does one learn about the more bizarre aspects of vehicle dynamics and become an accomplished driver? Actually, I was just following Ford’s new car break-in recommendation: “avoid steady state speeds”. I’m on it!
Not that full throttle accomplished all that much anyway, especially in the barely-running state they arrived in. Every new Ford back then was ferried by yours truly to a special bay where a full-time dedicated mechanic gave it a thorough tune up! Well, minus the new parts, that is. And he made sure there weren’t any obviously loose parts ready to fall off at the first pot hole. Although the whole front clip looked like it was going to separate at each bump as it fluttered away. A soft frame and chassis for a soft ride; Ford’s engineering mantra for the seventies.
Which also explains the Bunkie’s Beak on the nose of this car. Knudsen made his career with Pontiac, or vice versa, as the case may be. He ended up at Ford in ’68 when he was passed over for the GM Presidency, and lasted just long enough to graft his version of what was Pontiac’s key to success in the sixties on the front of the ’70 T-Bird and this Ford. Umm, that was almost a decade ago, Bunkie.
Hank II never took a liking to him, and reportedly sent Ford’s vice president for public relations, Ted Mecke, to Knudsen’s home at night to inform him that he would be fired, telling Knudsen that “Henry sent me here to tell you that tomorrow will be a rough day at work.” It led to an inversion of Henry I’s favorite expression “History is bunk” to “Bunkie is history”.
Good riddance. Although Ford in the seventies after Knudsen didn’t amount to all too much either. Iacocca’s legendary innovation in the early sixties turned into legendary imitation, inflation, degradation and stasis. Ford stubbornly kept big cars while GM was investing in downsizing, which finally lead to a big flirt with bankruptcy in 1981. After Henry canned Iacocca in 1980, it was up to a very different sort of guy, Donald Petersen, to clean up and get Ford back on track. And concede that quality really did deserve to be Job #1.
Let’s stop the speculation and get back to hammering throttles. As I was saying, there wasn’t a whole lot of zip in these “Total Performance” Fords, despite the racing efforts. Theoretically, this Galaxie 500’s standard engine was the 240 six and a three-speed column-mounted manual; but I never had the privilege. Sounds intriguing. Most came with the 351. But Josh wants to make sure your pizza arrives piping hot, so his green bomb sports a 400 (6.6L) V8, which was rated at 260 (gross, for the last time) hp.
It had sufficient torque to get the tires piping hot pulling donuts on the far-distant back lot of Towson Ford, out of ear and eye-shot of the office. And it would barrel down (then uncrowded) York Road out to Timonium or the Beltway fast enough, until it ran out of breath or threatened to become airborne. But the real test was the trip to the body shop, which was not an uncommon stopping point before delivery. In 1971, Quality was Ford Job No. 472947658489.
Towson Ford’s body shop wasn’t anywhere near Towson at all, but way down Falls Road, a windy old trail-turned-road that followed the eponymous river. That’s where my hate for these barges really blossomed. It felt like I was trying to plow furrows into the pavement with the rims through those tight curves; give me a Pinto, please! No question about it; the big Fords were the sloppiest handlers of the Really Big Three.
And by far the ugliest, if you hadn’t already picked up on that between the lines. That leaves the question: does the ’71 Ford have any redeeming qualities? No. But if you don’t believe me, call 541-461-9714, and ask for the BigCheesyFord Special, and confirm it for yourself.
Postscript: Obviously this was all just a spoof, as I went on to buy an almost identical 1972 green LTD to prove my true love for these.
My dad bought a ’71 Chevy; it was just as forgettable. Dreadful car.
If anybody’s interested, there’s a ’72 four-door pillared hardtop, same shade of green as this one, for $550. Has low compression in two cylinders and the paint is junk, but the body is straight, the glass is good, and the interior semi-decent.
It’s in the Apple Valley, Ca. section of Craigslist. The phone # is (760) 885-1515. You’re welcome 🙂 .
Am I the only one who sees this car’s styling cues in the current Taurus? Especially that ridge on the side and the tail lights…
The Taurus looks more like a 300.
Great. Now I want pizza.
In my mid 20’s I had a job that required travel and car rentals and I too would drive them hard, not letting an open field pass by without christening it with a few donuts. Fun times.
About quality of the era though, I recall it was standard procedure and completely acceptable for the dealer to advise you to “bring it back in a few weeks with a list of whats wrong” when you picked up your new car…and off your smiling self went.
And yes, this car is very ugly, no nostalgia here. Interesting as late as 1971 you could still get an American land barge with a manual trans.
Make that 1972 — I robbed the clutch pedal linkage, z-bar, etc out of a post-crushed ’72 Bel Air at the recycle yard a few years ago. (They were nice enough to let me at it before they loaded it in the trailer).
I remember how clever Chevrolets ads were…they stated something to the effect of “and now all full-size V8 Chevrolets have Turbo-Hydramatic standard!” They failed to mention that it was still optional if the car was a 6-cylinder.
For many years Chevrolet considered the 6-cylinder and V8 versions of its cars to be two distinct subseries, with different model number prefixes in the VIN. As such, tehnically, the ’72 Bel Air didn’t come standard with the six and 3-speed, with V8s and automatics available as options. There was a six-cylinder model that was available only with the six (3-speed standard, automatic optional) and a V8 model that came standard with the 350 (400 and 454 optional) and automatic.
One exception to this, IIRC, was the Chevy II/Nova in at least the first few years after V8s were added to the engine lineup in 1964. IINM, the 4-cylinder and 6-cylinder versions were treated as two distinct subseries, but the V8 was considered an option for the six-cylinder series.
73 was the last year for full size Chevy’s, but its really rare, there was a 6 banger 3 speed Bel-Air sedan on ebay a few years ago.
Thanks for the correction! (oops)
My dad was a Chicago cop, and had a ’72 Biscayne unmarked car once as a ‘take home’ vehicle. It was an automatic, but I dont remember if it was a 6 or 8.
At 11, I was like “Why do they still make Biscyanes?” Finally dropped for ’73.
IIRC, through ’72 there was a small assortment of full-size Chevys that were still available with the six: the Biscayne & Bel Air sedans (the pillared sedan was the only remaining body style badged under those names) and the Impala Sport Coupe (not Custom Coupe) & sedan (pillared only, not the hardtop sedan). For ’73 this was pared down to just the Bel Air sedan, as the Biscayne was dropped and the Impala was no longer available with the six. The ’74 Bel Air sedan was initially listed as being available with a six, but it was withdrawn early in the model year and it is believed that no ’74s were actually built with sixes. The six would not re-appear until the GM B-bodies were downsized for 1977.
For several years beginning with 1970, the smallest available V8 in full-size Chevys was the 350. The 307, which was offered in other models through 1973, was not used in full-size models, leaving a gap between the six and the 350. I’m not sure about Ford, but the ad posted above suggests a similar engine lineup there (240 cubic inch six and 351/400/429 V8s, but no 302). I guess the six was kind of a de facto credit option, offered for the few remaining customers — probably mainly fleet customers — who still wanted a full-size car with a six. Anyone else was presumably going to want at least a 350/351, not a 302/307.
” How did you make delivering pizza Tonite son?. $60 . Spent $50 on gas!..Should have brought a Corolla! “
“Interesting as late as 1971 you could still get an American land barge with a manual trans.”
As late as 1971 you could still get an American land barge with vacuum windshield wipers!
Its only redeeming quality is to inspire entertaining hatred from Paul, and smug satisfaction in GM and Mopar barge captains. 🙂
I like that underhood shot. Everything looks pretty similarly laid out in Big Three cars of this era. But Ford heads, why is the battery on the wrong side? Also, my a/c doesn’t have a giant box in front of the firewall, though it must consist of all the same basic parts? (Mine hasn’t worked in years, and I never looked at it too closely.)
Ma Mopar must have figured out the best way to package A/C parts. Both Ford and Chevy had giant “suitcases” under the hood for decades.
The battery is on the same (or correct?) side as the starter.
I didn’t even know that was possible! I just assumed you’d always want battery, ignition switch and starter on the same side. But who am I to argue with “Total Performance”?
Next you’re gonna have to tell me what those upright coily things are that look like they’d interfere with the torsion bars. 🙂
Funny!! And what about that crap about having to remove the carb to access the fuel injectors… 🙂
The GM G-vans are a trip…their battery mounts in the LF corner and the postive battery cable routes down the left side of the radiator, across the bottom of the core support, back down the right side of the frame a few inches before reaching the LF corner of oil pan. It then sneaks behind the motor mount to the solenoid..which happens to be almost behind the exhaust manifold. It’s a monster!
I like colorful stuff & one of the things I always liked about the MoPars (or at least the unit-body MoPars) was that their engine compartments were the same hue as the exterior. Sure it shows off all the grease smears & oil leaks but it sure beats the drab look of the GM engine compartments.
Since the MoPar A/C evaporators were behind the firewall instead of in front…does that mean the A/C has to be evacuated/refilled when it’s heater core replacement time? What a rotten job that must be..
At least Ford painted their air-cleaners blue which I always liked.
Looks like he took out a mailbox or street sign. Dang, that driver’s door entry has got to be hellish in the winter. I could never hate these vehicles naturally though. Perhaps it’s because I’m a ’71-’76 GM fan.. The doors on these cars, even the hardtops, seemed to feel more solid and far less “heavy” than the GMs.
Some time in the late 80’s my father owned a ’72 LTD sedan in this same color…. it was as spartan as this Galaxie and the paint was faded but the body was perfect as it had about 60K miles on it. He paid $500 for it. It had a green vinyl top, those flat dog dish hubcaps, A/C & AM radio. The interior was a matching green fabric & I remember the seats being very “springy” as opposed to “foamy”. It was not a looker…I mean why would you spring for a vinyl top yet be okay with dog dish hubcaps on black (not matching green) rims?
The paint was faded and had the 400-2bbl engine. It was very drab looking but the car would haul ass. I could not believe how much power that car had, especially with the highway gears & single exhaust. It would run circles around our ’72 350 Impala & outrun even our/my old ’73 400-2 Bonneville & ’76 400-4 Bonneville.
I miss that car. My dad tired of it & drove it up to IL & gave it to his ex-wife (HAHAHAHA!) It bothered me as it was probably one of the only surviving ’71-’72 Ford products in the entire state — I remember rust killed these cars when I lived up there. Anyway, she called him up about a year or two later, raving mad because “that damn Ford leaked oil all over my garage floor!!”
Hidden headlights would have made the front of the ’71 Fords awesome…
My car buddy in AL has a ’71 Custom 500 sedan that was a factory 429 car. I think the engine’s out of it now but it was a factory police car as it has the 140mph speedometer. I’d LOVE to have that car.
Agreed, the pre ’73 400 was a fun engine for just being a 2BBL. I had a 75 400 and it couldn’t pull a sick whore off a piss pot
Around ’74 or so, I was working for a small publishing company as more or less a gofer, and the company runabout was a ’71 Galaxie sta wag in the pale baby blue that seemed to be Ford’s second most popular color, after that ghastly metallic green, and equipped with the 351. Made a lot of runs from Johnstown (PA) to Pittsburgh and back in that thing, mostly with the hammer well and truly down. I distinctly recall my boss at the time gently suggesting that I was welcome to take a bit of extra time on the round trip. Not a very interesting car otherwise, I must admit. The only thing I can say in favor of it was that the ’73-75s were even worse.
Looks like a perfect candidate for my spray can restoration. The vinyl roof adds additional challenge. I’d have to think on that for a while.
60-grit sandpaper would be a good start…
I feel blessed to have very little memory of the American car during that era. I was actually in the states from 70-72 so I guess I was just focused on the junk I could afford or more probably on getting good with bikes. Whatever, it sounds like a good era to be done with.
Is it any wonder why I’m such a Chevy/GM fan after seeing this abomination of a design? The compaable Chevys, of which I wasn’t much of a fan of at the time were heads above this!
Sorry if I offend if some of you like these, but old memories remain and seeing photos of the old iron brings back how I felt then, and often how I still feel. In the case of Exhibit A above…I still find them bloated and very unattractive. Ford’s efforts at trying to appear as a pillarless hardtop with a thin B pillar makes a Colonnade a couple years later look good!
Oddly, it looks pretty cool as a genuine beater, though! I’d spend a few hours driving it just to say I did!
One thing about those big Fords though – they rode like you were on a magic carpet. Silky-smooth ride to the max! I don’t think Caddy could do as good back then.
BTW, I’d like to order a large thin-crust pepperoni pizza with green peppers, please. I have a coupon…
This is actually an incorrect brochure picture. The pillared hardtop body was only offered on LTDs, the pic shows a Galaxie 500, which used a conventional framed-window style,as did the low-line Customs. Think Streets of San Fransisco or Dirty Harry-Magnum Force.
The ’71 Ford is forever immortalized in the Burt Reynolds movie ‘White Lightning’. Good chase scenes and his Custom Interceptor was supposed to have a 4 on the floor, but that was movie magic.
One other thing is 70’s big Fords are good Demo Derby cars!
I forgot all about that flick! I loved the jump onto the Barge.
Well when they gave Burt the car they claimed it was specially built and IIRC they did show a couple shots of a floor shifter in it. Of course it’s been so long since I watched that movie there was probably a column shifter for the AT it actually had and the floor shifter if it was there was likely just a dummy.
If you freeze-frame the shifting scenes, you can see they are using a 71-72 Mustang for those shots.
Burt looks under the hood and says WOOWEE! 429 with Dual Quads… but it’s plain as day a single 4 bbl. carb… with small chrome air cleaner… at least it wasn’t a 2 bbl…
Yes, I liked these cars when new (an elderly neighbor had one and I thought it was quite luxurious at the time – and yes, it was dark green on dark green), and yes, I was 12-years-old then. Thanks for letting me off easy for what I now see as a lapse in taste. But – if I ran across a mint one today for the right price, I’d consider it, especially a wagon.
When I see one of these in this condition, I agree with everyone else and see a beak-nosed Thunderbarge. But on the rare occasion that I see one in perfect condition, in a dark color, from the side (where the sub-par front and rear designs can’t be seen), I see a very clean and modern design that had a lot of potential. Just look at that roofline and those sculpted, unadorned side panels. Of course, that only really applies to the hardtop and convertible models.
And I’m more of a GM guy myself, but look at the 1971 Pontiac full-size line and suddenly this car looks understated and majestic. Nobody really got it right in the early ’70s, except maybe Buick (I’m excluding Chrysler because their designs still dated from the late 1960s and by the time they introduced their great looking ’74 models most of the other companies had also figured out how to make tastefully designed cars again. Also, I really like Mercury and Lincoln designs from that time, but I would never call them sleek and understated like the Buick).
I have to disagree on the rear end design. There are few cars I’d rather be following in traffic than a ’71 LTD, especially at night. (Pic was robbed off “Hartog”s flickr album. You do NOT want to see the rest of this example)
Its not that the rear end is bad, necessarily. Maybe a bit bland, but better than a lot of other cars. But the reason I don’t care for it is that just two years earlier it looked like this:
It look almost like Jack Arnold’s car in the later seasons of the Wonder Years. http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_65205-Ford-Custom-500-1969.html
I remember that back end from the French Connection, the mobster that was organizing the heroin deal drove a dark brown one of these and there is a scene early in the move where Popeye Doyle follows him around Manhattan.
Aw heck I wish that movie was on right now, just for the ambient motor noise that wasn’t drowned out by asinine hackneyed “score.” Filmmakers need to re-learn the wonders of a minimalist soundtrack.
I know that the movie was filmed in 70/71 using the aforementioned LTD, Mark III and the brown LeMans during the pivotal chase…. but I would have loved to have the movie set during the early 60s as Moore’s novel is set.
A Buick Invicta and Popeye Doyle’s Corvair— now THAT would be nice.
True, the real French Connection car was a 60 Invicta. I always did like the scene in the movie where they take apart the Mark III.
I first saw The French Connection on AMC when I was 12 or 13(back when AMC still showed good movies) and that garage scene practically taught me how cars were put together. I guess at that age I should have been rewinding and pausing scenes from Basic Instinct but, car guys/gals are an odd sort lol
I remember a 1972 LTD television commercial pitting it against . . . a Jaguar
XJ-6 !! The attributes of the LTD were that it had an (optional) sunroof like the XJ-6, radial ply tires and power accessories. Of course, the Ford could be counted on start and run and power all those power accesories, unlike the BL Jags of that era . . .
If it makes you feel better — Dirty Harry Callahan’s boss drives one of these and gets himself totalled in the process in ‘Magnum Force’. in fact, Lt. Grier drove one of these pigs in the ‘mod squad’ series as well.
Add also a similar 1972 Custom ending its crash from the elevated freeway to an appartment in “Freebie and the Bean” http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_86000-Ford-Custom-500-1972.html
I think the 1971-72 Ford Custom/Galaxie/LTD was also used in later seasons of Ironside and The FBI and the ealier episodes of The Street of San Francisco.
And Harry has a ragtop verison of this in Magnum Force . . . .
Not that I’m picking nits, but isn’t the beast in the picture a ’72? The Unk had a ’71 2 Door LTD Brougham loaded to the sills, and was a car that I still think looks good today. I recall his one complaint occurring about three years later, when he opened up the driver’s door to point out the rust perforation starting on the sill. This was Northern Quebec at the time, so weather and chemicals were hard at work by year three or four of ownership.
Yes, the second ad picture is a ’72. It’s such a fine picture, I just couldn’t resist.
How many tips do you have to get to keep this sucker fed?
I cant look at this vintage Ford without the theme song from “The Streets of San Francisco” playing in my head.
+1 …. I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for these beasts for only one reason …
The handling was obviously so well-suited to the city’s hills.
I dont know how Karl Malden kept his fedora straight on some of those turns.
These have to be one of the most televised generation of full sized Fords ever, even more than the Mayberry Police car. The full size Ford was the standard go-to police car in most 70’s TV shows, especially all the Quinn Martin shows and Hawaii Five-O.
I agree, seems like up until 1980, cop shows had 71-73 Fords as patrol cars in scenes. Aaron Spelling shows also had ‘Automobiles supplied by Ford’. Most infamous big Ford is [S&H] Hutch’s beat up ’73 Custom 500 to counter Starsky’s “Striped Tomato”.
Today still even, the Crown Vic is the standard go-to police/unmarked police car in tons of shows.
Well considering they were pretty much the only police car for the last 20 years and new ones are still going into service (from the lots where PD’s stocked them up) I would certainly expect so. Not even a month ago the WSP just put it’s last new CV into service.
The only thing I liked about that series – which I didn’t watch, was Karl Malden’s hat!
Damn, it’s like a Hockney painting. “The Squares,” oil on canvas, 36 x 48, 1974. Collection of Q. Martin. 🙂
Full size Fords were (and still are) the fleet favorite in San Francisco . . .
And it sports REAL (“C” issue correct for 1971) California plates not the phony ones used in most productions . . .
Talking about I6’s in early 70’s big cars, my Great Uncle [at 71 y/o] needed a new car in 1972. He got a new Ford Custom [no 500], with an I6. Only options were automatic and AM radio. Turned down the whitewall tires since my Great Aunt said ‘they’re a waste of money’.
He stopped driving in 1979 and car was still running in 1981, after passed down to his daughter. I was at a family picnic that time, and asked look under the open hood, and discovered the 6 banger. Was like ‘omg didnt know it had it’, til then. Almost wished I could have gotten it to run around.
I think ’72 was the last year for the base Custom, as it was for the comparable Chevy Biscayne.
When I was a kid my grandfather had a 1974 Custom 500 sedan which had supposedly been originally purchased by the City of Attleboro, MA for use as a police chief’s car (so not a patrol car per se, but a car the chief would use to go about his daily business). It was a medium blue color with a white painted roof — not vinyl — and dog dish hubcaps. If I remember correctly, it had a 400 V8.
Yeah, last plain ol’ Custom was 1972. And the former high line Galaxie 500 was just a run of the mill big Ford for its last 2 years. Plymouth Fury I lasted into 1974, btw.
My uncle traded in his pristine, trouble-free 66 Ambassador for a new 72 LTD two-door hardtop in metallic brown with black vinyl top. The accelerator jammed on the way home from the dealership and he nearly had an accident. From that point on it was one problem after another, supporting Paul’s view that Ford’s quality control was on a downward path during these years. Quite different from my aunt’s 66 LTD that she bought new and drove for ten years before trading for another new LTD that was nowhere near the quality of her first one.
When I was younger I swore that these things were really poorly assembled Unibodies.
They were a good 20 years old by time we were thrashing them, but even in decent shape it felt like every part of the car was in business for itself.
A Black on Black 2 door LTD was a pretty sharp car as an observer though.
I still remember when these were new. The first two I saw up close were this same color combo. The first one I saw was parked in the grass at a boy scout function when I was maybe 12. Everyone (even the adults) just ooo-ed and ahh-ed over that car. My favorite statement was from the 20 year old kid who had a pristine orange 57 BelAir 2 door (not the hardtop) who said “what I wouldn’t give for one of those.” And he meant it.
I consider this one of the best looking big cars of the 70s. The full width taillights on the LTD were beautiful. By 71, the Galaxie was clearly becoming the ugly stepchild for cheap old men. And the prow nose front just looked impressive as could be to me at the time. I still like this car’s looks, particularly in a dark color.
Of course, the joke turned out to be on anyone who actually owned one for any length of time. Awful, awful cars. Sources like Wiki claim that the 71 was of the same generation of Ford that came out in 1969, the first to stretch wb to 121. I have driven both, and I do not see how they could be the same platform. The 69-70 were tight cars, while the 71-72 would shudder and quake over any real bump. Ford supposedly engineered flex into the frame for an improved ride. It was a bad idea when Studebaker did it in 1953, and it was still a bad idea in 1971.
Don’t start me on the rust. These things were every bit as bad as the 69-70, if not worse. Awful, awful rusters. So, after all that, would I take a low mile nice original 71 LTD with a 429 from a dry climate? In a New York minute. Then I would simply have to roadtrip to Eugene and show it to Paul and watch his face as he tried to decide what to say. But I sure wouldn’t let him drive it. 🙂
I think they was a bit more larger. However there might be some shared components between the 1969-70 and 1971-72. Also, the 1971-72 the LTD inherited the convertible due to the retirement of the XL.
Meanwhile, Mercury did some “blind test” with the Marquis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRPf44mkjKA and there wasn’t lots of changes between the 1969-70 and 1971-72 Marquis. I guess Mercury decided then if it wasn’t broken, they didn’t fix it.
How far is he from Gresham OR? This is a 72 LTD Brougham 4 door. 429 V8.
Actually I WANT this car! Anybody want to take a look at it for me?
http://www.dayspringautos.com/view_vehicle.html?vehicle_id=MTMzNw==
I am generally opposed to additional regulation and red tape….but I really think it’s time to have the health department restaurant inspectors examine delivery cars. I’m not sure I’d eat anything that rode in that, despite it being in a box and an insulated bag.
You could come down with a case of Broughams disease, symptoms include woodgrain patterns in the iris, resulting in a unique colorblindness where everything is either metallic green or brown, a velour feeling on the tongue, after the disease attacks the brain, you begin writing everything in a florid cursive script and and adding d’elegance to the end of your name.
Look for the early warning signs of Broughams
-Wondering why things dont have opera lamps or windows
-The additon heraldic crests to everything
-A desire for everything to be upholstered
Just occurred to me…the year I took driver training in high school was 1971, and the local Bishop, California dealers donated three new four-door sedans…a six-cylinder Chevy Bel Air from Virgil Oyler Motors, a Galaxie with a 351 from Eastern Sierra Motors and a Pontiac Catalina with a 455 from Perry Motors.
Guess I lucked out getting the Pontiac…
I took driver’s ed in 1975 – San Rafael High School the “advanced” group (meaning we had SOME experience behind the wheel) two cars – a white 1975 Buick Century Wagon which I remember when we stepped on it a little bit it would sound like someone blowing on a flat sheet of paper (the exhaust) and a 3 speed on the tree (but 350 Four Pot V-8) green 1974 Chevy Nova. Without looking under the hood, I knew it was a four barrell as it had the “350” emblems above the cornering lights and I knew (from the brochures I collected) that in 1974 and ’75 only the four bbl 350 was available in California.
And a trip into the city (San Francisco) was chock full of full sized Fords in Yellow Cab and SFPD livery . . .
Wow — until reading these posts I had totally suppressed from my memory the fact that the 1972 or 1973 Ford, then new, was the first car I ever drove, thanks to Drivers Ed at Palo Alto High School.
The instructor, sporting a leg cast we all thought must have been from a previous collision, rather sadistically had us drive the monstrous Ford (whether it was an LTD or Galaxie version I don’t recall, but it was a yellow hardtop with black vinyl roof) up a narrow two-lane road to Skyline Blvd., far above the rest of the city. I remember the embarrassment of hearing branches scraping the right side of the car as I struggled to keep it out of the middle of the road; and this, actually, is a route I find fairly challenging to drive in my Miata even today …
Yep, another fine Ford hatchet job from you Paul. Guess that’s what we’ve come to expect whenever we see a CC on Fords with your name attached. Just wondering how many big Fords did Towson Ford sell in 1970-71 to make you the expert you obviously are on early 1970’s era Fords ? Just sayin’….
Personally, I would much rather read someone’s passionate but negative take on a car than a boring vanilla treatment. Paul’s approach and opinions are often quite different from mine, but he expresses them honestly. One of these times I am going to come across the right Camaro and I just might give it the kind of treatment that may take years off of the life of your computer monitor. Sometimes certain cars bring out strong opinions. I am glad that Paul shares with us a less than kind treatment of cars like this instead of giving us a never-ending diet of gushing over Pugeot wagons and Corvairs.
So, relax a bit, Bob. If you are a big fan of these cars, give us a big old comment to tell us all why. I, for one, will enjoy it. Or better yet, maybe this is the car calling you to submit your first CC piece.
I sure don’t mind a spirited review and a good story, but it really needs to be more about Paul if he’s writing autobiographically. In a recent review he mentioned the source of his Fordphobia. If I were his therapist I’d say, now we’re getting somewhere!
Aw shucks, thanks. I do have some rather fond memories of a 1970 Galaxy 500 coupe. Now I just need to find one.
And I gave the Model A a glowing write-up: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1929-ford-model-a-the-best-ford-ever-maybe-even-the-best-car-ever/ I can do it, when so moved.
As I’ve said before, Paul’s musings on Ford products are suspect to be sure, but they are his perspective, not a universal opinion. I have some history with the 71-72 Fords too. To me they were handsome, better looking, and better built than either the GM or Chrysler full size cars. I did not think they handled well but they rode smooth. Great cruising cars. JPC also takes every oportunity to rant about the ability of late sixties, early seventies Ford products to rust in the midwest where he lives. In my experience, the cars with the most dubious rust honor would be 71-76 full size GM cars, and 73-80 full size GM trucks. They would start rusting on the roofs, behind the rear window, and lower door sills and fenders after 2 years from new…….in coastal California. My brand new 74 Chev half ton was a real mess by 1981 when I sold it. I could not believe how badly it deteriorated, and I noticed almost all of the GM cars from these years had the same problem on the west coast. The point is no car is universally loved, or hated. Reading different stories and opinions on cars is what makes this site so enjoyable.
I am right there with you on the 73-80 GM pickups. In my area of the midwest the 71-76 GM big cars would rust in some odd places like under the rear windows, but most of the lower body held up better than the 69-72 Fords. To be fair, the Fords at least kept the rust in the lower bodies like doors and quarters.
Besides Knudson’s main follies, the ’70 Thunderbird ‘Beak-Bird’ and aircraft carrier-sized ’71 Mustang, the rest of the Ford line from those years really isn’t that bad. But Bunkie just can’t get any respect – the Rodney Dangerfield of the auto industry.
The story goes that the main reason he was fired from Ford is because he had a bad habit of barging into Henry Ford II’s office without knocking.
And the punch-line to the story about the way he was let go is when he ‘did’ go into work the next day, he went around asking everyone, “Am I fired? Am I fired?”. You’ve really got to love HFII’s eccentricities. If Bunkie was Rodney Dangerfield, HFII was the George Steinbrenner of the auto industry.
I was thinking about this earlier today. I cannot imagine a worse training ground for working for Ford (a family busines run autocratically by one very powerful guy) than working for GM (a committee based system where the suits on the committees were busybodies with no individual power who were to be ignored if at all possible.) Every skill in dealing with leadership learned at GM were fatal when working for HFII.
Poor Bunkie, though I recall reading in Iaccocas book the Hank the Deuce was a pretty vile guy to work for, and best avoided altogether when he had been boozing, which was often. Iaccoca writes that he would order people fired because of the way they dressed, making statements like ” He’s a f*g, look at his pants, fire him” pretty crazy stuff. I remember from DeLoreans book, that one of the cultural differences between Ford and GM, was that at GM, no ones name was on the building, in fact he said most GM chairmen were really low key people(which is where DeLorean clashed with management)you could be right next to Frederick Donner at a party and not know he was the head of the biggest corporation in the world.
Paul, it looks like old prejudices don’t die………..at all. They just get recycled. Was it the nuns who drove Fords?
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/01/curbside-classic-1971-ford-galaxie-500-pizza-delivery-car/
Since you continually castigate Ford and Mercury handling of the era, as if it were an anomaly, their handling was actually BETTER than their GM rivals.
“the Mercury has the edge in handling and steering” “……….the Centurion exhibited the most adverse handling.” The Buick had a 455 (great engine btw!) and the Merc had the 400 so there the Buick was faster (duh). But Motor Trend still picked the Mercury.
http://www.buickcenturion.com/info/centurion_mag004.jpg
Good ole Bud Lindeman of Car & Track had nothing but good things to say about the Centurion though…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVo9U89liic
I love these old Car & Track roadtests.
That’s classic. …”and the power steering unit would give ‘way”. Jeez !!
I even enjoy the “sporting” soundtrack that would be equally at home behind NFL highlights of the day.
The danger of youtube of course is you can kill an hour in no time.
Bud seems like a guy you could have a boilermaker or 6 with, then he’d light up an Old Gold and tell you some stories about Korea…..
I love Buick 455s, wasn’t too fond of the nail head 401.
My favorite is the one where they flogged a ’73 GS455. I’m very biased in the ’73 GS455 department and watching that car drift/power through a curve at > 55mph sent chills up my spine.
I’ve been privileged to own and/or drive (mostly just drive) some very fast cars but I don’t remember anything slamming me into the seatback as hard as two different 455-equipped Buicks did.
Thats a good one, there are a couple where they test economy cars too which are good for a laugh, I had never seen a Super Beetle on a track until I saw that episode.
The Car & Track driver is a wizard though, anyone can drive a sports car fast, but a guy that can drift a boat tail Riviera through a turn is a man with giant brass balls.
To outhandle a 71 Buick! High praise indeed. 🙂 Seriously, I wonder if the Buick was still running bias ply tires. FoMoCo was into radial tires well before GM. Both the 72 Cutlass Supreme and the 74 Luxury LeMans that my mother bought were equipped with Uniroyal bias belted tires. They were miserable, let me tell you. They were available on the 74, but ours was not one graced with the “Radial Tuned Suspension” badges on the dash. Fords, however, had a very high equippage rate of radials by that time, especially in the big cars. I have driven both GM and Ford cars of that era, and I have a hard time believing that a big Mercury could out-handle a big Buick with comparable tires.
Yes the Buick in that test was wearing Bias tires but so was the Ford and the Buick had the advantage of having the optional “HD” suspension.
http://www.buickcenturion.com/info/centurion_mag003.jpg
I worked building maintenance at a Ford Dealership in 72-73
I SWEAR every Galaxie in the showroom of that dealership for those two years was either dark green, dark metallic brown , or that mustard yellow that seemed exclusive to Ford.
I’ve been waiting for this one to show up over here 🙂 .
In the 1986 film Quicksilver, a young Kevin Bacon stars as a hotshot bike messenger who runs afoul of the neighborhood thug, “Gypsy”, who drives one of these cars in black primer. Near the end, Gypsy and Bacon compete in a race to the death- Gypsy in his battered LTD vs. Bacon on his Raleigh.
Bacon out-rides Gypsy, and in his murderous rage, Gypsy turns his $500 Ford into a $50 parts donor- and totals HIMSELF in the process.
15mpg city, not much more highway, free delivery,gas at $4.00 per gal?. Eh ..profit gone.
Not a good business model!
I as well grew up in the wonderful 1970’s (born in ’72) and fondly remember the big Fords, Chevy’s and Chrysler products. My uncle had a 1970 XL fastback and my father a white 1972 LTD with a black roof and interior (made summers interesting). I believe ours had a 351 engine and a FMX transmission. My mom drove a 1977 Granada which was a good car. My favorite car was my Aunts fathom blue 1970 Caprice sedan she took meticulous care of. Had a very torquey 400 small V8 engine that was not afraid of the freeway on ramp. Ultimately she traded my beloved Caprice for a new Toyota in 1980. She owns a Lexus now and she can’t believe she owned such a large car back in the ’70’s . I had so many fond memories of the Caprice I bought a 2-door ’70 Impala in high school which I still own today (had restored in 2004).
Cars back when I grew up were easily identifiable unlike today and everytime I see an old Polara, Fury or Galaxie, it takes me back to a fond time where family morals and responsibility were the norm unlike today either 🙁
I’m surprised that car is a Galaxie 500 instead of a Ford LTD, it could easily be mistaken for a LTD on the outside, I’ve always feel the 1971-74 Ford Galaxie’s get overlooked in favor of the LTD’s and can’t remember the last time I’ve seen an early 70’s Ford Galaxie.
I’ve always had a strange love for these things. Even as a dumb kid I knew that GM and Mopar’s full size offerings were far superior, but those big Fords- there’s just something about them that gives them their own unique appeal. Not something I can really explain.
Dad has a ’69 Galaxie 4-dr in the same green colour, with a black vinyl roof and white vinyl interior with the square taillights that Mom liked so much. It was the family car from about 1975 to early 1980. We all loved that car! It also seemed less overstyled and bloated than this ’71 model – was there really that much difference between them?
It seems to me that the 302 engine was available, at least in Canada. I ‘e never seen a six cylinder Galaxie 500 ir one with a manual transmission. However, There were plenty of Customs with Taxi packages six banger and two speed autos. They came from the factory with wiring harnesses in the center of the roof for the “spike” light. Plain interiors and heavy vinyl seats. I also saw one new 71 LTD Brougham loaded with options but had a three speed manual column mount. That was an odd duck.
The taxi packages weren’t 2-speeds, they just had the quadrant modified to block out the D1 position.
I wonder if that beast is still bombing around Eugene.
Paul, your undying hatred for the 71 Fords always makes me smile.
Ford may have been foisting these cars on the public back in 1971 and 1972, but they were also offering the Mercury Colony Park wagon at the time, which, IMHO, was one of the best looking cars of all time, especially in the version with the wood grain sides and tail. Those wagons had an elegance and grace, along with very nicely done detail work, unmatched by anyone else at the time. They may have been junk and drove and handled poorly (I have no idea), but just sitting there, they looked like a million bucks.
Didn’t read through all the comments yet. I remember having a crush on a girl in middle school whose dad drove a ’71 LTD. I also remember the adds where a new LTD was driven to a junkyard. The outer door panels were cut off exposing the door beams. Then the car was lifted by a crane by the door beams to show their strength.
Bob
The ’71-’72 big Ford was everywhere in my early days, they were the first Fords to make a beachhead on my previously very GM centric block. One was a guy’s company car in Custom trim and the other was a loaded Country Squire in gold as so many of them were.
The subject car as a pillar less hardtop Galaxie was pretty rare. The majority of LTD four doors were the new for ’71 pillared hardtop and Galaxies were usually traditional sedans with framed door window glass.
Why is it when I see a car like the subject I want to take it home and clean and polish it and start searching junkyards for trim parts? It’s a sickness.
I like these, there is a dark metallic blue with a black vinyl top ’71 LTD pillared hardtop running around my part of town this past year. In fantastic condition, and a very dignified color combo that was more associated with the original ’65 LTD.
I recall that In the rust belt and despite their mass and bulk, these machines fell prey to the Swiss Cheese, desiccation syndrome rather quickly, even more so than their predecessors or GM or MOPAR counterparts. You’d never see a survivor shuttling Domino’s around Cleveland or Buffalo 40+ years hence.
I actually like the looks of these, at least from the front.
CC effect at 5×5 recently I saw a Dominos sign clamped to the roof of a Rover 75 the other night for your upscale home delivered pizza, a BMW version 75 not the classic Rover.
In the, “things I’ve never understood” column:
The same year my dad traded in his 1965 Pontiac Tempest 4-spd, 326 ,dual exhaust 4-dr sedan(!), for a ’70 Peugeot 404 Wagon, my friend’s folks traded in their ’68 404 sedan for a ’71 Ford like this in cream.
The Peugeot lasted ’til late 76 when rust took to the underbody, but I’d lost touch with my friend by then.
I would say 71 was my favorite year of large Ford. My family had a 65 that they traded in on a new 71 galaxie 500. med blue with black vinyl top. 351 ac etc…had blue paisley like fabric . I remember it being quite and uneventful to ride in.
I’ve always thought the 71 LTD’s were the best looking of the 70’s full size Ford’s. I would love to have one. In 72 when they went to the front bumper crossbar and simpler eggcrate grille, I lost all interest. It ruined the look of the car to me. If I wasen’t so cheap, I could have had a 71 2dr LTD in black. It was in Lindsey TX in 2001. It had been sitting awhile. And the guy wanted $1500!! No way was I going to give more than $500-700 for any car then. At the time I stopped to look at it I was driving a 78 2dr LTD Landau I had bought the year prior for $600. In fact I had just put new tires on it and was giving them they’re shake down cruise. The 71 sat for about 2 more years then disappeared. Overall I would say it sat for about 10 years. I was (still am ) a truck driver so I was very familiar with it on my trips across US 82 between Amarillo and Paris Tx. It did look good inside and out. It was not at all trashed. But I was just too cheap. Still am. My DD today is a 76 Maverick (with the Stallion Package!) I bought in March of 99 for $800 and a 79 Thunderbird I bought in April of 2002 for $900. Of course only being home two days a week and being able to park my rig only 2.5 miles from the house (at a place they will let me leave my car) I only put around 1000 miles a year on the T-Bird and about 600 on the Maverick. So cheap has it’s place.
My father’s best friend owned a Ford dealership in suburban Indianapolis during the 1970’s and I am quite familiar with these cars. In all honesty, these full-size Fords were never my favorites. My youthful eyes were drawn to the more rounded contours of the ’71 GM “B” and “C” body vehicles… especially the Buick LeSabre and Oldsmobile Delta 88’s. However, in no way did I hold these Fords in contempt like Mr. Niedermeyer. I actually felt the front-end styling was quite handsome and the side profile was clean and unoffensive. The rear styling was the weakest point in my eyes… very little “personality”. The interior design was actually beautiful on the LTD Broughams with the “high-back” bench seats and plush upholstery. Lesser models such as this Galaxie 500 tended to be like other full-sizers in this class… borderline boring. That’s just the way cars were at this time. On the positive side, these Fords came in a multitude of colors/combinations and you could individualize your car with optional equipment to your wallet’s content. Try doing that today!
Performance was still somewhat decent until the drop in compression ratios that was mandated the following year. Gas mileage was horrendous compared to today’s standards. Perhaps the worst feature of this (and many other Fords from this era) was the handling. They were designed to be true isolation chambers with little or no road feedback. The steering was numb and required full concentration from the driver in order to steer this barge straight down the road. They leaned like drunken hippos in the corners and squealed their tires at the least hint of spirited driving. If one preferred more sporty handling, the Mustang was probably a much better choice.
Performance aside, these were quite durable cars if driven sensibly and given proper care. Rust became a problem in later years and probably resulted in many of them going to the shredder long before the drivetrain started to die. These weren’t bad cars by any estimation. The styling becomes more handsome with each passing year and I find myself missing these vehicles… despite their flaws.
My Grandfather bought a 2-door brown on brown 70 Galaxie 500 from the dealer in the late summer of 70. It was totaled in our driveway about a month later when a man driving a Gremlin had an epileptic seizure and drove up onto our lawn and into the Galaxie. With the insurance money Gramps bought an end of model year white pillar-less hardtop LTD (w. blue crush vinyl top) powered by a 351W. When Gramps passed in 76 my Mom inherited the low mileage garage queen. Then by 1984 I owned it and put over 100K miles on it over the next 6 years. It had been rust treated yearly but it also lower pane body work done in 74, 77 and 88. It was my favorite vehicle of all time — solid, floated down the highway lots of power and had those cool hideaway headlights. Liked the look with all 4 windows down. In 1990 with a baby on the way I sold it for $500 and bought a new Olds Cutless. Perhaps the 70 LTD it is still on the road somewhere? Anyway, I liked the Ford so much I had already bought a red 71 LTD convertible (white top, black vinyl bench seats) in 1987 as a summer car (also a 351). It had a trailer hitch and easily pulled a trailer but the red paint had faded to a dull orange and the top was pretty ratty and their was lots of evidence of rust starting. Still it was a family pet so I paid to restore it in 2001 and still own it. The styling is nicer on the 71 then the 70 but the ride was much-much tighter on the 70. I always put it down to the fact the 71 was a convertible but according to the article and comments perhaps it was the flex-frame added in 71? If so the change was a BIG mistake.
What do I like about these Fords? 1. the body styling of the 2 doors, esp the rear tail lights. 2. The leg room and visibility over that long hood. 3. The power — on highways with the top down the convertible runs powerfully like a champ and straight as an arrow. 4. The massive trunk — room for two Jimmy Hoffa’s plus a full size spare. 5. Ample room to work round the engine. 6. Parts are still readily available. 7. These old cars are still a bargain if you don’t have a lot to invest – they top out around 20K for a real nice example — and you really do get a lot more car for the buck than the ubiquitous Mustang. 8. 71 LTDs are rarish birds yet seem to turn heads — esp the ragtop. What I dislike? 1. handling on corners (yea the suspension was rebuilt and new springs added for a marginal improvement) — but just take them slower than your modern car and you’ll be fine. 2. Parking these boats in a modern parking garage is a challenge. 3. You can’t leave them out in the elements or they rust like crazy esp in Ontario Canada where I live. But, if you have a dry Garage you can keep them forever (well in my case 31 years and counting). If not then you had better live somewhere dry like the desert. 4. If I have not driven it for a day it has to stall once before I can get underway. This is a notorious issue with the 351s for this year and with my particular factory carburetor. Its something I expect — one of the cars quirks. Just like I need to grunt and stretch a few times before hauling my 60 year-old body out of bed in the morning.
5. The lower body trim was aluminum made, dented easily, was misaligned from the factory (Ford lack of Q-control) and trapped moisture. I took mine off along with the wheel well chrome trim and put it in the attic in case someone ever wanted to put it back on but I like the chrome-less look — makes it more sporty (closer to the Galaxie trim level than the LTD). Other: Gas mileage is actually not that bad — it became worse in 72 and subsequent years as more anti-pollution stuff was added. Still the 71 is not as good as my new Corolla — just no worse than any other early 70s big car and probably better than some others. Enjoyed the article and comments. Cool Fact: The character Jonathan Byers drives a rusty 71 Ford Galaxie in the hit Show Stranger Things — a green four door of course with the nasty looking pillar posts. It does always seems to start right up though LoL
I’ve long suspected there is something not quite right with him, but know I know it
Congratulations! What took you so long?
Of course your utter lack of a sense of humor suggests something’s not quite right with you either. 🙂
And did I actually say they weren’t reliable? That may be the one quality I might be wiling to concede that they have. But there’s more to a car than just reliability. At least for some of us.
There’s definitely more to a car than merely reliability for me. I ♠must♠ like the appearance of the vehicle and with that I’m willing to overlook various omissions or shortcomings a car may have. And there’s loads of omissions on a ’64 Ford in terms of safety features.
I lost something you can only lose once in one of those. Same color, but no vinyl top.
Aww . . . .
My uncle and aunt owned a ‘72 Ford station wagon. When my sister tried to drive it, they slammed the rear corners into a streetlight, a tree, or a fence. She wanted to sue Ford for making a car that handled poorly, but couldn’t carry it out. It was following the year that these came out after all. My dad’s 1969 Pontiac Catalina sedan was better in comparison, even if it was large. He wanted to pick up a used Mercury Monterey, but got a new Caprice sedan instead before we moved to San Francisco in 1978. Before, the town police used Custom 500s for a while. Something about the grill on these Fords looked gloomy for some reason.
The wagons could be treacherous handlers if the tire pressures weren’t right. 22 psi F, 32 psi R. We had many owners trade older models that weren’t so touchy about pressure differential. The usual culprit was overinflated fronts or under inflated rears.
Having grown up around Volkswagens and sensible “intermediates” imagine my amazement the first time I sat in one of these and gazed out over that runway-length hood. A family friend drove this exact model and, once in a while, I got chauffeured around town as a teen. Such a shockingly ugly car–even for the early 70s–but I felt downright regal riding in the largest car with the biggest beak.
I remember one of these being our family car for a very short time when I was about 7. Once, when Mom was out in it, the hood opened spontaneously, scaring the crap out of her. The car went away right after that. I remember thinking that it was strange for the car to just disappear, and I never learned what happened to it. My only other memories of that car were the metallic green paint, which I thought looked cool, and the fact that it was new, because Dad typically bought older cars.
Also, it seems that such fuel-guzzling car would be a terrible pizza delivery vehicle. Back when I was a delivery driver, my Chevette Scooter served me well; zippy enough to maneuver through small-town traffic, easy to park, easy (for the time) on fuel.
Cool car. Lousy pizza.
What happened to Bunkie’s Beak, its not protruding like Karl Malden’s nose.
Niedermeyer assumes this heap is living out its last days (circa 2012) bombing around delivering pizzas. Somebody may have thought the same thing about this same car in 1985. My bet is the people quit before this old battle axe does.
My teenage buddies mom had a two door in the same color. Which we need to imagine that these cars were once new and people actually paid money for them. So much green in the early 70’s. Our refrigerator was the same color.
Anyhow, we would back that thing on to a concrete apron and smoke the tires as a short term cure for teenage boredom.
I have been purchasing the Consumer Reports Annual Auto Issues from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s on ebay. They make for very interesting reading.
Based on what I have read in those articles, quality wasn’t “Job 1” for anybody except the Japanese (and even they had a fair amount of learning to do in the 1970s). This Ford wasn’t worse than it’s direct competitors in that regard, and better in some ways. As for styling – I’d take this over a contemporary Chevrolet, Plymouth or Dodge competitor. (Buick and Oldsmobile made the best-looking, non-luxury full-size cars in the early 1970s, in my opinion.) Others obviously feel differently.
I have read countless lines about the poor quality of cars in several eras. But rarely specifics. This particular car was never built with concept of being a paid delivery vehicle 40 years after its manufacture but yet there it is.
I have spent the last 35 years with cars of this era and nothing sticks out at me ever. Some of the early solid state electronics had teething issues. But I brought home way more derelict cars than I can remember and nearly all of them I have fired up and brought back to driver status.
These cars got parked or derbied because they were out of style and used too much fuel.
Many of the muscle car body styles had poor fit and finish because they were being pushed out as fast as possible.
Comparatively mordern cars of all make have impeccable fit. But shitty paint is certainly still a thing. I have seen several I would not take off the lot. I notice that many rental cars have eggshell issues. I would guess they are sold as seconds to bulk buyers.
Im on the other end of the style spectrum. I would take a 71 Fury,Newport,or Biscayne well before the ford. Probably every car but the Amc Matador maybe.
An old family friend flagged this still from the Kiss documentary Ki$$tory last night, and I thought it went thematically very well with the Galaxie Deliverator, supra.
Featured are Gene Simmons with jug of milk and Paul Stanley in front of their ’71 Galaxie in the parking lot of the Great American supermarket on Route 17 in Liberty, NY. Grossinger’s is in the distant rear. It’s sometime between 1972 and late ’73, because the Golden Skillet was torn down to be replaced with a Pizza Hut in early 1974.
I never liked this body style. Always thought the tail lights looked cheap.And that green makes me nauseous The 72 Ford looked slightly better. The 69 and 70 Fords were beautys!