(first posted 4/22/2013) Ford got off to a bit of a rocky start at the dawn of the Sixties. While the understated 1959 Galaxie was a big success against the wild, crazy and wonderful 1959 GM lineup, the 1960 Ford was perhaps a bit too much of a me-too General Motors wannabe. Fortunately, the rushed ’60 model (and its fit and finish troubles) were short-lived, and just a few years later the big Galaxie was again a sharp, reliable and well-regarded automobile. Indeed, all the early ’60s Galaxies command my attention at shows and, well, Andy Taylor certainly wouldn’t have picked a loser…and neither did my grandfather.
My maternal grandfather, Fred Stamp, was a Ford man. I have a picture of my mom posing in front of his 1957 Ranch Wagon when she was about five years of age. Every two or three years, Fred would trade his current FoMoCo for a new version, and in 1960 the wagon was replaced with a brand-new Galaxie Town Sedan. Our own JP Cavanaugh certainly would have liked it, given that it was painted Aquamarine. Fred was a sensible, middle class family man who ran a tavern, right off of the Centennial Bridge, named, appropriately enough, Fred and Mae’s. Can you guess what my grandmother’s name was?
He loved full-size Fords, and starting in the ’60s, always got the fanciest model, be it a Fairlane 500, Galaxie or Galaxie 500. But he wasn’t about to get a Town Victoria, Ford’s term for four-door hardtop. More money for more rattles and drafts? With the kind of winters we got in Davenport? No sir.
The 1960 Ford had a bit of a rough time, as its design, inspired by the Quicksilver design study, did not translate well to the 1959 Ford chassis. Some proportions were thus a bit wonky, but I’ve always liked them myself. But Ford really hit their stride starting in 1961, with lovely new lines, albeit still based on the ’59 chassis. The ’62 continued that tradition.
While the ’60 and ’61 look very good to me, my favorite is the ’62. For the first time, all 1962 big Fords were Galaxies, as the Fairlane 500 moniker was appropriated for the new midsize Ford. The small fins of the ’61 were traded for an smooth, flat quarter panel. The taillights–Ford’s trademark jet-tube units (how about bringing them back, Ford?) were now recessed into the rear panel. In addition, they were also sunk into the rear bumper, and combined with the smart vertically-ribbed trim panel between them, resulted in a very clean and modern look.
Up front, the concave eggcrate grille of the ’61 was with a flattened out crosshatch version. Flossier models got a cool “gunsight” ornament on it, while all models were adorned with a Ford crest on the leading edge of the hood. Galaxie 500s got these nifty gold ping-pong ball fender ornaments, too, in addition to chrome A-pillar moldings, window trim, rear quarter panel extensions, and a C-pillar garnish molding with a Ford crest adorning it.
While I also love the 1960-61 and 1963-67 Fords very much, I must admit that the 1962 Galaxie 500 is my favorite Sixties big Ford. The Thunderbird roofline, those cool taillights, and the lovely deluxe full wheel covers with the red, white and blue centers all draw me in. These wheel covers (seen above on a friend’s immaculate ’62 Galaxie 500 Sunliner) might well be my favorite Sixties wheel cover too!
So many Fords to choose from during these years. While Paul’s dad may have chosen a stripper base Fairlane, Fred stepped right up and picked a Galaxie 500 Town Sedan. While I was taking notes for this article, my mom asked if I was writing about that maroon Galaxie in East Moline. When I told her yes, she said that Fred’s ’62 was the exact same color. It might well have been his car, until I told her it was a four-door hardtop. No, she said, he never got one of those!
Perhaps my love of ’62 Galaxies is due to the dove gray ’62 Galaxie 500 Club Victoria I got at an antique store off Locust Street in Davenport when I was twelve. My mom and I would go there every now and then to browse. I had gotten several old model cars there in the past, including a Husky Sunbeam Alpine which I still have.
One day in about 1992, they had three Ford promos in the display case: A dark blue ’60 wagon, the gray ’62 and an aqua ’63. Despite the rather high price of (I think) $35, I bought the gray one and took it home. As I recall, the ’60 was more expensive and the ’63 had one black wheel (no wheel cover–maybe a part from a car kit?), so I got the ’62, despite the damaged A-pillars.
Normally, my grandfather would have traded the ’62 in on a ’64, but there was a little problem. Around the time he would have traded it in, he cracked up the car on the way home. He came home, parked the car in the driveway, laid on the couch in front of the TV (as usual) and gave no indication that anything unusual had occurred.
Shortly thereafter, a couple of Davenport’s finest stopped by the house. They were friends of Fred’s (as a bar owner, Grandpa Fred knew lots of folks downtown and a few Davenport police officers were known to occasionally stop at Fred and Mae’s when off-duty) and explained to my Grandma Mae that he had sideswiped a parked car on his way home. He hadn’t noticed that anything had happened until he got home and saw the damage.
My mom also told me that Grandma Mae read Fred the riot act when she saw the crunched Galaxie and became even more livid when his cop buddies arrived and gave her the rest of the story. Mae was not a woman to be trifled with (as my mother and my Aunt Candy can attest), and Fred was, again according to Mom, in the doghouse for quite some time. He never again cracked up any of his cars.
As you might expect, bar owners close down very late at night, and he may have simply been tired. At any rate, he didn’t get in trouble with the law, and I believe his insurance company paid for the other car and his own, but the delay meant that by the time he got around to buying a new Galaxie, the new model year had debuted and ’64s were not in stock anymore.
Thus, the car he drove home from the dealer in late ’64 was a 1965 Galaxie 500 Town Sedan in pale yellow. My mom really liked that car, but it was to be the last big Ford in the Stamp household. In 1968 it was traded for a red Torino GT hardtop with a black vinyl top. That was the car Mom learned to drive on, and the beginning of smaller Fords for my grandparents. Their last car was a 1977 LTD II sedan (CC here), in triple emerald green.
When the 1962 Galaxies debuted, the Galaxie 500 was initially the top of the line model. The base Ford was, as previously mentioned, the plain ol’ Galaxie, with no “500” suffix. This was the only year for that distinction, as an el cheapo 300 series was ushered in for 1963–to the delight of fleet managers, and skinflints everywhere, no doubt.
But about halfway into the model year, an even flossier Galaxie 500/XL joined the roster. XLs came as a Club Victoria or convertible and featured bucket seats, a floor shift with console, and engine-turned trim on the instrument panel and exterior side spears. XLs ran about $300-400 over equivalent G500 models.
It may have been a response to the growing interest in “bombs,” meaning a sporty full-size coupe or convertible, often with a big engine. The 1961 Impala SS was more or less the first, and Ford was close on their heels in ’62, along with Pontiac’s Catalina-based Grand Prix.
As a result of the all-Galaxie-all-the-time plan for ’62, 500s like our featured CC were suitably plush, with full carpeting, fancy upholstery and plenty of chrome trim. While it still looks nice inside this particular Town Victoria, I fear for the integrity of the mauve vinyl and tweed seating, as the car is still sitting here as I write this (March 30) and a whole winter’s worth of slush and moisture has entered the cabin since I took these photos last fall. Come on, unseen owner! How hard is it to get a new window made? It’s flat glass, for crying out loud!
Judging from the mid-’90s antique plates and general good condition, this car must have been someone’s well-loved baby for some time. Sadly, sometimes new custodians of classic rolling stock do a rotten job of caretaking. But it’s not too late for this one. Even if the car doesn’t run, I’m sure plenty of Ford guys could get it mobile in no time. Add a new rear door window, a set of those lovely deluxe wheel covers ($26 a set when new), new tires and a good polish, and it would be a great car for a pleasure cruise down a two-lane this spring, all four windows lowered, of course.
That interior looks great in mauve, and look! It even has seat belts. Perhaps an early ’60s Ford fan can tell us if they are factory or aftermarket. Front seat belts were available from Ford, for $21.00 They had to be a rare installation in 1962 America.
This Town Victoria ran a reasonable $2739 with the 138-hp 223 CID six-cylinder, or $2848 with the base 170-hp 292 CID V8. The four door hardtop was not commonly seen even when new, as only 30,778 were made.
Compare that to 174,195 Galaxie 500 Town Sedans like my grandfather’s and it’s easy to see that the pillared sedan was far more popular. It has been noted before on CC, but it bears repeating: Sedan folks tended to want pillars, while coupe folks preferred to go without them. Most folks who wanted a ’62 Galaxie hardtop got the two door model–to the tune of 87,562.
One interesting artifact was this Moline city sticker on the windshield. This car apparently has not gone far in its fifty-one years of existence, as it was sitting in Moline when I took these pictures. Perhaps it is a lifelong Quad Cities car…
…which is confirmed by the Lindquist Ford tag on the trunk lid. Lindquist is still in business, although they moved from downtown Bettendorf to the city limits on the northwest side of town about a dozen years ago. The original dealership building survives today as a collector car dealer.
I shot these photos back in October. As of mid-March it is still sitting in the very same spot, and appears to have incurred some damage (a crease) along the driver-side fender and front door, perhaps from a passing snow plow or debris swept up by one. Here’s hoping someone will rescue this poor Ford before it becomes a parts car. A Galaxie four-door hardtop like this one would be a great “fun car” to take to the upcoming cruise-ins this summer…
Tom, you are correct, an example this nice being left like this is abuse and neglect. Shame on the owner!
The ’62’s saw the end of both the exposed shifter on the steering column and the 292 Y-block. I had a base Galaxie (no 500 tags) for several years; it was a four-door sedan with the 292 and 3 speed manual. The car was nearly pristine on the inside with the radio delete plate in the glove box. It drove well and the body was tight – much tighter than the ’63 Galaxie I had at the same time and still possess.
Seatbelts were optional as my ’62 did not have them but the ’63 does. The ’62 didn’t even have an outside rearview mirror on either side.
This is a terrific find and your grandfather certainly had good taste.
“Andy Taylor certainly wouldn’t have picked a loser…”
Nor would George Baxter (“Mr. B”), Hazel’s boss.
Being that his character was a successful attorney, the sponsor seemed to make sure that their top of the line models were featured, as well as the Mustang. In fact, Fords were usually featured in the opening credits for the first Four seasons, as well as little Harold’s toy FlairBird.
That show’s a guilty pleasure of mine, just to look at all of the nice, fully-equipped Fords in many of the earlier episodes…
By the way, you can watch all of the opening credits here. Skip past the “cookie” openings to get a good view of the Country Squires, Sunliners and Mustangs!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEnc5tvjgfo
Also, here’s a good commercial featuring Don DeFore (the “Mr. B” character) and the then-new Mustang:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf5FkfKrhng
And another one with Shirley Booth touting the virtues of the Falcon…ain’t she a beaut’?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hrbx9GQoVP0
Makes me miss when the show’s characters did the commercials…
Oh, my wife discovered Hazel re-runs in the last couple of years and just loves the show, we would watch it lots of times. I kept hoping Mr. B would trade up to a Continental given his standing in the community, but the full size Ford convertibles are a nice consolation. Truthfully I think Mr. B is much too practical to be a Lincoln man. But Missy and Hazel might have gone for it if her Interior Decorating bussiness would have taken off a bit more.
Incidentally Andy Griffith’s hometown “Mt. Airy, NC” has a fleet of repro squad cars, 61, 62, 63, & 64 all done up in Mayberry Livery and they’ll take you on a cruise around town to see all the sites associated with Andy Griffith that inspired Mayberry.
If you look very carefully during Hazel’s opening credits, you’ll notice the house beyond the Baxter’s driveway (which was also Gidget’s driveway) is 1164 Morning Glory Circle, home to that famous Chevrolet-driving couple, Darrin and Samantha Stephens. And the same exterior facade at the Columbia Ranch backlot served as the home of Dr. Alfred and Mrs. Amanda Bellows (who drove Pontiacs).
In a few early episodes, Mr. B. drove a stripper Falcon two-door sedan. Perhaps one of the things that kept me from applying to law school was the thought that even an Ivy League-educated lawyer might not make all that much money.
My dad is a Ford man: a ’57 Fairlane, a ’63 Galaxie, a ’66 Galaxie 500 — then a Fordless interlude through the ’70s and early ’80s that saw us owning two terrible Chevys, an AMC, and a Renault — then an ’86 Escort, a ’91 Escort, an ’06 Focus, and now a ’12 Focus. I came along during the years of the ’66 Galaxie.
And maybe that’s why I think the best-looking big Fords ever were the ’65-’67s. I always thought the ’60-’64 generation were a little too upright, too old-man. But I gotta tellya, Ford never did the round taillight look better than in 1962. It’s an elegant, just right look.
Well done Tom, enjoyed Fred’s story. It is a shame to see such a clean interior at the mercy of a broken window.
One nit:
“The 1961 Impala SS was more or less the first [full-size road bomb]…”
Ahem! 🙂
Well, yes, but I had the low-priced three in mind. Most folks who bought a 500XL or Impala SS probably couldn’t have afforded a 300. I should have made that clearer in the post 🙂
Are you sure its not abandoned? Maybe you could rescue it!?
No,the business it’s parked in front of is active. It finally disappeared a week or two ago. I really, really hope a collector saved it!
Fords from this year all looked great,it’s one of those cars were all the body styles look just as good.What’s not to like? Those taillights and that T – bird roof are my favourite bits.I hope someone restores this and is cruising in it soon,it’s too rare to abandon to rust away.Thanks for a great read and a great find Tom
I like your idea of Ford bringing back the jet-tube taillights to its current lineup. The Fusion’s especially look to plain and small. How about this?
I have always liked the 60-64 Fords, and the 62-64 have been favorites for a long time. In recent years, I learned that Chevrolet trounced Ford in sales of their standard lines, but I have never really understood why. The Chevy was certainly attractive in those years, but the Ford was not a bad looking car either. Also, with Plymouth imploding, I would have thought that Ford would do better. Maybe that conservative Tbird roof was a few years too early, as sporty was selling then. The 63 1/2 “fastback” 2 door was a lot sexier.
These 4 door hardtops were always quite attractive. Perhaps the lines on these were a little too conservative when compared to the 62 Impala, which was an uncommonly good looking car. Sure, the 292 was a bit of a lump, but that was easily fixed wiith the 352 (kinda) or 390 options.
Are these somewhat larger than the comparable Chevys? They seemed a bit roomier inside.
I was somewhat surprised how Ford managed to make each of the years (’61, ’62, ’63, ’64) look different enough to give each year a decidedly different “feel” visually. The ’62 always looked the “heaviest” of the bunch, as though its body were drooping a bit from the weight. But handsome, too.
I always thought that the lower Big Chevrolets (Biscayne/Bel-Air) might have been comparatively cheaper or not that much of a leap out of a Fairlane pricewise. Ford may have made room for the Fairlane at the cost of a few big Ford Sales.
It’s worth noting that every Ford below the Big one ate more into its sales compared to Chevrolet. The Corvair (being so weird) didn’t eat as much into Full Sized Chevy Sales, and the Impala enjoyed some of its biggest sales years around the same time the Malibu came out.
Except in engines, I’d rate the 1961-64 Big Fords a bit better than a Comparable Chevrolet. They look more elegant, and seem better finished. Plus they had an honest to goodness 3 Speed Automatic.
The Fords also didn’t have the X-frame, which was another advantage.
While the Fords looked more elegant, I’d rate the Chevys as more “youthful,” particularly the hardtop coupes with the roofline that featured the simulated convertible bows.
I thought the 61-64 Fords were a styling triumph after that simply weird (and crappy) 1960 model. The retro 57 fins and handsome grille on the 61s made them popular, the 62’s fancier interiors, trim and those great wheel covers were amazing, and the huge round taillights and overall clean styling made the 63 one of my favorites. Friends had a 63 convertible in the copper metallic color with matching vinyl interior and a 390 with Cruiseomatic. That car was truly made for cruising and we did plenty in it (hey, “ethyl” was cheap). The 64 looked more modern, a nice crisper meld of the 62 and 63 but it was definitely time for a change by 65. BTW, I thought the 61-64 Chevrolets were equally terrific looking, great improvements over the 59-60.
Just love these cars. My father had a white ’62 Galaxie sedan with the brocade upholstery in black, full wheel covers and whitewall tires. Oddly, I can’t remember which engine it had, but likely it was the 292. A beautiful, comfortable road car. I’d love to have a Club Victoria in the same color scheme. Really, I like all the 1961-63 Fords, but the ’62 model is my favorite.
These remind me of the Andy Griffith show too. I remember one time when Barney bought a used 50s Ford with sawdust in the transmission. Nice article Tom!
The round tail light Fords of this era, ’59 through ’64, made me a forever Ford guy. To my thinking then, and now, the styling of the entire Ford line was superior to any competing Chevrolets. The pinnacle for me was the ’63 – with the big lights but a tighter, pursed front end and back to the concave grille of the ’61s. The ’63 XL interiors were, and are still, stunning – bucket seats, console and jet age, swept forward inside door handles. Lots of contrasting silver inlays in the red or aqua interiors – wow! Make mine a ’63 Country Squire with buckets and a floor mounted four speed – an unlikely but possible ordering option.
– constellation –
“For the first time, all 1962 big Fords were Galaxies, as the Fairlane 500 moniker was appropriated for the new midsize Ford….When the 1962 Galaxies debuted, the Galaxie 500 was initially the top of the line model. The base Ford was, as previously mentioned, the plain ol’ Galaxie, with no “500″ suffix. This was the only year for that distinction, as an el cheapo 300 series was ushered in for 1963–to the delight of fleet managers, and skinflints everywhere, no doubt.”
All ’62 big Fords were Galaxies, except for the station wagons, which had their own model names (Ranch Wagon, Country Sedan, Country Squire). From 1955 to 1968, Ford’s full-size wagons were marketed as entirely separate models from the rest.
In 1961, Ford basically had a three-tiered full-size lineup, consisting of the Fairlane (competing with the Chevy Biscayne and Plymouth Savoy), Fairlane 500 (competing with the Chevy Bel Air and Plymouth Belvidere), and Galaxie (competing with the Chevy Impala and Plymouth Fury). For 1962, it appears that the level represented by the ’61 base Fairlane was dropped, the level represented by the ’61 Fairlane 500 became the Galaxie, and the level represented by the ’61 Galaxie became the Galaxie 500. It looks like Ford expected the new midsize Fairlane to cut far enough into low-end full-size sales to make the traditional bottom rung unneccesary. After a year, they apparently felt that things hadn’t worked out that way, and introduced the 300 to restore their presence at the “Biscayne level” of the full-size market.
IINM, a similar thing happened in the full-size wagon lineup. When the intermediate Fairlane got a wagon for ’63, I believe that the full-size Ranch Wagon disappeared, only to return a year or two later.
For 1964, Ford went back to badging the two lower levels of non-wagons under a common name, as they became the Custom and Custom 500. This ended use of the non-500 Galaxie name, and from that point on the Galaxie 500 was the only Galaxie.
It seemed that Fords were everywhere in our L.A. neighborhood growing up. A ’54 Country Sedan on the corner, a ’58 Thunderbird on the opposite corner, a ’58 Country Sedan part way up our hill, a ’60 Fairlane 500 across the street from us, our own family’s ’59 Galaxie Club Victoria and ’61 Falcon, and what I considered the piece de resistance, a ’62 Galaxie 500 XL at the top of our cul-de-sac. They were as ubiquitous as Toyotas/Hondas in their day. Great cars, solidly middle class, conservative, tasteful. I loved the neighbors’ new Galaxie 500 XL, it was black with tan interior, they would swoop up and down our hill, waving jauntily from those big plush bucket seats, it was a very handsome and elegant yet sporty automobile. Always one of my favorites. I agree with Paul, Ford managed to retain the styling cues from year to year, yet refresh them annually with a new look. They would range from conservative to formal to jet-age, but you always knew they were Fords. Ford would do well to bring back the big round jet tube taillights, they defined a generation of Ford cars.
The 1961-64 design sequence for the big Fords always seemed strange to me. The ’61 & ’63 both had a lighter, sharper look, while the ’62 & ’64 looked much heavier – even a little lumpish.
An odd progression. It’s as if they had two rival design teams, and gave them each alternate years.
I owned a 1962 Galaxie 500 XL convertible with a 390 and auto. It was a competent daily driver and a nice long distance cruiser but dull as dishwater, even with the Italian circus interior. 10 mpg max. I traded it in on my new 1972 Fiat 128 (Positano Yellow) and got $100 bucks for it. Never looked back.
“Front seat belts were available from Ford, for $21.00. They had to be a rare installation in 1962 America.”
Rare indeed. We had to wait an extra month for a ’61 Sunliner ordered the week they came out. Ours was the first convertible at the Chester plant ordered with rear seat belts that year, and they had to figure out how to mount them.
I was required to wear belts from childhood, starting with that car. Ever since I feel naked in a car without the belt on.
You had great parents, Mike – good for them. I believe front seat belt anchors were standard on cars from 1962 onward. My 60 VW had no belts but I had belts installed on a 63 Fairlane that was its successor in late 66 and the anchors were there and the installation was quick. Don’t remember anyone having rear belts at the time. From that point onward I never rode in a car without a belt. My Dad didn’t wear them for many years, however, not until laws made them compulsory. He was convinced he needed to be free to dive out of the car if he got into trouble. Though the logic didn’t work for me, I understood his thinking was based on the fact that it had helped to save him as a kid when my grandmother rolled a Dodge sedan in the 1930s.
That sounds plausible. Many years ago I owned a 1963 Plymouth with seatbelts, front and rear. I’m sure this was a factory installation as the belts and hardware were identified as Mopar products. Few cars of that era would have had seat belts as I don’t remember anyone else having them (we were probably the third or fourth owners of any car my friends or I would have had). Somewhat unusually, the car that replaced the Plymouth, a 1965 Pontiac Catalina, also had seatbelts. I don’t really remember using the belts very often or all then, it was just not something one did.
Same here, I had to wear belts too. Previously Dad had tied a rope across my lap between the rear door armrests in the old Morris Oxford, but he had a belt installed in the centre rear (“safer”) of both the ’62 and ’67 Falcons. I have to wonder what they did for mounting points though, especially in the ’62.
It’s a shame to see a car that good left to sit and rot. Any idea how long it’s been there? I’d be willing to bet that the car still had its wheel covers when it was first parked, too.
It appeared sometime last summer. I am on that road frequently and never saw it with the wheelcovers. The crappily-applied plastic over the broken window was there from the beginning. Pretty embarrassing for the business, as they are an auto detailer. Why didn’t they fix up that Galaxie?
Might be in the trunk. The rest of the car looks all present and correct.
Four years after this CC first appeared…now what? Sure hope it was saved.
I loved the article on the 62 Galaxie 500 Town Victoria. My dad ordered one at the very end of the 62 model run. It was black with a blue interior, 352, Cruise-O-Matic, AM radio, “Select- Aire” A/C, WWT and the wheel covers depicted in the article. Beautiful car, good build quality. He wouldn’t spring for PS, PB, or God forbid PW, but I considered it to be the working man’s Lincoln. Thank you for bringing some wonderful memories back to an old man.
I’ve kept in my child mind the image of good old Dr. Steinmann, a German doctor very well known in Chihuahua, where he established his surgeon practice soon after WWII. He was fond of Ford products and outiside his office always there was parked one car of this marque, so I was told by my father. Dr. Steinmann, with his heavy yiddish accent, kept his ’62 “Calaxi” until he died, in 1970. The car was left in the street and his descendents never pay attention to it until it was a useless carcass wich was impounded by the Traffic authority, and until “recent” years, maybe 1995 or 1996, it was sent with other cars of its generation to the recycling plant. Also, a shame that nobody wanted to give it a hand to recover its former glory.
“Front seat belts were available from Ford, for $21.00 They had to be a rare installation in 1962 America.” I’ve seen in several magazine ads, like National Geographic, that they were first installed in 1956 models, but not heavyly promoted. Maybe for 1962 there were enough Ford cars so equipped, and this may be one of them.
The rear of the Soviet ZiL-111 limousine looks like a ’62 Ford with taillights from a Comet substituted for the big Ford lights:
I have 2 ’62s. One is a white Galaxie 500 two door hardtop with a Ming Green top. The second is also the Club Victoria 2 door hardtop, this one in black with a red interior and red streaks in the chrome strip. The white ’62 is more or less complete. I drove it in high school. It has the deluxe wheel covers, 390 4bbl/300hp engine, 3 speed Cruise-O-Matic transmission, 3.00:1 9 inch rear end, air conditioning (since removed), AM radio, power steering and brakes. The black one came out with a six and a 3 on the tree (both long gone), manual steering and brakes, 3.50:1 9 inch, factory AM radio, few other options. My plans are to restore the white one to 99% factory condition and to make the black one my hotrod, dropping a high performance FE in it (390-406-427-428-whatever I can find) and a heavy duty 3 speed manual on the column, while retaining the stock look with poverty dog-dish hubcaps and painted steel wheels.
My favorite feature of the ’63 Ford is the grille ornament that doubles as a hood release. I had the chance to buy a complete ’63 Ford 300 2 door post with a 352/automatic for cheap but I didn’t have the money to buy it at the time. The one that got away.
Two of my teachers had new ’62 Galaxie 500 sedans. One was baby blue, and the other was a reddish coppertone color. He added chrome fenderskirts to that one . both were stunning cars. The main fault I find with new Ford design is the lack of their trademark round taillights. Too many cars have the Hyundai-looking taillights. And of course they could use some snazzier colors, too.
I remember seat belts on a ’57 Custom. They seemed more a novelty …than functional equipment. These are really hard to find today as NOS or used.
As I drove to the market for groceries a few minutes ago, I passed a parade of dreary Toyotas, Nissans, and Hondas, and got that feeling of despair I’ve been experiencing for nay so many years now as an inveterate car spotter who started this damn journey around the time the above profiled Ford first appeared in the showrooms. If the Japanese automakers had never prevailed, and it was an alternative universe created by some previous quirk of history which allowed the Big 5 to continue into eternity, what would the Fords, and Chevys, and Dodges and Plymouths look like today? And what a proud and brighter world would we be inhabiting now? Instead of Kias, Hyundais, and the rest, we would be seeing a proportional number of Ramblers and Studebakers, et al. I thought about waiting for a good CC post to share these thoughts on, and I didn’t have to wait ’til after my groceries were unloaded to find it. If you’re like me, every time you declare once and for all that you’re a Chevy man, or a Dodge man, or a Ford man, you throw up the deck of cards and start all over with each American glory which appears on the horizon like the second coming.
I remember a wrecked nearly new ’62 Ford that was towed in and stayed a long time at the intersection of Arthur Avenue and 15th Street in Panama City, Florida. I was a 7-year-old boy who liked ’62s and really wanted that car. I still like them.
There were never vast amounts of 62 American Fords here, they could be had new but the rigmarole of overseas funds no remittance import licences meant most buyers couldnt or didnt bother and just bought a Zephyr instead, however the wheel covers with their British red white and blue flag colours were upcycled by Ford UK and reappeared here on MK4 Ford Zodiacs 66- 71.
Ah, the jet-tube taillights, the symbol of speed and an acknowledged sign of the bright future to come. I remember being impressed by the lights on Dad’s ’62 Falcon – simple, but jetlike, then wowed by the added depth and detail on the ’67 that replaced it. But somewhere along the way, that bright future fizzled out, and we became preoccupied with the here-and-now, and the vision degenerated into Broughamancy.
But seriously, what vision do we have nowadays that is widely-acknowledged to be symbolic of the future, and can inspire industrial design? Modern cars with their slit windows and waves of weird metal-shaping seem more to have been inspired by a bout of seasickness. I think I’ll wait this trend out.
We had the Galaxies slightly more droopy cousin, a beige ’62 Monterey 2 door S55 Coupe bought used but looking like new in 1970, 390, buckets, console with automatic floor shifter, factory under dash AC.
Had 4 sets of seat belts, the webbing was beige and matched the 2 tone brown and beige interior, chrome aircraft style metal to metal lift buckles with Ford written on the underside. They were not the clip in eyebolt style this car has, they were bolted in and had the wrap in style mounting plates (you could unroll and remove the belt ends, they were not sewn in). The high quality interior with all the stainless steel trim was great looking and the complete opposite of today’s plastic fantastic snap together interiors.
It was a powerful and good running car, after a couple of years it was traded in on a puke green 4 door ’67 Monterey which was a real letdown compared to the ’62. The family was not pleased when dad made the S55 go away and replaced it with the trouble plagued ’67.
A few Ford safety videos from 1956 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vgYxhdRLnw
This one is interesting. Owners that survived major wrecks in their new ’56 Fords being interviewed and photos of the wrecks. And Junior schools Dad on the new Y block Thunderbird engine.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Civrri7yFCc
Seat belts were first promoted among the big 3 by Ford in 1956. All Fords had a deep dish steering wheel and Lifeguard door latches (less likely to open in a crash) and offered optional padded dash and seat belts. I think that since the ’56 models were a lot like the all new ’55’s they thought the safety thing would be a sales advantage. Of course it didn’t go over that well and was just a start. The federal (or lot of state?) government mandated front seat belt mounting points in about 1962. In 1964 all cars came with front seat belts.
My parent’s 1963 Falcon station wagon had seat belts in the front and back seat. I think they were probably put in after purchase, at least the rear ones. To install the rear ones I think you would have to drill holes and put big washers in as there probably wouldn’t have been mounting points (holes with a plug and reinforcement plates welded in). Of course if you put a third person in the front or back seat the middle person would be beltless.
A few years later the family was all packed up to go on vacation in the Falcon. My older brother for some reason was driving. I got in the back seat and was putting on my seat belt as required (family policy, probably promoted by me) and hadn’t closed the door yet. My brother started backing up without checking and the open door was bent back by a carport post. Fortunately a red 1967 Ford Galaxie 500 two door hardtop was sitting there ready for vacation service. We moved the luggage and continued on.
Both cars were year old used cars when bought. I have no idea what came over Cheapskate Irish Depression Dad to have two cars at once.
Speaking of ’60’s Fords and relating to my boring story above, the 1967 more fastback Galaxies 2dr hardtops were very Fordy looking and very well styled cars, built on the completely new 1965 chassis and probably inner body, mostly. (Coil rear springs, more perimeter style frame, stiffer body with frame isolated by far fewer mounting points, integrated AC, integrated power steering.) The big round taillights had become big rectangular taillights starting in 1965. I’m not sure that there’s a clear line between that chassis and the last LTD/Town Cars decades later. (?)
This one is just like the family Galaxie mentioned above. The nonmetallic red color is the same and for some reason seems just right for the car.
RE: seat belts
Perhaps because of his stint in the Air Force, helping pilots “buckle in”; my Father was a staunch advocate of automotive seat belts. I can recall “helping” him install Western Auto lap belts in every car we owned.
Out first car with factory installed seat belts was my Mother’s ’66 Ford station wagon. I can recall my surprise that the belts were the same turquoise color as the interior and not the usual black belts Dad retrofitted in the older cars!
My Mother was also a Belt Believer. I can still hear her, in her well modulated, polite, southern “June Cleaver” voice saying: “This car is NOT moving out of this driveway until EVERY seat belt is bucked up! Someone help your brother find his!”
the first car I ever drove on the street was Dad’s 62 Galaxie 500!
it was a nice car but boy was it a dog with that 292 and fordomatic
we took it on a lot of vacations pulling our Apache tent trailer
Wow That ’61 two door in the ad is fantastic! I love the green color, would buy one like that in a heart beat!
Nice car, but the interior looks a bit ‘cheapened’ with the two piece steering column-gearshift lever set up.
Growing up in a (just barely) middle class suburb of New Orleans, LA, in the 1960’s and early 1970’s, Fords of the early/mid 1960’s were MUCH more abundant than the same generation Chevvie. There was a few ’65 Impala 2 door hardtops; but the predominant full sized car was a Ford.
Having a 1960’s/early 1970’s Ford station wagon in the driveway seemed to be the “Suburban Status Symbol” of this time period.
I cannot tell you how many morning newspapers I plopped down behind the rear bumper of a Ford Country Squire/Sedan wagon during this time period!
Here’s a fuzzy, faded picture of my family house, circa 1968-ish.
Ford didn’t really build a base model full sized car for 1962. The “base” Galaxie (“Galaxie 100” was the official name) had chrome window frames and was more of a midrange car than a base model. There was no cheap bottom feeder car with painted door frames, just the Galaxie 100 and Galaxie 500 at the beginning of the model year. The Galaxie 500/XL was introduced in the middle of the model year, as was the 406 high performance V8 engine, available with a 4 barrel carburetor or three 2 barrel carburetors.
Those wheel covers are amazing close to the wheel covers on European 1969 / ’70 Ford
26 M (top model) cars.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_P7#/media/File:Ford_26m.jpg
Design recycling ?
Sheriff Andy wasn’t the only fan of the Ford police cars. The El Paso Police Department was cruising our streets with them as well. Note the small black flag attached to the roof’s rain gutter on the passenger side in this 1962 photo with Officer Ed Agan. Marked units carried a black, clip-on flag in the car. Any time a traffic accident resulted in a fatality, the dispatcher would broadcast to all units to “mount the black flags”. This was to let motorists know that there had been a traffic fatality and remind them to drive safely.
While I love these Fords, I also have to remember that Chevy literally spanked Ford in sales during these years. As awesome as I think they are, they were distant second in sales to Impala and Bel Air.
The 1960 had a very attractive front end, but the rear didn’t work, in my opinion. Ford got it right in 1961 with the little fins, the round jet tube tail, and placing the lights high in the rear fenders. Yet, the 1962 brought a low and heavy rear end design. Then, as if that was a mistake, Ford in 1963 presents a beautiful high tail end design – like a 1961, without the fins and larger tail lights. That is my favorite year, style-wise, of the early 1960 full-size Fords. Yet, once again, in 1964 – the tail lights drop again, and the entire rear design becomes rounded and heavier. Dearborn didn’t seem to figure out which design they like best?
Regardless, these cars got spanked in the market by the competition. Ford didn’t field a competitor until 1965, and Lee Iacocca launched the LTD version of the full-size Ford.