(first posted 7/3/2012) Tim turned 30 in June of 1968. He had been married for five years and had two sons, ages 3 and 4. He had owned a 1961 Cadillac convertible but had received an offer on it he couldn’t refuse. So Tim decided he wanted something a bit more usable in the winter time.
There were two criteria Tim had for his next car: It had to be big enough for a growing family, and it had to be a two door. Those two boys of his could be little hellions at times and he wanted to keep them contained. Having had great luck with a ’59 Ford he had purchased new, Tim decided to try a full-size Ford.
The Custom was okay, Tim thought, but a little dull.
The Galaxie 2 door was nice, but just wasn’t quite right for him.
The LTD looked great with its hidden headlights, but was too much coin. Tim did have major medical bills with the younger boy’s weekly kidney dialysis.
So Tim thought a Galaxie 500 fastback was just the ticket. For a base price of $2881, he liked what he saw, but knew caution was needed on the option sheet. Tim knew one could quickly spec out a Galaxie to an LTD price point.
After looking at several Ford dealers throughout the St. Louis area, Tim ultimately found what he sought: A fastback Galaxie 500 with a 302, automatic, radio, and air conditioning. The dealer was being unusually realistic on price and Tim bought the car. Both he and his wife, Barbara, were happy with it.
One day soon after buying the Galaxie, Tim and his family met his father-in-law at a nice restaurant. As Tim was in the rest room, the two boys scurried off with the blessing of their grandfather. Upon his return, Tim was instantaneously livid when he looked out the front picture window of the restaurant to see the two boys standing on the median island of the street. To add to his lividity was seeing the younger one encouraging the older one in his behavior. Tim saw his older boy urinating onto passing cars with the volume, pressure, and gusto of which only a 4 year old boy is capable. Tim rushed into the street, grabbed them both, and carried them back to be tossed into the backseat of the ’68 Galaxie.
When Tim subsequently chewed on his father-in-law, questioning his integrity, intellect, and ancestry, it was from the driver’s seat of the ’68 Galaxie.
The Galaxie started immediately, taking everyone home.
Sometime later, in a moment of pure weakness, Tim acquiesced to Barbara and said her father could go on their family camping trip.
It was a hot weekend, so Tim left the door of the tent partially unzipped. Soon after everyone fell asleep, Tim’s father-in-law (who had imbibed way too much Canadian Mist that evening), yelled “Die, you bastard cat!”. Tim awoke violently, realizing the “cat” was actually a skunk. His next realization was his father-in-law, still thinking it was a cat in his altered state, was determined to strangle it. However, it was too late. The skunk, being a skunk, did what skunks do.
Tim then threw his father-in-law out of the tent and hauled him and the two boys to the backseat of the Galaxie. He told Barbara to get in the front seat and the tent was shoved into the trunk. The stench permeated the innards of the poor Galaxie.
As a side note, upon his immediate interrogation of everyone, Tim learned the two boys had left a trail of food to the front door of the open tent. This prompted the night’s second chewing from the driver’s seat of the Galaxie.
Again, the Galaxie started immediately, taking everyone home. A very putrid journey, indeed.
Tim’s Galaxie would later take the family on a much-needed vacation, pulling a pop-up camper from St. Louis to California. At the Royal Gorge, Tim would sit in the driver’s seat of the Galaxie and warn his boys they had better not urinate into the Gorge.
The Galaxie would continue to make weekly trips to the children’s hospital for his younger son. It served them well and was always highly reliable. Tim still misses the car to this day. He no longer remembers why he sold the car, or quite when, but his was canary yellow with a black interior. The second owner took it to Earl Schieb and it emerged in black. Two months later the new owner was broad-sided and the Galaxie was no more.
This story is true. I didn’t even bother to change Tim’s name to protect any semblance of his innocence. And how do I know all this? Tim and Barbara had a daughter when their older son was 9 years old. You probably see where this is heading…
I spotted this ’68 Galaxie parked in front of the ’71 Mercury Monterey I shared with you a few weeks ago. The only real obvious difference with the featured car, other than color, is its having a 390 V8 instead of a 302. Back in ’68 the 265 horsepower 390 cost a paltry $74 more than the 302; the 315 horsepower version cost $155 more than the 302.
Ford did remarkably little in the way of restyling their ’68 models. Even if you look at the taillights, you will see the strong resemblance to the ’67 Ford’s. Hidden headlights were now available, but that is about the most remarkable change that year. Despite the minimal changes made, Ford still sold 339,262 Galaxie 500’s of which 69,760 were fastbacks. Ford sold another 50,000 fastbacks in 500 XL trim.
When gathering information for this article, I emailed a picture of this Ford to my father-in-law, Tim. He really wanted to know to know where it was. When I told him it is sitting in Rolla, Missouri, I could tell he was pondering the possibilities.
Great story. I spent a lot of time in Fords of this generation in my youth. My Dad’s 66 Country Squire, and my own first car was a 67 Galaxie 500 ragtop. I always thought that the 68 was kind of vanilla compared to the earlier years, but this fastback was far and away my favorite body style. The proportions on this car were just right to me, making it seem muscular.
The other thing that I really liked about the 68s was their unique 1-year-only steering wheel design. I don’t know why I liked that big fat flat hub so well, but I did. Another interesting (to me, anyhow) tidbit on these was when the 69s came out, it was the first time I could remember the wheelcovers carrying over to the next year unchanged. We had seen this with some of the optional covers or on the dog dish caps, but not the wheelcovers that most Galaxie 500s were sold with.
A family friend had the Mercury version of this car – a 68 Montclair fastback. I loved that one. I have shared before how the the package shelf under the back window was wide enough for two kids to lay out in side by side on the highway. Regular big cars could only accommodate one kid. The Mercury started out dark green and was repainted black as well. I think I like that Mercury fastback even better than the Ford, but I would happily take either.
The only way Tim could have done better is with the 390. The big old torquey FE engine was just made for cars like this. I also can’t say that I’m a big fan of the yellow, but that was the great thing about those days – you had a wide choice of color. Personally, I thought that these looked better in the darker colors.
I enjoyed reading about Tim. It is nice to be reminded that everyone has to deal with a certain amount of craziness in life. It is nice when the craziness can be tempered by a reliable car that makes you feel good.
I almost forgot.
Beautiful interior, especially the white seats. I hate the dark caves of modern cars. And maybe my tastes are proletarian, but I like the faux burl walnut accents.
I was a 16 year old apprentice mechanic and got to work on thse when they were brand new. The unique steering wheel is due to Ford being late in switching to energy absorbing steering columns. The large ’68 hub followed the flower pot ’67 hub. It was still pretty awkward. We were told the design was due to a need to keep some the deep dish steering wheel tooling from the ’67s in production for one more year. They finally got the size down on the ’69s. They followed the industry to energy absorbing columns in ’69. One other unique thing about the ’68s was that the models built up through the end of ’67 didn’t have any shoulder harness. Our garage had a lot of buyers who didn’t want to mess with shoulder harnesses – which were an awkward 2nd belt at the time – so the 67-assembled 68’s were in much demand. You’re right about the 390 being a great engine. Nothing wrong with a 302, but we mechanics would take pride in how nothing would idle smoother or at lower RPM than a well tuned 390. The only problem I remember on these cars was the neutral start switch was a bad design. We replaced so many of them that they were occasionally on back order. It was awkward telling a customer they should use their left hand to pull up on the shift lever while turning the key with their right hand until we could get a new switch in stock. This problem plagued Fords for several years. Never understood why it took so long to correct. Other than that, I remember these as being generally well built cars – for the time anyway.
Whoa, I didn’t know that; thought Ford went over to energy-absorbing in 68. Thanks for that tip!
As per a similar reply from 5 years ago, Ford phased in collapsible columns later in ’67. They were definitely universal by MY 1968.
“Every car has a story.” Thanks for sharing this one! As I’ve commented elsewhere, I spent many of my formative years in and behind the wheel of our ’68 Country Squire LTD wagon (390, automatic). That’s another car that would be high on my list if money and garage space were no object.
I always liked the big Fords as a kid. One of these would have looked great in our driveway…instead of our boring ’67 Beaumont with a straight 6 and Powerglide. Oh well.
Is that a Canadian GM model?
“After looking at several Ford dealers throughout the St. Louis area…”
I bet Tim bought his at Dave Sinclair, the South County Ford dealer. Or maybe Kribs Ford City. McMahon? Sherwood Sherwood Ford Ford?
C’mon, work with me here…
I just called him and asked. It’s a two-part answer.
He found it at Valley Ford in Florisant (where he was living at the time). They didn’t want to work with him (it was sitting on the showroom floor), so he went to McMahon Ford and they did a dealer trade.
I feel bad for Tim ….. no one should have to deal w/ an idiot father in law like that one there~
Great write up, JL.
Valley Ford! Ha ha! I lived in Florissant from 1977 when I got married until 1992 when we moved to Cincinnati. Wifey is from Florissant. Her dad bought his Fords from there! Valley Ford was only a couple miles from our house.
Tim and Company lived in Florissant until 1980, so you may have crossed paths. They lived on Moule Street.
Oh. I was kind of hoping for Sherwood Sherwood Ford Ford.
I have collected a few dealer nameplates. They have personality. Though this one is quite simple, it’s one of my favorites. I just like the way it looks.
I really like the lines on this Galaxie. The designer who did this did well from every angle not a line I disagree with, simple and not overwraught. (Oh and bucket handle shifters still make me smile… need more bucket handles and toggle switches in car cockpits. 😛 )
What? Not a kind word for T-handle shifters?
Loop or basket handle shifters are “where it’s at, man”.
Sure brings back memories of my mom’s 68 LTD Country Squire…
Ford (like the rest of the Big 3) generally did a good job with their fastback styling on the Mustang and intermediates, but the ’67-’68 full-size cars were the exception. Even next year’s ‘flying buttress/tunnel back’ look was better.
I guess they were trying to copy the look of the Impala fastback but there’s something wrong where the rear window meets the trunk and levels out that just doesn’t make it look quite right. The awkward styling of the c-pillars don’t help matters any.
Buick did a much better job of the ‘backbone of a jaguar’ look on the last ’95-’99 Rivieras.
For some reason the C-pillar looks very awkward to me in the full-on side view, but just fine in the front and rear quarter views.
And did I mention 290K trouble free miles out of the 390 that was in said LTD Country Squire wagon?
I find the 1968’s front end cleaner and the subtle uptick of the side crease gave the car a less bulky look than the 1967. However, I’ve never warmed to the fastback, which strikes me as too slab sided. In contrast, the 1967 had a lovely arc to its semi-fastback roofline.
Nice story indeed. Much nicer than my feelings about the ’68 Fords. I’m a bit hard pressed to explain it, but I rather loathed these cars.
This was during the blossoming of my rebellious era, and big Fords bore the brunt of them. Towson is where John Waters grew up, and if you’ve seen his movies about this era, you’ll know exactly how I felt.
I did have some nuance to my feelings. The ’65-’68 Fords managed to mirror the issues of the ’61-’64 big Fords. The ’65 was somewhat refreshing in its angularity, even if out of sync with the (GM) times. The ’66 was a dog, mostly, in a desperate attempt to add some fashionable curves to its hips.
The ’67 was pretty good; maybe the best of the bunch, like the ’63 had been. But the ’68 was the pits. I couldn’t believe that utterly generic front end when I first saw it: where did they buy that; from the J.C. Whitney catalog? So dull and dreary. (OK, the hidden headlight version was better). And that fastback; what a joke, especially on a plain-Jane Galaxie.
Everything that was wrong in the world in 1967-1968 was the fault of this dull and stupid big Ford. And all the dull and stupid families riding around in the Country Squires in their bee-hive hairdoos were just perpetuating all the things that were wrong in the world. How convenient. And somehow, the big GM cars escaped that fate. The 14-year-old mind is a thing of brilliance indeed.
I just remembered what may have been a significant factor in my feelings: the nuns at my beloved Immaculate Conception School drove two stripper Custom 500 sedans, one blue and one green. The kiss of death.
At least now I understand why your are Fordaphobic!
Stripper nuns, one of my favorite fantasies.
You`re right about the nuns Paul. They always seemed to drive strippers, if they drove anything at all. Chevy Biscaynes and Plymouth Fury 1s were fairly common.One of the priests at St Finbars Catholic Church In Brooklyn, NY had a `66 Olds 442, and the head priest had a `67 Bonneville coupe, maxed out with air and steel road wheels. When I asked my mom if priests were supposed to take ‘vows of poverty’,she told me that their families probably bought them their cars. I wonder.
Diocesan priests generally don’t take vows of poverty.
As a practical matter, such a vow means that an asset like a car is owned by the diocese or religious order, not the individual. In that case, the family could either keep title to the car and lend it to the individual, or title the car over to the diocese or the order.
Ours had Ford wagons and the Principal had a Torino 4 door.
“Gee, Dad – why is that long haired kid with the sandals sneering at us?”
Dammit, Paul, I have not been able to stop laughing. I wish I had known that I was at the center of everything wrong with the world in 1967-68. That would have been really cool to know. 🙂
You were carrying such a heavy burden on your shoulders, and you didn’t even notice? The innocence of youth.
I agree that the exposed headlight grille is pretty generic but I like the fastback roof and appreciate that Ford let those without the LTD pocket book have a little flash too.
I felt exactly the same way then about the dull and stupid Country Squires and what I thought they represented. Certainly by The Year 2000 we’d all have shaken that off, and the average Ford would look like a Lamborghini Miura.
Imagine my horror when the best sellers of 2000 turned out to be F-150, Silverado and Explorer.
I disagree on the 66 Fords. I loved my aunt’s 66 Ford LTD two-door hardtop with its concave rear window and evocation of the coke-bottle side design of the 63 Grand Prix. It was Vintage Burgundy with a black painted top (no vinyl) and had a cleanly designed and beautiful interior. The quality was very high – she drove it for ten years (before trading for one of those awful mid-70’s LTDs with the opera windows/brougham style vinyl top). Overall I think the 66 is a really graceful and more refined version of the chunkier 65 model, especially the two-door hardtops.
I totally agree on the dislike for the 68, especially the fastback here that seems as out of proportion as the first Barracuda and the Marlin fastbacks.
Agree on the ’66, and on the loathing for the ’68. Worst looking big Ford of the decade by a long shot.
Maybe not as out of proportion as the cars you name, but certainly awkward.
Uncle had a 68 Galaxie. Dark Green. Had the metal flashing around the gas door.
I certainly can’t top this! It is true that every car indeed has a story…
These Galaxies just looked like bloated Torinos to me, and I liked the Torinos much better, but by that time, the full-sized cars were getting over-sized and would continue into the distant future. I was rapidly becoming strictly a mid-size and smaller car fan in those years, but I would glorify in dad’s ’66 Impala!
I was a die-hard Chevy guy and pretty much still am…
Still, it’s a Galaxie…Ford, please take a hint and restore this great name and save yourselves!
I find it funny that Ford got away with rear side red reflectors in 1968 and would illuminate them beginning in 1969 while everyone else, to the best of my memory had illuminated rear side markers!
What St. Louis Ford dealer was this?
I found out and it’s posted above.
Right now, I’m hoping to find a ’74 to ’76 Thunderbird. Despite one having been done here before, I seek one as those two boys did start to drive and their little sister wasn’t always a pleasant child….
To me, the 68’s looked ‘newer’, since vertical headlights went out of style fairly quick. The LTD with hidden lights was very ‘mod’, too. They look nearly same as the ‘all new’ 1969-70 bodies.
Unfortunately, Tim should have kept the ’61 Cadillac convertible! The trip home from camping would have been less smelly, if nothing else.
Call me strange but I find the looks of the two door post the best.
Me too, in relative terms.
You know, as “Mr. Hardtop”, I fancied the post models as well, as they had a character all their own. My 1961 Chevy Bel-Air was a two door post as well as the 1957 Chevys I never finished.
My buddy up the street had a 1965 Chevy Biscayne post.
The Ford two door sedan shown above looks totally different and reminds me more of the 1965-66 models.
I still pine for my black over red 66 Galaxie 500 convertible. Rusted through in all the usual areas (trunk, rear footwell) and the old 390 sounded like a sweatshop with tons of awful valve clatter. I was 17 and though in auto shop didn’t have the scratch to do a full resto, even though I loved the poor thing. Sold it for a grand to some restprers in Newark…my mom called it ‘the planter’ cos for a long while it simply sat in the driveway gathering moss. Once I got it running though…Man could that sucker haul…and handled surprisingly well, despite busted ball joints and sticky drum brakes.
Sitting here imagining the 66 with a fastback…I like the 68 but to me the front end looks too much like a Mercury.
One more 68 Ford memory. My dad was having some work done on the Squire, and got a light green 68 Galaxie 2 door formal-roof hardtop, just about exactly like the one shown in the piece. It felt so strange to be in a “car” and not in a “station wagon” with him. I was about 9 and felt really successful riding around in that brand new Ford that looked completely new with that roofline.
As I got a bit older (along with these cars) the formal roof hardtop became my least favorite of all of these. I like the 2 door post sedan over them. But it was predictive of trends as the fastback/sportsroof became less and less of a factor in the big cars. But it was sure a different world when a company like Ford would re-do the entire roofline for a single year before a new body came out.
One thing to keep in mind, back then the volume of a single model was so high it was possible to wear out the tooling in a single year of production. If you are going to have to order new dies might as well mix it up a bit as well as spread the work across a number of dies so that they didn’t have to replace them in a given model year.
We got a ’68 XL two-door fastback when I was in high school. They traded in both the ’65 Mustang coupe and the Fiat 850 Spyder, a year before I got my licence (damn). This XL was fully trimmed out with the “GT” 428 package, metallic gold, black vinyl fastback roof, fake mags and racing stripes. 8 mpg on Sunoco 260 only, but it would peel out. Outrageous. My mom loved it. We actually used it for a “Grand Tour”, NJ-Kansas Christmas round-trip.
I wasn’t allowed to drive it in high school, didn’t want to anyway. (I drove Dad’s ’61 VW which turned into a Maverick with three-on-the-tree by my senior year. Yeah, hot ride for dates.)
Incredibly, this car lasted 15 years for them, relatively trouble-free and not much rust, in Pa., Indiana and Illinois. By then I visited with wife and baby and finally drove the thing. Big smooth American cruiser, with lots of power. Quite a change from the Peugeot 504 back home.
Fun ’68 Ford memories, indeed. Although our family weren’t Ford folks in those days, it seemed many of my childhood friends’ and schoomates’ parents had Fords – wagons, usually. My scoutmaster had a ’64 Country Squire and a ’69 Country Sedan so I remember lots of campouts riding in a Ford. Being a Bay Area native, Fords were the “fleet favorite” (still are) for San Francisco and Oakland being used for cop cars and cabs. Also, Clint Eastwood in the 1st Dirty Harry, drives a ’68 Custom 500 in pursuit of the Scorpio killer. He also tells some guy jaywalking in front of him “Get out of the way, Hammerhead!” . . . . I envision a Yellow Cab ’68 Custom with a Standard Oil (of Calif. “Chevron”) billboard on the trunk descending down California Street eastbound towards the bay across from the Fairmont and Mark Hopkins hotels . . . (Cable Car sounds in the background).
Anyone remember the “F-310” gasoline sales campaign of 1969-70? (Chevron/Standard Oil of California??) “Hula Dollars” contest??
Gotta love the Sunshine Cab in Bullitt that changes from a 67 to a 68 Custom 500 as it enters the hotel in San Francisco!
And, the bad guys being chased by Bullitt in the ’68 Charger, they lose a wheel cover around one turn, but suddenly in the next shot, it’s back on! (Did they pull over, run back and grab the cover and pop it back on?)
The fastest car in Bullitt has to have been the dark green VW Bug. How many times did they pass it? Four or five times?
Saw an “Adam 12”, episode recently. Officers were at a “driving skills refresher”. Car shown driving was a Plymouth. In car footage was the “AMC” Matador.
I love it! All those Fords are on the IMCDB Dirty Harry page you know. Some people spend a whole lotta time doing screen caps.
I’m a Bay Area native, too. One of the oldest Ford dealerships in the country (could be the first) was Hughson of San Francisco – remember those license plate frames around the Fords of the day.
Yep, I also remember the F-310 gasoline adds for Chevron.
I like the side view of the fastback roofline. Squint your eyes and you can see it’s sort of a stretched version of the upcoming Maverick.
Cool history of a cool car.
Ford made their own dichotomy with the Galaxie. Sure they had 2 door fastbacks and 4 door hardtops in 64. But the 65 signaled a Luxury change with the LTD. A Formal Roof and a Sports Roof, both, were used for 68 2 doors, 4 doors were obviously Formal. 67 LTD 2 door HTs had a filler panel on the fastback body which requited a vinyl roof to cover the seams.
While a BIG car I loved the one year only 2 door 68 fastback/sportsroof roof. Sure it looked better on smaller cars like the Mustang or Torino, smaller is sportier after all, but to me it was better than the GM sweepers. The XL certainly was designed for it first, it was the complete package from the hidden headlight die-cast grill to the fastback trunk. So much so that I actually don’t like the convertible XL nearly as much, and I love convertibles. The stamped aluminum Galaxie 500 grill was not as nice, but a lot lighter I’m sure.
My dad had a new 68 LTD Brougham 4 door hardtop. A pale Seafoam Green, Bk top, Dark Ivy Green Brougham interior. Note that the deluxe interior of pleated and buttoned panty cloth, thick carpet and added sound insulation was now an option. With the FE 390/C6 it was virtually indestructible. It was heavy, yet fast enough…and could do some wicked burn outs!
I was 13 years old when I went with mom and dad to pick up the LTD at the dealers. It was twilight, perfectly lit, with parking lights on, it was a beautiful sight. I washed and waxed that car for 2 years before I got my license…and got my 64 Galaxie 500 2 door hardtop.
Just like this one except for the wheel covers and split comfort lounge seats.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/runningonfumes/7189672372/in/photostream/
I’ve thought these were cool looking but I never see them at shows. For some reason 67 big Fords are all over the place. I have no idea why that particular body style of big Ford is so popular. It does look good but it is disproportionally represented.
I guess some might interpret the ’67 full-size Galaxie/XL/Custom/LTD to the reply to GM’s “coke-bottle” full-size introduced in ’65. Ford got some “Pontiac-esque” cues during that era with the stacked headlights.
Interesting to note then while Ford dropped the stacked headlights in 1968, Plymouth for the Fury, Cadillac and AMC with the Ambassador keep it for one more year. However the Brazilian Ford Galaxie keeped it more longer to the mid-1970s in Brazil.
I’m gonna add some 1968-Love to balance the fear and loathing of this car…
I was ten when my folks dumped their Rambler for this model. Two of them, actually…my old man got a 1968 Galaxie as a replacement company car for his 1966 Impala; and he liked it so much he bought one just like it to replace the Rambler. Then, for six months, we had two almost-identical cars…both four-door sedans…until the old man finished his job-change plans and bought (he thought) his dream car, a Wagoneer.
The car was dull in operation…meaning everything worked, every time. Unlike the late Rambler or the Jeep to come. But…in appearance…I’d have to say, that in dropping the stacked-headlight look of the 1965-67s, Ford finally righted the design. The grille became narrower, top to bottom; and the opening lines of the fenders communicated that. In reality, the beltline was no lower than the 1967; but it gave that appearance.
Hidden headlights or no, the design looked – to me, and many others – fresh and clean, long after it had disappeared into history.
The rear end, likewise. The 1968 lost the ’67’s presumptuous forward lean; and a lot of the bling…the chrome starburst lines around the reverse light. The clean bar across the center, with top and bottom stripes of red, worked better. And looked lighter, too…not as deep, not as bulbous as a Tri-Five trunk. Of course, the LTD had lights divvied up into quadrants…but that’ was forgivable; the extravagant had to believe they were getting something for the extra money that was an LTD.
Most of these cues were lost on the 1969 “refresh.” The lines looked more awkward; more contrived. Maybe Hank the Deuce liked them – I sure didn’t.
Ford didn’t have another styling winner until the 1972 Torino…which had the looks, but too much bulk.
I really liked the 60-64 fastbacks because as a total package they just worked. This included the interiors. (love the 61 Starliners) The cars exhibited the youthful rise of the American dream.
65 and 66 full size was the transitional shift from the sporty car to the main stream car. This differentiated the full size car from the pony cars.
The 67-69 Ford and Mercury fastbacks were awesome body designs. I even liked the non-vinyl topped LTD roof lines. But the dashboard, front grille, and interior seemed to kill the sportiness of the later fastbacks. They were now on their way to be labeled as an older persons car.
My college roommate was from Canada, he showed up at the start of the 1967 school year with a big new ’67 Ford Custom, mind you, not even the “500” version. Huge, bulky, plain Jane, about as generic as generic could get. White with a red vinyl interior, two door post, and rubber floor mats. Funny thing was, his parents were very well off, they drove a ’61 Thunderbird convertible and a ’61 Lincoln Continental, and my friend wound up with this dull-mobile. Never could figure that. We drove that car from L.A. to Chicago at the end of that school year, then he went on to Toronto for the summer. I remember the endless miles of piloting that aircraft carrier cross-country.
Remember the one-off awkward flower pot steering wheel of all Ford’s ’67’s? Always got in your way. Fortunately the ’68’s remedied that, but it was still a bulky wheel design. I agree with CA Guy, the ’66’s were my favorite 60’s era Fords, and the ’66 Mercury was even more stunning.
That “flower-pot” was the result of then-new Federal crash standards for steering wheels. The wheels had to be either fitted with an elaborate hub pad (as Ford used in 1967) or a collapsible column. Ford either didn’t want to go with the collapsible or couldn’t tool up in time; but did with the 1968.
With the collapsible column, almost any type of steering wheel was acceptable. That until right up to the Airbag Era. Which is why later Mavericks and Pintos had stark, no-padding steering wheels.
The collapsible column was phased in over the later part of the 1967 model year.
My grandparents had a ’68 Galaxie notchback coupe in that dark green color that was very popular on various Ford products in the late 1960’s. That car was very comfortable and got quite impressive gas mileage for a late 60’s full size car — about 18-20 MPG on average. I wanted them to hang onto it until I came of driving age in ’75, but they traded it for a Montego MX Brougham in ’72. That was a dog of a car.
I grew up in the ‘burbs of Chicago and when I was fifteen my Dad retired from UAL & moved back to his hometown in Alabama..leaving me with a rather pissed off stepmother… I loved old cars but knew that nothing survived the salt.
Anyway, I got to finally visit Alabama about a year later when I was sixteen. I’ll never forget after arriving at Birmingham Airport….my dad met me & we were walking back to his car in the parking garage. I forgot what he drove at the time but there was this immaculate yellow ’68 Ford XL fastback sitting in the line of cars. I remember saying, “Dad, check THAT car out!! That thing is beautiful!” He said, “yeah, that looks pretty nice, doesn’t it?”
He let me walk over & check it out which was cool. It had black bucket seats and a console with that awesome stirrup shifter. I didn’t know such things could be had in full-sized cars. He asked me if I wanted to take it for a ride which was odd since he didn’t normally steal cars out of parking garages.
Before I could say anything he just opens the driver’s door & told me to get in. He shoves a key into the dash & cranks the car up. He just looked at me, smiled, & laughed just a little. He never was a warm kind of character but it was one of the coolest memories I’ll ever have with him. I had no idea he bought the car….but he knew it would “wow” me, and he was right. I think my reaction made his day too.
We had the car a few years & I finally got to drive it when I got my license. I think the car was originally a very light beige color (but it could have been yellow). It had the same wheelcovers as the featured car & whitewall tires. It also had the GT stripe running down the rocker panel area which really looked good.
It had dual exhaust, those awesome hidden headlights, working A/C, and……a freakin’ 302 2bbl. engine. WTH. Just about every ’67 or ’68 Galaxie, XL, or LTD had at least the 390 and none of the ones I ran across were floor-shifted. As beautiful of a car as it was, it was a little lacking in the power dept. I never floored the accelerator or otherwise beat on it as it seemed pointless. I did like running the shifter though the gears manually though ‘cuz that shifter was beyond cool.
My dad got bored with it & figured he’d drive it back to Chicago & let his brother “flip” it. I think he was only asking around $2K for the car but it took over a year before someone bought it.
I don’t care what you guys think, I loved my 68 Galaxy 500! It was a 2 door, that I bought for $300. and Painted at my uncles body shop. We put so many coats of Brilliant Black on it that you could read a paper from the reflection! I put Polished chrome wheels on it and the look was done. The 390 cu.in. motor was the most dependable motor.
Great story. There’s a 68 fastback near my place with a 428. I think it’s original. must get photos.
I got my 68 Ford Galaxie convertible in 1991. I remember thinking when she will be 25 in 93… Now she will have her 50th anniversary in 2018! 302 with JBA headers. (I had to put a B&M floor shifter to make room for the headers) Edelbrock intake and Holly 4 bbl. Dual stainless pipes with EQ Mallory ignition. This car really moves!
So, it’s been 5 years. Did Tim buy it or not?
When these were still relatively new and could be seen regularly “prowling” the streets, it seemed as though 75% or more had vinyl roofs …nearly always black, but sometimes white.
That Ford thought adding a vinyl roof, GT stripes the same color as the roof or interior, and bucket front seats, made these Sportsroof models “performance” cars seems laughable today. But I guess they thought the resulting car was at least equal to an Impala SS.
Must be my old age, but I prefer the “formal” roof 2 door models, LTD or Galaxie. Heck, I would even take a 2 door sedan of this year. In my opinion, at least the equal of the 65.
I have always preferred the ’65 through ’67 stacked headlight models. I was disappointed when I saw the ’68 Galaxie grille. I did, and still do like the XL, LTD and Squire hideaway headlights. I think a lot of other people did, too. In the Ford wagon market, Country Sedans were the best sellers. But, in ’68. they were outsold by the Country Squires. The front treatment might have been the deciding factor. It would have been for me. Back then, I wanted an XLwith the Sportsroof, but with age, I’ve grown to like the formal roof. Here’s mine. Lime Gold with Dark Ivy interior. Sold new at Grissom Ford in Russelville, Alabama.
And here’s a shot showing the grille. Much nicer than the Galaxie grille, in my opinion. It is a 390 2 bbl car with air and came from the factory with dual exhaust. It also came with the mag style wheel covers, but they had lots of curb rash, so I replaced them with these (for now) which had been hanging in my shed. It’s a smooth runner and averages 18 mpg on rural roads.
I could never quite grasp what Ford was trying to do with the ’68 Galaxy fastback. They had some very nice fastback roofs with the Mustang, Fairlane, Comet, Falcon, and even the earlier Galaxies, but the 1968’s roof looks like styling got stuck trying to decide between the hardtop and fastback. It’s like they wanted to use the smaller quarter window glass from the hardtop and make the C-pillar more solid like the Mustang, but then, at the last minute, decided to go with something specifically for the fastback that ‘kind of’ looked like the hardtop’s quarter window. To me, the long, solid C-pillar shape on a full-size car usually doesn’t work and they should have stuck with the ’67’s fastback. The best treatment of this sort was the first gen Dodge Charger.
There were a few ’68 Fords around in my childhood memories of traffic in the early ’80s, always driven by college students from out of town, and always Custom or Galaxie 4-door post sedans in that metallic light green. 1968 Ford; the ultimate hand-me-down?
It was really nice to re-read this article again. My old comments still stand, so I add nothing further.
Great story, reminds me of the summer of 1970 when my family was preparing to leave for a PEI vacation. Back then the tradition was to leave through the night to catch the early ferry. My parents packed their 1968 Galaxie 500 coupe with my three older siblings in the backseat and me in the front, my Mother made me a bed on the floor. It’s one of my first memories, I was so excited to leave in the dark of night for this big adventure! I also remember my dad letting me steer that Galaxie while I sat on his lap…first car I ever drove…lol.
While it is not impossible for me to option a ’68 Ford into something I can admire, the fantastic core looks of the ’65-’67 models, even in stripper form, were completely lost. It was years before I realized that the ’68s were the final year of a four year run. Talk about a pudding that had lost its theme.
As the former owner of a ’67, I may be merely biased………….
I hope the passenger in that 289-powered XL isn’t challenging the cyclists to a drag race. He might just lose.
I’ll wager they are enjoying one of the five other V-8s available – they look too happy ;). My Galaxie 500 coupe had the 390, really a very pleasant car to drive with its automatic, power steering and AC. The compliments it got on its appearance were also a nice part of the experience.
There’s no fender flag, hence a 289.
I have no idea of the history or rationale behind the development, of the so out-of-place in the then current market, as the 1974 AMC Matador coupe was. But I do think of cars like this, from a whole different generation and era, as inspiration. As irrational, as it seems, for a company with so little leeway, in such a competitive market segment.
Pretty nice restomod of one of these currently on Bring A Trailer:
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1968-ford-galaxie-500-12/
At a glance, I misread the headline as Sportsproof.
Great writeup, the antics of the father in law nearly ruined several life situations, perhaps many others.
He never noticed the “father in law’s,issues” before marrying in?