Vehicle sighting - '62 (?) Ford Galaxie 500

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https://s.hswstatic.com/gif/1962-1964-ford-1962-galaxie.jpg

2dr but I think yours is a 1962 sir
smile.gif
 
except for minor trim differences 62-64 Fords were the same. '64 galaxy coupe was a pretty car. I woulda guessed the sedan was a '63.
 
That brings back a funny memory from childhood.

In the late 70s or very early 80s, my uncle had one of those in white. Pretty sure it was a '64. It was strictly a clunker car he used when he didn't want to dirty his nice car(s) - he always had good stuff. Nice MGs, a Jag e-type, BMW 6, etc.

One time we used it as well as our '73 Chevy Vega to tow our motorcycles out to a place the mc club owned for races; we went there to ride and camp all the time, race weekend or not. At some point after riding, we were sitting around resting, cooling off, etc. My dad had bought a new/used Colt Series '70 and wanted to shoot it, so he set up some cans a ways away on the dirt track to pop at. Of course, smacking a soda can with .45 Auto at any reasonable distance is not easy, especially a new gun. He missed about four times.

My uncle, who was always quite competitive (he was an Air Force pilot a while, for example), taunted him. He said,

You couldn't hit the broad side of a.... of a... FORD! - the first thing his eyes fell on. The car was sitting behind us with the passenger side front door open facing away from us. What compelled him to taunt my dad with that particular substitute for the proverbial "barn," I have no idea.

My dad pivoted cleanly on the balls of his feet, and emptied the rest of magazine into the open door, inside to outside. Three nice big holes in the sheet metal, petalling outward.

"Yes," he said. "I can."

My uncle had to drive that thing around for another year or two until he got rid of it with three bullet holes in the passenger side door. I have no idea how he explained it when he sold it, but I'm sure he made up a really good story...

As a corollary, I've always been gobsmacked by Colt .45 autos. The first handgun I ever bought after I turned 21 was a Government model clone. I've probably had 30 or more different ones over the years. The Series '70 is by far my favorite variant. I even tracked down not one but TWO of the original 1,000 stealth prototypes Colt made between January and June of 1970. This is one of them. It looks like a typical post WWII Government Model, but inside it has the belled barrel and "Accurizer" collet bushing. It also came with all the original paperwork and magazines as it left the factory in June, 1970. The s/n makes it one of the last 100 pre-Series '70 guns made, which makes it interesting to me though maybe not to all gun enthusiasts, of course:

 
I wonder if it had safety glass? I'm pretty sure it did not have seat-belts. I think it was a 12 Volt system, but it might have been 6 Volt. I wonder if it has an alternator, or a generator? The brakes probably have a single master cylinder. And I am pretty sure it has drum brakes on all 4 wheels. Practically nothing had front disc brakes back then. I wonder what size engine it has, and what type of carburetor? It most likely did not have air-conditioning, back then very few vehicles had air-conditioning,I see the front doors window had the small triangle window in the front that people use to use to ketch the air stream and channel it into the car on hot days. I wonder if it is a manual or automatic transmission, and also how many gears does it have? The battery charging system probably used a relay that dropped out and closed a normally closed contact to somehow turn on the charging when the battery got low enough, and then opened the contacts to disengage the charging when the battery got high enough. If it had a radio it would have been vacuum tubes and used a oscillating relay to drive a step up transformer to create a high enough voltage to run the vacuum tubes.

It probably had a metal dash-board. And it probably has a one piece rod between the steering wheel and the gear box, and it probably did not have power steering.

Back then I don't think radial tires were used.
 
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Seat belts were summarily pushed between cushions Fords went 12V in '56. dual circuit MC was '67. They had a 220-ish six, a 289, 352 and up to 400+ cubes V8 2 and 3 spd automatics, or a 3 on the tree.
 
I wonder if the current owner adds lead to the fuel. Those engines were designed to run on leaded fuel and though the lead often fouled the valves, the valves were not designed to run on unleaded.
 
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
I wonder if the current owner adds lead to the fuel. Those engines were designed to run on leaded fuel and though the lead often fouled the valves, the valves were not designed to run on unleaded.


I tend to assume anything that old has had the heads off and had a valve job where hardened seats were installed.
 
Originally Posted By: andyd
Seat belts were summarily pushed between cushions Fords went 12V in '56. dual circuit MC was '67. They had a 220-ish six, a 289, 352 and up to 400+ cubes V8 2 and 3 spd automatics, or a 3 on the tree.
Seat belts were probably optional. (I assume so, because I know GM offered optional belts at least as far back as '56.) They became standard (i.e., required) about '65 or '66. The I6 was an OHV 223 in³, introduced for '54. I don't think the 289 had yet replaced their old 292 that year. There was a 390.
 
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
I wonder if the current owner adds lead to the fuel. Those engines were designed to run on leaded fuel and though the lead often fouled the valves, the valves were not designed to run on unleaded.
Lol, you really think it made it 50+ years on original valve seats + unleaded fuel?
 
Parents had a 63 Galaxie 500 XL in Rose Beige metallic. Bucket seats Beautiful car. 352 V8 2V Ford also had 390 and 427. Not sure about the 406. I remember they did a fastback mid year.
 
I wonder whether it had a glass windshield or translucent mica. I wonder if it had an electric starter or a hand crank and magneto. Compression was very low way back then, so spinning a 390 by hand, even in winter, was very easy.

Probably the steering and front tires are aftermarket, replacing a large stone cylinder that stretched across the front of the car. A wooden floor made sense because it was easier to cut a hole through wood for the driver's feet to stop the car than to cut a hole through cast iron.
 
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
My dad told me some Canadian cars years ago were a model year behind the U.S. and had less trim.


Models weren't a year behind as far as I know, at least post-war, but we were sold Dodges as rebadged Plymouths and Chevys as rebadged Pontiacs with a smearing of lipstick.
 
Originally Posted By: tenderloin
Parents had a 63 Galaxie 500 XL in Rose Beige metallic. Bucket seats Beautiful car. 352 V8 2V Ford also had 390 and 427. Not sure about the 406. I remember they did a fastback mid year.
My Dad had a maroon/black 1966 4 door with a 352 2V and a cruise-o-matic transmission. Fond memories in that car.
 
To Oro_O: You said, "What compelled him to taunt my dad with that particular substitute for the proverbial "barn," I have no idea.

My dad pivoted cleanly on the balls of his feet, and emptied the rest of magazine into the open door, inside to outside. Three nice big holes in the sheet metal, petalling outward.

"Yes," he said. "I can."

Was alcohol served at the gathering? No judgement, just askin'.
 
Originally Posted By: Oro_O
That brings back a funny memory from childhood.

In the late 70s or very early 80s, my uncle had one of those in white. Pretty sure it was a '64. It was strictly a clunker car he used when he didn't want to dirty his nice car(s) - he always had good stuff. Nice MGs, a Jag e-type, BMW 6, etc.

One time we used it as well as our '73 Chevy Vega to tow our motorcycles out to a place the mc club owned for races; we went there to ride and camp all the time, race weekend or not. At some point after riding, we were sitting around resting, cooling off, etc. My dad had bought a new/used Colt Series '70 and wanted to shoot it, so he set up some cans a ways away on the dirt track to pop at. Of course, smacking a soda can with .45 Auto at any reasonable distance is not easy, especially a new gun. He missed about four times.

My uncle, who was always quite competitive (he was an Air Force pilot a while, for example), taunted him. He said,

You couldn't hit the broad side of a.... of a... FORD! - the first thing his eyes fell on. The car was sitting behind us with the passenger side front door open facing away from us. What compelled him to taunt my dad with that particular substitute for the proverbial "barn," I have no idea.

My dad pivoted cleanly on the balls of his feet, and emptied the rest of magazine into the open door, inside to outside. Three nice big holes in the sheet metal, petalling outward.

"Yes," he said. "I can."

My uncle had to drive that thing around for another year or two until he got rid of it with three bullet holes in the passenger side door. I have no idea how he explained it when he sold it, but I'm sure he made up a really good story...

As a corollary, I've always been gobsmacked by Colt .45 autos. The first handgun I ever bought after I turned 21 was a Government model clone. I've probably had 30 or more different ones over the years. The Series '70 is by far my favorite variant. I even tracked down not one but TWO of the original 1,000 stealth prototypes Colt made between January and June of 1970. This is one of them. It looks like a typical post WWII Government Model, but inside it has the belled barrel and "Accurizer" collet bushing. It also came with all the original paperwork and magazines as it left the factory in June, 1970. The s/n makes it one of the last 100 pre-Series '70 guns made, which makes it interesting to me though maybe not to all gun enthusiasts, of course:


1911s are the Hand gun to love.
 
I just realized, they spelled Galaxy wrong. That would have made me think twice before purchasing if they can't even spell the name correctly.
 
Originally Posted By: maxdustington
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
I wonder if the current owner adds lead to the fuel. Those engines were designed to run on leaded fuel and though the lead often fouled the valves, the valves were not designed to run on unleaded.
Lol, you really think it made it 50+ years on original valve seats + unleaded fuel?
I think so because my Mercury has and the 63 Galaxie I had did.
 
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