'64 Ford Galaxie 4-door sedan - 390, 3-speed

What do you all think of this? A 390 with a 3-speed would be fun.

Some odd things. The chrome fins are missing off the top of the front fenders. So, new fenders, or rust repair?

The carpet looks new. That wouldn't be too surprising for a car this age.

A 390 with a 3-speed manual is an odd combination for the Canadian market. Canadians were a frugal bunch in the '60s, usually ordering the smallest displacement engine available and cheaping out on the options. (No offence, fellow Canadians. Just a noticeable trend.) So I'd expect to see a 289 with an automatic in a sedan like this, not a 390 and 3-speed. Buyers in the U.S. tended to go for the big displacement engines.

I doubt it's 37k miles. 137k, more likely.







http://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?requestSource=b&adId=1098562531

 

Sure looks nice.
Would need a closer inspection.

 

That's not even a Galaxie, it's a base model Custom.

 

This would make a great cruiser!

 

.....And the Custom / Custom 500 models didn't come with those fender-top chrome fin thingys.....

You're right, Jim about the U.S. buyers in the 60's ordering larger-displacement engines. As a teenager around then, I would bicycle around to all the car dealers at new car introduction time, looking at all the shiny new iron. I distinctly remember noticing that the majority of new 'big' Fords in '63 - '66 had the 390 in them. And these were 'dealer stock' cars, not customer orders. It seemed to be this way all through the rest of the 60's and into the early 70's. My folks' new '69 Galaxie 500 HT was a rather plain-Jane unit - no AC, AM-only radio, vinyl seats, and it came out of dealer stock with a 390 / Cruise-O-Matic.

 

Hey this is a wagon forum!
Here's your ford wagon w/289!
http://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars...bo/1098872049?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

 

Regarding engine sizes found in 60s Fords. I was a look at them observer in first half of 60s and under hood gas station work observer in last half. My guestimation for general Seattle area is/was 25% 4bbl 390 and larger, 50% largest regular fuel V8, 25% small V8 & 6.

 

All correct about the low end "Custom" not having the fender trim. Andy Griffin's 64 Custom........



Appears looking online the Custom series also had side trim options....

 

mom and dad getting ready to bail on the birthday party in that ad?

 

Ha! I suppose I should have clued in to that by the "Custom" on the rear fender.



So I feel much better about this car now. I'll try to go look at it. Finally, a decent-looking car that's not a 10-hour drive away.

 

Difference being top two are 'Custom 500' models, and the bottom one's a 'Custom'.
Not sure why Ford thought they needed two low-line trim levels. I would have thought one was enough.....

 

Maybe Ford was trying to compete with Chevy's Biscayne and Bel Air.

 

They were. This was the bottom-line full-sized Ford that year. Very little chrome or aluminum trim. The '64 is my favorite big Ford in terms of styling.

Ford had Custom and Custom 500.
Chevy had Biscayne and Bel Air.
Dodge had 330 and 440
Plymouth had Fury I and II.

They had one low-line and one mid-priced line each.

Ford Galaxie and Galaxie 500
Chevy Impala
Dodge 880 and Custom 880
Plymouth Fury and Sport Fury

were the higher-priced lines of each; though the Dodge 880 series was a larger car altogether than the 330/440.

 

Hmmm ... interesting. The "Standard Catalog of Ford" says that the Custom did not have an ash tray on the back of the front seat. Yet this car does.



And the Custom 500 has the hash mark front fender trim plates. This one doesn't.

So it looks like this is a Custom, with possibly seats from a Custom 500?

These are the production numbers for 1964:

Custom (6 cyl.)
- 2 dr. sedan 22,214
- 4 dr. sedan 22,661

Custom (8 cyl.)
- 2 dr. sedan 19,145
- 4 dr. sedan 35,303

Custom 500 (6 cyl.)
- 2 dr. sedan 5,785
- 4 dr. sedan 10,256

Custom 500 (8 cyl.)
- 2-dr sedan 14,834
- 4-dr sedan 58,572

Galaxie 500 (6 cyl.)
- 2-dr. sedan 1,029
- 4-dr. sedan 5,133
- 2-dr. fastback 5,035
- 4-dr. hardtop 710
- 2-dr. convertible 1,034

Galaxie 500 (8 cyl.)
- 2-dr. sedan 12,012
- 4-dr. sedan 193,672
- 2-dr. fastback 201,983
- 4-dr. hardtop 48,532
- 2-dr. convertible 36,277

Galaxie 500/XL (8 cyl.)
- 2-dr. fastback 58,306
- 4-dr. hardtop 14,661
- 2-dr. convertible 15,169

Might explain why we don't see that many Customs and Custom 500s around anymore.

 

"Ford Galaxie and Galaxie 500
Chevy Impala"

Ford Galaxie, Galaxie 500 and Galaxie 500 XL
Chevy Impala and Impala SS

The following year Ford added the LTD and Chevy the Caprice as entries into the luxury car field.

As the popularity of the LTD and Caprice grew so did the eventual demise of cars like the Custom/Custom 500 and Biscayne/Bel Air.

The luxury barges of the late 60s on is the reason for my high interest in the base model cars of the early to mid 60s. I remember these cars as looking similar, but different to the fancier models, as though they were versions from another dimension. They all seemed to start disappearing by the 1980s as people's interests leaned toward keeping and restoring high option models and trashing the lower production, budget models. So, it really catches my eye when I still see a plain jane B-pillar model with minimal chrome/aluminum trim, dog dish caps, simple interior (often radio delete) and (frequently) different taillights.

I really dig this Ford Custom. It would make an excellent driver. Alas, it's far away and I can't afford it...